INFLUENCE OF SUPPLEMENTATION OF FALLEN APPLE ON THE PERFORMANCE OF LACTATING COWS

The present study was conducted to evaluate the influence of supplementation of feeding fallen apple on the performance of lactating cows. Eighteen multiparous dairy cows (2-4 lactation number) were divided into three groups based on the average milk yield. The animals in the group-1(6 cows, average milk yield of 7.34 kg per day,control group- C) where fed maize fodder, concentrate mixture as per the requirement, while the animals in the group-2(6 cows, average milk yield of 7.35 kg per day, Apple fed group, T1) were fed maize fodder, concentrate mixture as per the requirement and chopped fresh fallen apple 4 kg per animal per day, while the animals in the group-3 (6 cows, average milk yield of 7.37 kg per day, Urea treated apple fed group, T2) where fed maize fodder, concentrate mixture as per the requirement and 4% urea treated fallen apple 500g per animal per day. The milk yield in lactating cows of C, T1 and T2 were comparable and did not vary significantly. There were no significant differences in the haematological parameters of C, T1 and T2 groups. Dry matter intake (DMI) was similar among the three groups. Average fortnightly body weight were not statistically significant among the three experimental groups. It was observed that apparent digestibility coefficients (%) of dry matter, organic matter, ether extract, neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre were comparable among the three groups. The milk yield, dry matter intake, fortnightly body weight changes, digestibility of the nutrients were also not statistically significant among the threegroups. Hence, it is concluded that the supplementation of fallen apple and urea treated apple on the lactating cows did not affect significantly the intake and digestibility of nutrients as well as milk production and its composition.