Abstract
Abstract
This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of rice bran (energy source) and palm kernel meal (protein source) or their combination supplementation on liveweight change, body dimension and condition score of Donggala bulls given corn stover. The experiment used a completely randomised block design with 4 treatment and 7 replicates. Twenty eight of Donggala bulls were randomly allocated to 4 treatments. The treatments were (1) corn stover (CS), (2) CS added 1% body weight (W) dry matter (DM)/day of rice bran (RB), (3) CS added 1% W DM/d palm kernel meal (PKM) and (4) CS added 1% W DM/d RBPKM (1:1). Observed parameters were average daily gain (ADG), body dimensions, and body condition score (BCS). Analysis of variance showed supplementation of energy and protein sources significantly (P<0.05) increased ADG, chest girth and BCS of Donggala bulls. Height at withers and body length of the bull was not affected (P>0.05) by treatment. Addition of RB or PKM significantly increased ADG, chest girth and BCS. The highest increases in ADG, chest girth and BCS were resulted in RBPKM supplementation. It is concluded that supplementation of energy in combination with protein increased growth performance of Donggala bulls fed low quality forage.