Jonabell S. Botas | Daniel L. Aquino
Discipline: Veterinary Medicine, Animal Science
The Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS) was used to predict the nutrient utilization and milk production of buffaloes under complete confinement system of management. Two hundred forty-three (243) lactation records of buffaloes were involved. The inputs of the model involved the age, live weight, body condition score (BCS), milk production, % milk fat, % milk protein climatic conditions and the actual feed ration used. Simulation results showed that age, number of lactation, live weight and calving intervals did not directly affect the actual milk production and nutrient utilization of the dairy buffaloes. Significantly higher metabolizable energy (9.88kg/day) and metabolizable protein (I3.80kg/day) allowable milk were predicted by the model compared to only 5.20 kg of actual daily milk production of the buffaloes. Using the actual ration, the model predicted 91 days for the buffaloes to gain a BCS of one while 70 days was needed if the CNCPS feed library was used. Significantly lower dry matter intake (12.8 vs 16kg/d) and forage intake (9.10 vs 10.3kg/d) were predicted by the model with a difference of 21% and 16% from the actual ration. Significantly lower metabolizable energy (33.85 vs 36.13Mcal/d) was supplied by the actual ration but on the contrary, the metabolizable protein supply (1,655 vs 1,556g/d) was higher than that in the CNCPS feed library. Significantly higher ME, MP and mineral (Ca, P and K) balances were observed from the two rations, indicating that more nutrients were supplied than what was required by the dairy buffaloes. The estimated manure and urine excretions were not significantly affected by the model predictions.
ISSN 2619-7731 (Online)
ISSN 2094-8271 (Print)
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