MILK YIELD AND COMPOSITION OF PREPARTUM BUNAJI COWS SUPPLEMENTED WITH AGROINDUSTRIAL BY-PRODUCTS IN SMALLHOLDER DAIRY PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

Abstract

Twenty cows gestating Bunaji cows, balanced for their weight and parity, were submitted to four treatments: T1, range grazing, (RG); T2, RG + 100% corn bran (CB); T3, RG + 60% CB + 40% palm kernel cake (PKC), and T4, RG + 60% CB + 40% dried brewer’s grains (DBG) in an on-farm experiment in a complete randomized design. Mean milk offtake (kg/day) at 3 months, 6 months and weaning were lower (P < 0.05) in   cows on T1 than T2, T3 and T4 (0.60 vs. 0.77, 0.93 and 0.95), (0.41 vs. 0.52, 0.60 and 0.62) and (0.26 vs. 0.33, 0.41 and 0.43), respectively. Mean milk yields at 3 months, 6 months and weaning, 4% FCM and total milk yield throughout lactation were superior (P < 0.05) in  T3, T2 and T4 compared to  T1  (2.91, 3.16 and 3.29 vs. 2.53 kg/day), (2.53, 2.68 and 2.68 vs. 2.29 kg/day) and (2.16, 2.28 and 2.31 vs. 1.79 kg/day), (3.22, 3.48 and 3.59 vs. 2.57 kg/day) and (532.66, 577.29 and 591.31 vs. 435.94 kg), respectively. Among the supplemented cows, the above  mentioned milk parameters were lower (P < 0.05) in T2 and  higher in T4. Time to peak milk production and milk constituents were similar (P > 0.05) among the treatments. Total milk offtake and peak milk production significantly varied among the treatments; the rank order  was: T1 < T2 < T3 < T4 (all P < 0.05). Milk yield was largely an inverse linear function of month of lactation (r = -0.98, P < 0.001). Results indicate that strategic supplementary feeding of pregnant cows in an on-farm situation will improve the  lactation performance of  cows, and quality of concentrates used as supplement should be prioritized