RESPONSE OF VARIED PROPORTIONS OF UREA TREATED RICE STRAW MIXED WITH NAPIER GRASS ON BUFFALO CALVES FATTENING

An experiment was conducted on buffalo calves at Baibhav Krishi Farm at Torikhet, Bharatpur-5 Chitwan under the supervision of Animal Nutrition Division, Nepal Agriculture Research Council, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal aiming to strengthen the commercial fattening practices of the buffalo calves. An experiment was done for 4 months, from March 29th to 26th of July of the year 2022 with the primary purpose to createlow-cost buffalo fattening technology that emphasizes feeding management. Sixteen buffalo calves including males and females both aged 3.5-6 months were selected for the experimental trial. 10 calves were taken from the farm and 6 more were purchased from nearby farms at Torikhet. The experimental trial was done in a Completely Randomized Design with 4 treatments each replicated four times. Urea treated rice straw (UTRS), Rice straw (RS), silage Napier grass, Urea Molasses Mixture Block (UMMB) and concentrate were taken as main feed ingredients. The treatment details were T1: Feed 1(RS 50%+Silage 25%+Green Grass 25%+Concentrate 0.75% of BW+40gm UMMB),T2: Feed2(UTRS 25%+Silage 25%+Green Grass 50%+Concentrate 0.75% of BW), T3:Feed 3 (UTRS 50%+Silage 25%+Green Grass 25%+Concentrate 0.75% of BW, T4: RS 25%+Silage 25%+Green Grass 50%+Concentrate 0.75% of BW+40gm UMMB). The dry matter requirement has been fulfilled at the rate of 3%of the body weight. The concentration was supplied at the rate of 0.75% of the body weight. Tagging was done on the buffalo calves and calves were vaccinated against FMD and HS. Buffalo calves were weighedfortnightly and feed was provided as per the body weight.The result showed that a significantly higher average daily gain (Kg) was found for T2 (0.54 kg) followed by T4 (0.37 kg), T3 (0.28 Kg), and T1 (0.26 Kg) respectively. On the basis of economic analysis the net benefit per animal was determined to be highest inthe T2 group fed with UTRS 25%,Silage 25%,Green Grass 50%, and Concentrate 0.75% ofthe BW as Rs.9731.16.Thusthe addition of UTRS 25%, Silage 25%, Green Grass 50% and Concentrate 0.75% of BW in a diet of buffalo calves can be safely used to enhance the growth performance for the buffalo calves fattening.