Abstract:
Two investigations were carried out in Turiani division to assess the feeding practices and their effect on the performance of lactating dairy cows kept by smallholder farmers under zero grazing system. Investigation 1, aimed at evaluating the nutritional values of the feeds commonly fed to dairy cattle and performance of lactating cows under different feeding practices. Twenty four lactating dairy cows within their 1st to 2nd month after calving were selected from smallholder dairy farmers whereby feed intake and milk yield were recorded for a period of 28 days. Investigation 2 aimed at testing an appropriate feeding practice for the lactating cows in the study area. A total of 24 lactating cows of similar status as above were randomly allocated to three feeding practices (P1, P2 and P3) in a completely randomized design (CRD). Cows on P1 were raised on a feeding practice normally used by the farmers whereas those in P2 were supplemented daily with 3.89 kg DM of a home made concentrate formulated to contain 16.26% CP and 13.67 MJ ME/kg DM on top of practice P1. Cows on P3 were fed similar to those on P2 plus 5 kg DM/d of fresh local forages. Feed intake, milk yield, body weight gain, costs of supplementation and income generated were recorded for a period of 45 days. The average CP (%) and ME (MJ/kg DM) of the available feeds were 11.54 and 6.94 for forages and 13.79 and 10.48 for concentrates, respectively. Performance of animals in Investigation 1 in terms of milk yield and average body weight gain were 6.5 l/cow/d and 16.5 g/d, respectively. The daily DMI (kg/d), CP (g/d) and ME (MJ/d) intake from both forages and concentrate in Investigation 1 were 10.79, 1306.11 and 85.98, respectively with the deficit of 49 ME/d and 671.9 g CP/d. In Investigation 2, the daily mean DMI was higher (P < 0.05) for cows on P3 (19.29 kg) than those on P1 (12.31 kg) and P2 (14.43 kg). The daily mean milk yield was higher (P < 0.05) for cows on P3 (13.68 l) than those on P1 (8.5 l) and P2 (10.9 l). The profit margins due to different feeding practices (Tsh/cow/d) were higher in P3 (4907.27) than P2 (3077.27) and P1 (1660). It is concluded that cross bred lactating cows under smallholder dairy farmers in Turiani are underfed for both basal and concentrate diets. The tested feeding practice (P3) where cows are fed 4.2 kg of concentrate and forage ad libitum could increase milk production and profitability of the dairy enterprise.
