The effect of gliricidia or mixture of rice bran and copra meal supplementation on feed intake, digestibility and live weight gain of early weaned Bali calves fed a Mulato grass

Abstract

This study was done to examine the effect gliricidia or mixture of rice bran and copra meal supplementation on feed intake, digestion and growth of weaned Bali calves given Mulato grass. Eighteen male Bali calves approximately 115±5.5 (SE) kg in initial weight and 11 months of age were housed in pen and allocated to one of three dietary treatments. The treatments were Mulato grass (MG) ad libitum, MG ad libitum supplemented with gliricidia and MG ad libitum supplemented with a mixture of rice bran and copra meal (RBCM) in equal proportions (1% W/d, DM). The experimental design was a completely randomized block design, with 3 treatments and 6 replicates (animals) per treatment. The length of experiment was 10 weeks, consisting of a 2 week preliminary period for adaptation to diets and an 8 week experimental period for measurements. Parameters measured were feed intake, feed digestibility and daily liveweight gain. In all parameters measured, there was a significant differences (P<0.05) among three dietary treatments. Bali calves given MG ad libitum plus RBCM showed highest feed intake, digestibility and daily live weight gain, while calves receiving MG only showed the lowest feed intake, digestibility and daily liveweight gain. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that combination between energy and protein content of the diet
dictated feed intake, digestibility and daily liveweight gain of weaned Bali calves.