Comparison of fattening performance in Brahman grade cattle (Bos indicus) and crossbred water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) fed on high roughage diet

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the fattening performance in Brahman grade cattle (crossbred cattle) and crossbred water buffalo at the same young age and fed with high roughage based fattening rations in the Philippines. Ten crossbred cattle and 10 crossbred water buffalo, aged between 18 and 24 months old were used in this experiment. The animals were fed diets consisting of 85% Napier or Para grass and 15% concentrate mixture (CM) on a dry matter (DM) basis. The grass, total DM intake and bodyweight gain were significantly (P < 0.01) higher for the crossbred water buffalo than for the cattle. There was no species significant difference in the digestion coefficient and feed conversion rate between the crossbred cattle and water buffalo. The return over feed cost for fattening was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in the crossbred water buffalo than in the cattle. These results clearly indicate that under high roughage-based fattening rations, young crossbred water buffalo are better able to utilize the roughage and they perform better in terms of feed intake and live weight gains than the crossbred cattle in the Philippines.

Comparative nutrient utilization, growth, and rumen enzyme profile of mithun (Bos frontalis) and Tho-tho cattle (Bos indicus) fed on tree-leaves-based ration

“…This showed that mithun had higher intake of nutrients than Tho-tho cattle, and higher intake of nutrient resulted to increased growth rate in this species of animal. When buffaloes were compared with cattle in many experiments, similar results of higher DM intake in buffaloes than cattle were recorded (Kennedy 1990;Ichinohe et al 2004;Lapitan et al 2008), and higher DM intake is responsible for higher growth rate of animals (Trach and Thom 2004;Lapitan et al 2008). Paul et al (2003) reported that DM intake was significantly lower in buffaloes than cattle.…”

“…This was again supported by the fact that the digestibilities of different nutrients were comparable between two species of animals. Some workers reported higher cellulose digestibility in buffaloes than cattle (Wanapat et al 2000;Ichinohe et al 2004), whereas others did not observe any difference (Lapitan et al 2008). In this experiment of comparison between mithun and cattle, no such difference was noticed in the rumen liquor.…”

“…Reid et al (1990) reported that the digestibility of crossbred cattle and crossbred water buffalo were comparable, but the average daily gains were significantly higher in the crossbred buffalo than the crossbred cattle. Literature supports the view that there is increased growth in one species than the other without improving the digestibility (Reid et al 1990;Lapitan et al 2008). One of the probable cause is the reduction of digestibility of nutrients as a proportion of intake, when feed intake is increased.…”

“…The higher growth rate in mithun than in cattle in the present study may be due to the increased intake of concentrate and roughage by mithun compared with cattle, which resulted to higher crude protein and energy intake. Similarly, Lapitan et al (2008) reported higher growth rate in buffaloes compared with cattle, and this higher growth rate was because of increased DM intake. Nutritive values of the ration during the digestibility trial indicated that both the species were meeting the requirement as per the NRC (2001) for cattle.…”

Eating and rumination behaviour in Brahman grade cattle and crossbred water buffalo fed on high roughage diet

“…Part of this work has been briefly published by Lapitan et al (2008). The diameters of muscles involved in mastication were also measured to associate its development for feeding behavior and nutrient digestibility, supplementing our understanding on better animal performance.…”