EFFECT OF FEEDING HYDROPONIC MAIZE FODDER ON RUMEN FERMENTATION PARAMETERS IN EARLY LACTATING CROSSBRED COWS.

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of feeding hydroponic maize fodder as replacement of concentrate (on DM basis) in early lactating crossbred cows on rumen fermentation parameters. Fifteen crossbred dairy cows in early lactation (within 10 days of calving) were divided into three groups of five animals each and were allotted randomly to the three dietary treatments Tl - Concentrate (BIS, 2012), T2 - 1 Kg concentrate is replaced by hydroponic maize fodder on dry matter (DM) basis and T3 - 2 Kg concentrate is replaced by hydroponic maize fodder on DM basis. Green fodder was the sole roughage in all the three treatments. The experimental period was for ninety days. Rumen liquor was collected at the beginning and end of the experiment and analyzed for pH, total volatile fatty acids (TVFA) and rumen NH3-N. The results revealed that there was no significant difference in pH and TVFA among the three treatments at beginning and end of the experiment except in rumen NH3-N, which was significantly (p<0.05) lower in T3 (22.07mg/100ml) at the end of the experiment compared to Tl (31.49mg/100ml) and T2 (28.66mg/100ml). This lower rumen NH3-N in T3, might be due to better protein utilization by rumen microbes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]