DRIED RYEGRASS (LOLIUM PERENE) GROWN IN COMBINATION WITH BERSEEM LUCERNE AS A REPLACEMENT FOR CONVENTIONAL CONCENTRATE MIXTURE IN THE RATION OF BUFFALO BULL CALVES

Sun-cured ryegrass + berseem hay (T-1) and ryegrass + lucerne hay (T-2 ) were incorporated in the concentrate mixture, of growing buffalo bul l calves, and evaluated on the basis of in vitro digestible organic ma tter. The average digestibility of DM, OM, CP and EE in the control an d two treatment groups were not different significantly. The digestibi lity of CF and ADF were higher (P<0.05) in the 2 treatment groups as c ompared to control, but between the 2 treatments, the differences were nonsignificant. The average daily gain of calves was 521, 542 and 534 g in control, T-1, and T-2 groups respectively. The N-retention and v oluntary DM intake were similar in all the experimental groups. The re placement value of ryegrass + berseem (T-1), and ryegrass + lucerne ha y (T-2) for 1 kg conventional concentrate mixture was 1.25 and 1.26 kg , respectively, based on in vitro digestible organic matter. The buffa lo bull cakes can be economically reared by replacing hay on bajra sil age based rations provided the CF content of pooled ration is below 25 %.