The effect of using chickpea straw and strawberry forage in the diet on performance and digestibility of fattening calves

This research was conducted to study the effect of chickpea straw and strawberry forage in the diet of fattening calves. Eighteen Simmental male calves with initial weight of 285.16±38.15 kg were used in a completely randomized design with three diets over a four-month fattening period. Three diets were adjusted based on 70% concentrate and 30% forage. The forage section in the control was 18% alfalfa and 12% wheat straw, the second treatment was 25% strawberry plant, 3% alfalfa and 2% wheat straw and the third treatment was 25% chickpea straw and 5% alfalfa. The digestibility of diets was determined by acid-insoluble ash method. The use of strawberry forage and chickpea straw had no effect on feed intake and performance of calves. The digestibility of dry matter and organic matter in diet containing chickpea straw was higher than other complete feed blocks, however, the digestibility of NDF and ADF was higher in diets containing chickpea straw and strawberry forage than control . The feed conversion ratio in the group receiving chickpea straw was better than the control group. The cost price per kilogram of complete feed containing strawberry forage and chickpea straw were 20.2 and 24.57% lower than the control, respectively, which resulted in a reduction in feed cost per kilogram of increased calf weight compared to the control group. The results of this experiment showed that the use of strawberry forage and chickpea straw as a forage portion up to 25% in the diet reduced the cost of calf fattening.