Effect of Feeding Cottonseed Meal on Nutrient Utilization, Blood Biochemical Profile, Cell Mediated Immune Response and Growth Performance of Buffalo Calves

Background: Due to increased price of soybean meal, dairy farmers are seeking suitable and viable alternate protein supplement to soybean meal for economic ration formulation. Thus, a study was conducted to evaluate the effect of inclusion of cottonseed meal (CSM) as an alternate protein source in growing buffalo calves.
Methods: A total of 12 buffalo calves aged approximately 6-12 months with 149.88±9.93 kg average body weight were randomly assigned to three treatment groups with four calves each, designated as control (C), T1 and T2 groups. Soybean meal (SBM) in concentrate mixture fed to C group was replaced by cottonseed meal (CSM) at 75 and 100% level on w/w basis in T1 and T2 groups, respectively. The duration of study was 120 days. Result: The digestibility of nutrients in T1 and T2 groups was similar to of C group. The total nitrogen intake, N outgo and N balance varied non-significantly among C, T1 and T2 groups. The blood metabolites and cell mediated immune response in T1 and T2 groups were similar to that of C group. The average daily gain in T2 group was numerically higher than other groups. It was concluded that CSM could replace SBM upto 100% on w/w basis in the concentrate mixture without any adverse effect on growth, nutrient utilization, blood biochemical profile, cell mediated immune response and growth of calves.