Effect of feeding sweet sorghum fodder on milk yield and composition of crossbred (HF x Deoni) cows

Abstract

The objectives of this study was to determine the effect of feeding sweet sorghum on yield and composition of crossbred (HF x Deoni) cow milk. Nine lactating crossbred cows of about same body weight and production were divided into three groups and allotted to three dietary treatments as follows 0 : 100 (T1), 50 : 50 (T2) and 75 : 25 (T3) sweet sorghum : maize fodder among green fodder on dry matter basis. Except green fodder variation, animals of all treatments were offered ad libitum sorghum straw and concentrate mixture according to their level of production. Dry matter intake ranged from 9.66 to 10.08 kg/day. Milk yield ranged from 5.34 to 5.40 kg/day with non significant (P Lass Than 0.05) differences under all treatments. Concerning to the milk properties, T2 group shows highest fat content (4.76%), whereas, T1 and T3 at par. SNF, TS, Protein, Lactose, Ash, Acidity were in decreasing trend, while moisture was in increasing trend. T2 group shows lowest specific gravity than T1 and T3 group. 75 sweet sorghum green fodder and 25 per cent maize green fodder had produced the milk of same quality. Also, offered two types of forage to dairy cows had good response on fat content than offering one type of forage.