conducted in both the experiments. Feed offered, residues and feces were collected daily for DM and CP estimation (AOAC 2005). The dry matter intake (DMI) per 100 kg body weight was calculated. The gross energy (GE) was determined in pooled dry samples. The digestibility of DM and CP, digestible energy (DE) values were calculated and analyzed statistically (Snedecor and Cochran 1994).
3.2.2 Effect of Homemade Balanced Concentrate Feed on Milk Yield and Nutrients Intake in Crossbred Cows
For the development of ration, four low‐cost homemade balanced diets were prepared varying in composition of the different ingredients with locally available feed resources and crop residues available with farmers of different agro‐climatic zones of Bihar. Composition of diets has been given in Table 3.1. For the evaluation of the diets, 16 crossbred cows (HF × Indigenous) of similar parity (first and second), age (26–35 months), and body weight (365.2 ± 3.66 kg) were divided into four groups and fed concentrate mixtures I–IV, respectively at rate of 1 kg concentrate per 2.5 kg of milk yield plus 2 kg for maintenance as per the schedule followed by farmers in the region. Wheat straw and Sorghum fodder were offered ad libitum as source of dry and green fodder, respectively. The study was continued for 35 days during which daily milk yield and its compositions were estimated. Before the experiment, all the animals were fed balanced concentrate feed available in the market at the same rate as used in the experiment along with similar green and dry fodder. Pre‐experiment milk yield of each animal was recorded for 15 days, which was compared with the milk yield of experimental period for each group. Other feeding and management practices were the same. Daily feed offered and residues left were collected daily for DM and CP estimation (AOAC 2005). Body weight of each animal was recorded at the beginning and at the end of the experiment for two consecutive days. Based on these data, DMI per 100 kg body weight was calculated. Data were analyzed statistically (Snedecor and Cochran 1994).
Table 3.1 Composition of home‐made balanced concentrate mixtures.
| Ingredients | Concentrate mixture (% fresh weight basis) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CM‐I | CM‐II | CM‐III | CM‐IV | |
| Crushed maize/wheat/broken rice | 30 | 25 | 20 | 35 |
| Wheat bran | 15 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Rice polish | 0 | 0 | 15 | 20 |
| Deoiled rice bran | 15 | 20 | 10 | 0 |
| Mustard cake | 7 | 5 | 16 | 20 |
| Linseed cake | 12 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Lentil/arhar/gram chunies | 18 | 22 | 11 | 7 |
| Mineral mixture | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Salt | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| CP% (DM basis) | 18.04 | 17.99 | 18.60 | 18.63 |
| TDN% (DM basis) | 68.51 | 67.34 | 68.92 | 71.59 |
3.3 Results and Discussion
3.3.1 Effect of TMR on Milk Yield and Nutrients Digestibility in Crossbred Cows
The bio‐mass yield and protein content of different fodder crops used in the experiment are presented in Table 3.2. The productivity of cereal crop was observed higher than the leguminous forages in rainy season whereas opposite trend was observed in winter season. Number of cuts of fodder actually made the difference of biomass yield. The values on fodder biomass yield corroborate with the findings of Pandey and Roy (2011), Gupta and Dey (2015), and Gupta et al. (2016). The DM content of forages varied from 11.65 to 17.19% while CP content varied from 8.72 to 11.14% for cereal forages and 15.30 to 15.83% in leguminous forages. The DM and protein content of cereal (sorghum and oat) and leguminous (berseem and rice bean) fodder are in close agreement with the finding of Banerjee (2000), Gupta and Dey (2015), and Gupta et al. (2016). The minute variations in compositions may be attributed to variety of forage, soil quality, number of cuts, and management practices adopted. Feeding of TMR resulted in higher DMI (kg/100 kg body weight) by 15.92 and 2.41%, respectively in T1 group in both the experiments in comparison to group T2 where feeds were offered separately (Table 3.3). Significantly higher (p < 0.01) DMI was observed in T1 (TMR fed) during experiment 1 (rainy season) when multicut sorghum was used as green fodder. However, total DMI did not differ significantly between groups in experiment II (winter season). This may be attributed to the succulent form of forage oat and berseem which included both in TMR and separate feeding system. Higher intake of DM, CP, and DE was also observed by Khan et al. (2010) in crossbred cows fed densified complete feed. Gupta et al. (2016) observed that feeding of concentrate feed at 1.5% of body weight in TMR increased DMI in crossbred heifers. However, Kajla et al. (2019) reported that DM intake was nonsignificant in TMR and non‐TMR groups in crossbred cows. Similar results were also reported by Raja Kishore et al. (2013), who observed nonsignificant DM intake (kg/day) in TMR and non‐TMR fed buffalo bulls. This may be attributed to the sorting of feed ingredients by animals fed roughage and concentrate separately.
Table 3.2 Season‐wise production potential of different fodder.
| Particulars | Total forage yield (t/ha) | Average DM (%) | Average CP (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rainy season | |||
| Multicut Sudan (threecuts at 60, 105, and 145 d) | 74.78 ± 2.92 | 14.48 |
8.72
|