Effect Of Supplementation With Different Proportions Of Breweries Dried Grain And Maize Bran Mixtures On The Performance Of Crossbred Dairy Cows

ABSTRACT Effect of supplementation with different proportions of breweries dried grain and Maize bran mixtures on feed intake digestibility milk yield and milk composition of crossbred dairy cows were assessed at Holetta Agricultural Research Center by using five crossbred cows of similar milk yield 8-10 kgd body weight 35547 age of lactation early lactation but differ in parities arranged in 55 single Latin square design being started at December2010 and finished at March2011. Experimental animals were fed ad libitum natural pasture hay basal diet and supplemented with different treatments T1 Concentrate mix that consisted 65 wheat bran 33 noug Guizotia abysinica seed cake and 2 salt T2 20 breweries dried grain BDG 78 maize bran MB 2 Salt T3 38 BDG 60 MB 2 Salt T4 58 BDG 40 MB 2 Salt and T5 78 BDG 20 MB 2 Salt. Laboratory analysis of experimental feeds showed that all ingredient feeds except maize bran had adequate CP content required for moderate level of ruminant production which is greater than 15 a level that is usually required to support lactation and growth. Dry matter and metabolisable energy intakes were the same in all groups while basal diet and crude protein intakes were significantly different where by cows maintained on T1 ration consumed high basal intake with the average daily intake of 8.04 kgd. Similarly significantly higher P0.001 CP intakes were recorded for T1 and T5 groups with the average value of 1.56 and 1.54 kgd respectively. Treatment effects were also non-significant P0.05 for apparent dry matter digestibility and apparent acid detergent fiber digestibility but significance difference P0.05 existed for apparent crude protein digestibility apparent metabolisable energy digestibility and apparent neutral detergent fiber digestibility whereby animals consumed T5 concentrate diet digest higher P0.01 CP than those on T2 T3 and T4. In addition to this animals that received T3 and T5 concentrate diet digested higher P0.05 NDF than those consumed T1 concentrate diet. Milk yield milk protein lactose and total solids were not affected by experimental rations but significant variation was existed for milk fat between animals fed with the different experimental rations whereby cows consumed T1 gave milk with high P0.05 fat of 4.62 when compared to T2 4.14 and T5 4.06. The average daily milk yields were 10.28 9.72 10.20 10.66 and 10.79 kg in T1 T2 T3 T4 and T5 respectively. Economic analysis showed that T5 concentrate diet was economically feasible than the control group and the remaining dietary treatments. However due to significantly lower milk fat in T5 than the control it can be concluded that breweries dried grain and maize bran mix at the proportion of 58 BDG 40 MB2 Salt T4 can be proposed as alternative concentrate diet for the control T1 for lactating dairy cows.