ECONOMIC RETEURN OF FATTENING BALADI AND BUFFALO CALVES UNDER PREVAILING SYSTEM IN EGYPT | ||||
| Journal of Animal and Poultry Production | ||||
| Article 2, Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2012, Page 21-28 PDF (478.54 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/jappmu.2012.82761 | ||||
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| Author | ||||
| Amal K. El Asheeri* | ||||
| Dept. of Animal Production, Fac. Agric., Cairo University, Giza, Egypt. | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Thirty calves of Baladi and Buffalo (n=15/genotype) were used in this work to study daily gain, feed conversion and economic efficiency of both genotypes. Calves were purchased from local market with body weight of 229 – 238 kg. Calves were kept tied in a semi open yard and fed on concentrate feed mixture and rice straw throughout the fattening period. Initial body weight of Baladi and buffalo calves was similar averaging 231.4 ± 1.9 and 232.6 ± 1.0 kg, respectively. Calves were allowed to grow up to the final body weight of 400 kg. Calves were weighed monthly to record the body weight and determine feed requirements of each animal. Growth curve, average daily gain (ADG) and total weight gain were recorded as growth traits, while fattening period, cost of producing one kg gain, cost of producing one kg meat were calculated as economic parameters. Growth curve of the two studied genotypes indicated no significant difference between Baladi and Buffalo calves within the first three months of fattening period. Afterward body weight of Baladi calves increased significantly (P< 0.001) compared to buffaloes. Baladi and Buffalo calves reached the target final body weight (398.9 ± 2.6 kg and 400.3 ± 1.5 kg, respectively). Fattening period of buffalo calves (252.7 ± 5.7 day) was significantly (P<0.0001) longer than that of Baladi (185.7 ± 7.4 day) by about 67 day. This is due to the higher (P<0.0001) ADG of Baladi (0.93 kg) compared to buffaloes (0.67 kg) by about 38.8 %. Total running costs of fattening buffalo calves significantly (P<0.0001) increased than that of Baladi ones by about 35.9 %. Feed conversion rate of buffalo calves (13.1 kg dry matter) is significantly (37.9 %, P<0.0001) higher than of Baladi calves (9.5 kg) to reach to the target body weight of 400 kg. Cost of producing one kg weight gain in buffalo calves (LE 15.4) is higher than that of Baladi calves (LE 11.2). The corresponding cost of producing one kg meat was LE 23.8 and 35.9 for Baladi and buffalo calves, respectively. In conclusion fattening of buffalo calves between 230 to 400 kg is less feasible compared to Baladi calves, due to high cost of producing one kg gain and one kg meat. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Buffalo; Baladi; daily gain; feed conversion; economic parameters | ||||
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