Hassan Fazaeli; Alireza Aghshahi; Abdorreza Taimouri; Mohammad Khaki
Volume 18, Issue 1 , April 2016, , Pages 51-60
Abstract
In order to study the effect of dietary physical form on the fattening performance of Holstein male calves, an experiment was conducted in Animal Science Research Institute of Iran in 2011. The experimental diets were formulated and prepared with two physical forms including total mixed ration (TMR) ...
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In order to study the effect of dietary physical form on the fattening performance of Holstein male calves, an experiment was conducted in Animal Science Research Institute of Iran in 2011. The experimental diets were formulated and prepared with two physical forms including total mixed ration (TMR) and densified complete feed block (DCFB). In a completely randomized block design, with two treatments and four blocks (initial weight of the animals), 24 Holstein male calves were fed with either of the TMR or DCFB rations. During a five month feeding trial, the animals fed ad-libitum where feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio were recorded. The average feed intake were 8.1 and 8.4 kg for TMR and DCFB that were significantly (P<0.05) different between the treatments. The initial body weights were respectively 226 and 221 kg for the animals received TMR and DCFB, but the final weights were 361 and 373 kg, respectively that was higher (P<0.05) for the animals received DCFB. The average daily gain were 901 and 1016 g for TMR and DCFB respectively, which were significantly different (P<0.05) between the treatments. Feed conversion ratio were 9.0 and 8.3 for TMR and DCFB respectively that was significantly (P<0.05) lower in DCFB treatment. It is concluded that utilization of complete feed block improved feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio in fattening calves.