Comparative Study of Feed Conversion Ratio and Digestibility Between Native and Crossbreed Cattle
Masturi, M., Abd. Latief Toleng and Muhammad Yusuf
Laboratory of Animal Reproduction, Faculty of Animal Science, Hasanuddin University, Indonesia
Abstract
Artificial insemination technique has being applied in crossing native breed (Bali) cattle of Indonesia with some exotic breeds. The crossbred offspring has a higher body weight in compared to the native breed. It is not known whether the different of body was due to the different of feed conversion ratio or digestibility of the animals. This study was conducted to compare the feed conversion ratio and digestibility between Bali (native breed) cattle and its crossbred with the exotic breeds. Two breeds (5 Bali and 5 Crossbred) young male, 1.5 – 2.5 years old, were used in this study. The animals were kept in an individual barn for 3 months and fed with rice straw (40 %) and concentrate (60 %). Body weight were measured every 2 weeks and feed consumption was measured every day. Feed conversion ratio were calculated. At the end of the experiment, the feces were collected and digestibility of protein, fat and crude fiber were measured. Daily gain and feed consumption ratio of Bali cattle was significantly lower (P<0.05) in compared to those in crossbred cattle (0.43 vs 0.77 kg and 6.65 vs 10.57 kg, respectively). Therefore, the feed conversion ratio was not significantly (P>0.05) different between the two groups (17.4 vs 14.99). There were no significant different (P>0.05) in the digestibility of crude protein, fat and crude fiber between the two breeds (73.62 vs 76.76, 64.7 vs 68.91 and 50.37 vs 56.25, respectively). It can be concluded that although body weight gain in Bali cattle was significantly lower in compared to that in crossbred cattle, however, feed conversion ratio and digestibility were not significantly different between the two breeds.
Keywords: Bali cattle, Crossbreed cattle, Feed Conversion Ratio, Digestibility
Topic: Animal reproduction