Influence of concentrate supplementation on performance of goats on rangeland: An on-farm study Mahanta S.K.*, Pailan G.H., Pachauri V.C., Verma N.C. Plant Animal Relationship Division, Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi - 284 003, India *Reprint request: Dr. S.K. Mahanta, Tel: +91-517-444385; Fax: +91-517-440833; E-mail: mahanta@igfri.up.nic.in
Abstract An on-farm study of 105 days duration was conducted on 14 local male goats (3–4 months old; 8.64 ± 0.54 kg BW) to demonstrate the beneficial effects of concentrate supplementation on growth performance of grazing animals to the farmers. Goats, divided into 2 groups (G1 and G2) of 7 each, were allowed to graze on rangeland for a period of 8 h/day. Animals of G1 group received no supplementary feed, while animals of G2 group were given a concentrate mixture (consisted of barley, mustard cake, wheat bran, mineral mixture and common salt; 40: 30: 27: 2: 1) @ 1.0% of their body weight. The mouth grab samples of pasture contained 11.1% CP and 42.2% ADF. Average daily gain was 17.6 and 39.4 g in G1 and G2 groups, respectively and the variation between the groups was significant (P< 0.01). The additional income due to additional inputs (Rs. 435.47) in G2 as compared to G1 was Rs. 651. Providing concentrate supplement @ 1.0% of the body weight to grazing goats appears to be profitable under field conditions. Top Key words Goats, Grazing, Supplementation, Growth, On-farm study. Top |