Practice on improving fattening local cattle production in Vietnam by increasing crude protein level in concentrate and concentrate level

• Published in: Tropical animal health and production Vol. 45; no. 7; pp. 1619 - 1626
• Main Authors: Van Dung, Dinh, Ba, Nguyen Xuan, Van, Nguyen Huu, Phung, Le Dinh, Ngoan, Le Duc, Cuong, Vu Chi, Yao, Wen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer-Verlag 01-10-2013; Springer Netherlands; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Ammonia; Ammonia - metabolism; Animal Feed - analysis; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena - drug effects; Animals; average daily gain; Biomedical and Life Sciences; body weight; Cattle; Cattle - growth & development; Cattle - physiology; Cattle production; crude protein; Detergents; Diet - veterinary; Dietary Fiber - metabolism; Dietary Proteins - administration & dosage; Dietary Supplements - analysis; digestibility; Digestion - drug effects; Dry matter; feed intake; Feeding Behavior - drug effects; finishing; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; indigenous species; Life Sciences; Male; neutral detergent fiber; Nitrogen - metabolism; Nutrient concentrations; Nutrient retention; Organic matter; Oryza sativa; Random Allocation; Regular Articles; Retention; Rice straw; Rumen - metabolism; Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science; Vietnam; Weight Gain - drug effects; Zoology; Vietnam; Nitrogen retention; Vietnam; Local cattle; Concentrate intake; Crude protein; Digestibility
• ISSN: 0049-4747; 1573-7438
• DOI: 10.1007/s11250-013-0407-2

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of crude protein (CP) level in concentrate (experiment 1) and concentrate level (experiment 2) on feed intake, nutrient digestibility, nitrogen (N) retention, ruminal pH and NH₃-N concentration and average daily gain (ADG) of Vietnamese local fattening cattle. Animals (24 cattle, initial live weight (LW) 150.3 ± 11.8 kg in experiment 1 and 145.1 ± 9.8 kg in experiment 2) were allotted based on LW to one of four treatments in a randomised complete block design. In experiment 1, concentrate with four levels of CP (10, 13, 16 and 19 %) was fed at 1.5 % of LW. In experiment 2, concentrate was fed at 1.0, 1.4, 1.8 and 2.2 % of LW. In both experiments, roughage was 5 kg/day native grass and ad libitum rice straw (fresh basis). Results showed that the CP level in concentrate significantly affected dry matter (DM) intake (P < 0.05), N retention, ADG and ruminal NH₃-N concentration (P < 0.01), but it had no significant effect on DM, organic matter (OM) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) digestibility (P > 0.05), whereas CP digestibility increased (P < 0.001) along with the CP level. DM intake, N retention and ADG increased (P < 0.001) linearly with concentrate intake. DM and CP digestibility were not significantly affected by concentrate intake (P > 0.05). OM digestibility and NH₃-N concentration increased linearly (P < 0.05), whereas NDF digestibility and ruminal pH declined linearly with increased concentrate consumption (P < 0.01). These results indicate that 16 % CP in concentrate and feeding concentrate at the rate of 2.2 % of LW are recommendable for fattening local cattle in Vietnam.