Description
Balanced concentrate mixture feeding is essential for dairy animals because a single concentrate like maize, barley or oat and oilseed cake alone cannot meet the requirements properly. If a single concentrate, such as maize, sorghum, or barley is considered for feeding of 400 kg lactating buffalo yielding 10 litres milk, about 7 Kg grain will be needed to provide the protein requirement. Inferior quality hay or straw roughage is not only costly but also harmful. Similarly when high protein oilcake like groundnut and till cakes are sued as single concentrate, the excess of protein is wasted and the ratio between protein and carbohydrate is also disturbed which affects milk production.
A balanced mixture is usually prepared in such a manner that 3.5 to 4 Kg of it may support 10 litres of milk production. Normally in dairy animals this mixture is fed at rate of ½ of the milk yield (one Kg of concentrate mixture for every two litres of milk).