managmental studies of different liquid feeding regimes for nili-ravi buffalo calves

A liquid feeding trial was carried out at the dairy animals training and research centre, uvas ravi campus, pattoki, to explore effective methods for rearing nili-ravi buffalo calves using alternative feeding sources. twenty-four (n=24) buffalo calves were divided into three groups, with eight calves in each group, and fed for 90 days. the feeding regimes included whole milk (wm), milk replacer-vegetable protein (mr-vp), and milk replacer-milk protein (mr-mp), following a completely randomized design. data on daily dry matter intake, weekly weight gain, feed efficiency, fecal score and linear body measurements were collected and analyzed. mean daily dry matter intake (dmi) was significantly (p < 0.001) higher (991.89 ± 331.41gm) in calves fed wm and lowest in calves fed mr-vp (833.07 ± 297.64 gm). mean daily weight gain for wm, mr-vp and mr-mp groups was 227.18 ± 88.04, 135.34 ± 47.17, 189.72 ± 86.99gm, respectively. feed efficiency was highest (0.23 ± 0.08) in calves fed mr-vp, compared to calves raised on wm and mr-mp. daily fecal score were 1.75 ± 0.10, 1.70 ± 0.16 and 1.58 ±0.16 for mr-vp, mr-mp, and wm groups, respectively, showing no significant difference among treatments (p > 0.05). body measurement (height at withers, body length and heart girth) differed significantly among treatments (p < 0.05). the findings suggest the potential of milk replacer–vegetable protein source as a cost effective alternate for  whole milk in resource limited systems.