Performance of mashona cows reared on natural rangelands with non-conventional protein supplementation in the dry Season, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Performance of animals in smallholder farming systems is hindered by feed availability and feed costs that make up 60-70% of total variable cost in a farming system. The use of non-conventional feedstuffs is an alternative which can be adopted to minimize feeding costs. The study was conducted to evaluate performance of animals fed with supplements formulated on-farm in comparison with a commercial prepared supplement. Thirty Mashona cows were grouped according to age and subjected to five treatments, given twice a week from the 1st of September until 31st December for three subsequent years. The five treatment diets, beef survival meal (BSM), urea treated maize stover (UTS), Leucaena leucocephala meal (LLM), mixed forage meal (MFM) and natural pastures (NP) were randomly assigned to cows in a complete randomised design (CRD). Average weight gains were determined. Performance in the first year was not significantly different across treatments. In the subsequent years, performance remained low in the NP. Average weight gains increased in the second and third years and was significantly different across treatments (P<0.05). Performance of animals supplemented with non-conventional feed was comparable to those offered commercial BFM; hence LLM and UTS can be used as alternative protein supplements especially in resource-constrained farming systems.