Guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.) Meal in the Diet of Growing Karan-Fries Cattle: Effect on Certain Blood Metabolites
Keywords:
Alternative feedstuffs, blood metabolites, guar meal, groundnut cake, Karan-Fries cattle, unconventional feedstuffsAbstract
The raising costs of conventional feed ingredients warrant a search for untapped alternative feedstuffs. In the present experiment, the effect of incorporation of graded levels of guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.) meal (GM) on some blood metabolites was studied in twenty male Karan-Fries growing cattle of 6-12 months of age (average body weight: 96.58 kg), randomly divided into four groups of five animals each. All the animals were offered an isonitrogenous and isocaloric hand-mixed total mixed ration comprising of concentrate mixture, green maize, and wheat straw in a 40:40:20 ratio on a dry basis. The control group contained groundnut cake (GNC) in the concentrate mixture (T0), whilst in groups T1 and T2, GM replaced 50 and 75% of GNC, respectively. In addition to the T2 ration, animals in T3 were supplemented with commercial sweetener and flavour, each at 0.025% in the concentrate mixture. Over 90 days of the feeding trial, blood samples were drawn at the beginning and end of the trial. Results revealed that the concentrations of glucose, blood urea nitrogen, as well as total immunoglobulins were statistically non-significant (P > 0.05) in animals belonging to all four groups. Therefore, it was concluded that incorporation of GM at 50 and 75% replacement of GNC, corresponding to 10.5 and 15.75% in the concentrate mixture, respectively, had no adverse effect on blood metabolites in the growing cattle.
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