THE EFFECT OF ASCORBIC ACID ON BODY WEIGHT LOSS OF BALI CATTLE DURING TRANSPORTATION

Transportation caused stress and had impact on the body weight loss of Bali cattle after arriving at the destination. Body weight loss due to the stress of transport can be suppressed and reduced by administration of ascorbic acid. The purpose of this study was to determine the dose of ascorbic acid how best to give effect to body weight loss of Bali cattle during transportation. The experiment used randomized block design (RBD) consisted of 4 treatment dose levels of ascorbic acid (0 mg/kg body weight, 50 mg/kg body weight, 100 mg/kg body weight and 150 mg/kg body weight ) were repeated 6 times, it took 24 head of Bali cattle. The difference between the treatment effect was tested using the Dunnett test. The results showed ascorbic acid significantly (P<0.05) reduced body weight of Bali cattle loss during transportation. Treatment with ascorbic acid dose of 100 mg/kg body weight gave the lowest loss of 4.083 kg (2.431%) at the time of transportation.