The effect of concentrate supplementation during pregnancy on calving performance in oil palm-cattle integrated system

Abstract

To reduce production costs, cows should be maintained extensively in the pasture all or half day. Concentrate addition is needed especially for the last period of pregnancy. The study evaluated the performance of cows maintained semi-intensively with concentrate addition. Fifteen Bali cows ca. 3 years old in 6-7 months of pregnancy were divided into two groups. P1 was given forage grown under oil palm trees with addition 1 kg concentrate/head/day, P2 were given 3 kg/head/day. During the research, cows were grazing in the pasture from 6:00 to 17:00, then put in a cage at night with additional 1 or 3 kg concentrate. P2 group resulted 17.48% and 15.8% higher DMD and OMD, respectively, compared with P1 (P<0,05). DM and OM consumption increased 52.23% and 50.87%. Addition of 1 kg or 3 kg did not show differences in cow performances, including cow body condition score, birth weight, calf score, except for birth weight. It was concluded that the addition of 1 or 3 kg of concentrate at the end of pregnancy did not give any effect; from the economic point of view, it is recommended to add only 1 kg concentrate during the last period of pregnancy.