Effect of protein and energy levels on nutrient utilization and milk production in crossbred cattle

The present experiment was conducted during 2008–09 at C.S. Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur to evaluate the effect of nutrition of different planes on nutrient utilization and milk yield in cattle. Nine crossbred cows were taken and divided into three equal groups (T1, T2 and T3) having three animals in each group. In T1 group, the animals were fed with conventional feeding system and in T2 and T3 groups, they were fed with more than 20% and less than 20% recommended dose of concentrate both supplemented with wheat straw as adlib and berseem as green fodder, respectively. The highest digestibility coefficient of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude fibre (CF) and nitrogen free extract (NFE) were found in T3 group of cattle, followed by T2 and T1 groups. The highest digestible crude protein (DCP) and total digestible nutrients (TDN) were observed in T2 group, it means more than enough to meet maintenance requirement of animals in T3 group. The digestibility of all the nutrients and milk yield were found to be statistically non-significant amongst all the groups of the cattle. Thus, results indicated that the extra feeding over the National Research Council standards is not suitable as far as nutrient utilization and milk production is concerned in crossbred cattle.