Performance and economics of Vrindavani calves fed on various proportions of whole and skim milk

Abstract

A total of 24 crossbred (Vrindavani) calves were selected and allocated to four groups (6 per group) as control (C), treatment 1 (T1), treatment 2 (T2) and treatment 3 (T3). During the experimental period, the calves in C were fed only whole milk, whereas the calves in T1, T2 and T3 groups were fed skim milk at the rate of 25, 50 and 75% of total liquid feed, respectively from 22nd day of age. Proportion of skim milk was further increased to 50, 75 and 100% of total liquid feed requirement in T1, T2 and T3 groups, respectively from 45th day of age onwards. Finally, in all the treatment groups, 100% skim milk was fed from 64 to 72 days of age. The total body weight gain of calves was 24.90±1.24, 25.12±3.95, 25.37±3.02 and 26.42±2.30 kg for control, T1, T2 and T3 groups, respectively which differed nonsignificantly from each other. The average daily gain did not differ significantly for any week during the experiment. The calf starter intake was significantly higher in T3 group compared to C from 4 to 6 weeks of age but both the groups differed non-significantly with T1 and T2. The total dry matter intake and feed efficiency did not differ significantly between the groups. Inclusion of skim milk in replacement with whole milk reduced the feeding cost up to 23.95% in T3 group in comparison to control during milk feeding phase without any adverse effect on growth of crossbred calves.