Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2006
Effect of partly replacing cottonseed cake with Mucuna spp. (var. Ghana) hay on feed intake and digestibility, milk yield and milk composition of zebu cows
Sidibe-Anago AG, Ouedraogo GA, Ledin IAbstract
The effect of partly replacing cottonseed cake with Mucuna hay (Mucuna spp. var. Ghana) on feed intake, digestibility and milk production of dairy cows was studied using six Zebu cows randomly assigned to three dietary treatments in a replicated Latin square design. All cows were fed hay from natural pastures ad libitum and 1.1 kg molasses as a basal diet, which was supplemented with: (1) 2 kg cottonseed cake (control diet), (2) 1.5 kg cottonseed cake and 1.2 kg Mucuna hay (low Mucuna, LM), and (3) 1.0 kg cottonseed cake and 3.3 kg Mucuna hay (high Mucuna, HM). Dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) intake were similar for all the diets. The addition of Mucuna significantly increased DM and organic matter digestibility, whereas CP, acid detergent fibre and neutral detergent fibre digestibility were similar among the diets. The treatments had no effect on daily milk yield (3.38, 3.43 and 3.38 kg milk) or milk composition (41.1, 43.7 and 42.7 g fat/kg milk; 35.1, 36.4 and 35.9 g protein/kg milk; and 46.1, 45.8 and 45.3 g lactose/kg milk, respectively, for cows fed control, LM and HM diets). The treatments had no significant effect on live weight changes. The results showed that replacing 50% of the cottonseed cake with Mucuna hay had no negative effects on feed intake and digestibility, milk yield or milk compositionPublished in
Tropical Animal Health and Production2006, volume: 38, number: 7-8, pages: 563-570
Publisher: SPRINGER
Authors' information
Ledin, Inger
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Animal Nutrition and Management
Anicet Ouedraogo, Georges
Sidibé-Anago, Alice
UKÄ Subject classification
Animal and Dairy Science
Veterinary Science
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-006-4428-y
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/9602