The Weight Gain and Growth of Crossbred Bulls Fed Locally Inspired Supplements Compared with Current Feeding Systems in Village Smallholdings in Malang, East Java

Abstract

Growth rates of cattle in village smallholder farms are often low (0,2-0,5 kg/d) due to the ration formulation not meeting the nutrient requirements for cattle to achieve their potential live weight gain. This experiment aims to determine the growth of crossbred bulls fed a range of supplemented diets using local products comparing them to current traditional feeding system. This village was conducted in Kucur village, Dau sub-district, Malang. Fifyt cross bred aged between 1.5-2 years were allocated into five treatments; cassava-based diet by recent ACIAR-UB experiment (T1), commercial concentrate (T2), YaYa diet (T3), Santos diet (T4) and current feeding system (CFS) by smallholder farmers (T0) as the control. Cassava-based diet (T1) consisted of 50% cassava, 25% copra meal (CM) and 25% palm kernel cake (PKC). Local concentrate (T2) was bought from local cooperative in Malang. Yaya diet (T2) consisted of 30% cassava, 20% corn cob, 20% copra meal, 20% palm kernel cake and 10% rice bran. Santos diet (T4) consisted of 40 % corn cob, 20% palm kernel cake 20% rice bran, and 20% wheat pollard. Control treatment (T0) was 1 kg wheat pollard a day which was the general current feeding system by local smallholders. The experiment found that cassava-based diet (T1) supplementation showed the highest body growth compared to the other diets.