Rice straw, cassava by-products and tree legumes provide enough energy and nitrogen for liveweight maintenance of Brahman (Bos indicus) cows in Indonesia

Abstract

The aim of this experiment was to test the effectiveness of two diets in increasing liveweight (LW) and body condition score (BCS) of Brahman cows in Indonesia. Diets were based on rice straw, with additional energy and nitrogen (N) provided in the form of onggok (a cassava by-product) plus urea or a tree legume. Thirty mature, non-pregnant, non-lactating Brahman crossbred cows (288 kg LW, BCS 2/5) were allocated to one of two treatment groups. Cows were kept in individual pens for 21 weeks and offered one of two diets; (1) urea-supplemented rice straw ad libitum plus 10 g onggok DM/kg LW.day, or (2) untreated rice straw ad libitum plus 5 g onggok DM/kg LW.day and 5 g Gliricidia sepium DM/kg LW.day. The urea supplement provided no advantages over using locally available N sources such as gliricidia, with both supplement types meeting the rumen-degradable N requirements of the cows. Cows on both diets gained weight at a similar rate (0.19 kg/day) for the first 15 weeks of the experiment. Liveweight gain in Weeks 16–21 was only 0.04 kg/day, despite an increase in total feed intake and energy content of the diets compared with Weeks 1–15. Liveweight of cows stabilised during Weeks 16–21 at 304 kg, BCS 2.2. While our results demonstrate that Brahman cows can maintain LW on rice straw-based diets, they may not be able to maintain a BCS sufficient for good reproduction rates (i.e. BCS 3 or higher on 1–5 scale). Better quality diets containing higher levels of energy are required for cows to gain and maintain a suitable BCS.

Nutrient Yield of Brown Hemp and Its Utilization as Protein Source in Concentrate on Brahman×Thai-Native Cattle Performances

“…No differences in total feed intake were found in Ongole cross (Bos indicus) cows (318 ± 12 kg LW) fed rice straw ad libitum with supplemented four levels of legumes (Gliricidia sepium and Leucaena leucocephala) (0, 11, 21, and 42 g DM/kgW 0.75 day) for 20 weeks (Syahniar et al, 2012). Similarly, Antari et al (2014) reported that there was no significant differences in total DM and ME intake or rice straw intake between mature Brahman (Bos indicus) cows fed on two different diets of fed rice straw and onggok plus urea or gliricidia in Indonesia. Onggok is a fibrous cassava by-products left after starch has been extracted from the tuber, whereas gliricidia is a leguminous tree belonging to the Fabaceae family.…”

Reproductive Performance of Beef Cattle Raised Under SPR Program in Tegal Regency

“…It has been confirmed that the adequacy of cow nutrition has an impact on reproductive performance (Antari et al, 2014;Mayberry et al, 2014). Inadequate nutritional intake for cattle makes cattle body reserves run out and body condition decreases (Diskin andKenny, 2016, 2014).…”

“…Beef cattle are usually operated by farmers and aim for cow-calf operation or fattening (Agus and Widi, 2018;Ekowati et al, 2018). Some studies have informed that the productivity (reproductive aspect) of beef cattle kept by smallholder farmers is still relatively low, especially in the reproductive aspect (Antari et al, 2014;Dahlanuddin et al, 2016;Agus and Widi, 2018).…”

Management strategies to improve reproductive performance of Brahman cross cattle (Bos indicus) in East Java, Indonesia

“…Improved BCS and nutrition may also have improved corpus luteum viability and embryo survival. For smallholders, high quality green feeds (such as gliricidia, sesbania, leucaena) are a good source of protein (Antari et al 2014a) and highly digestible energy to increase reproduction performance.…”

“…Brahman cattle have a large mature size and a faster growth rate (Tatman et al 2004) than local Indonesian cattle (e. g. Bali (Bos javanicus) and Ongole (Bos indicus) breeds), when they are managed well and kept in good condition. However, Brahman cows also have higher maintenance energy requirements compared to local cattle (Antari et al 2014a;Antari et al 2014b), and many smallholder farmers have reported problems with low growth rates and long inter-calving intervals (Ciccioli et al 2003). This means that farmers invest considerable amounts of time, labor and money before they have a calf ready for sale.…”