| Penulis/Author |
Dr. Moh. Sofi'ul Anam, S.Pt., M.Sc. (1); Prof. Dr. Ir. Ali Agus, DAA., DEA., IPU., ASEAN Eng. (2) ; Dr. Ir. Sigit Bintara, M.Si., IPU., ASEAN Eng. (3); Ir. Andriyani Astuti, S.Pt., M.Sc., Ph.D., IPM., ASEAN Eng. (4) |
| Abstrak/Abstract |
The poor quality of available feeds has become a significant constraint for livestock production in tropical countries. For the cattle breeding
business, feed cost is the primary economic consideration. Feed supplementation to improve the nutritional value of low-quality resources
would be of interest. Each dietary protein or essential micromineral, such as selenium (Se), has positively affected cattle pregnancy. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of dietary protein enrichment with Se inclusion on blood metabolite and pregnancy rate of Brahman crossbred cows. A total of sixty Brahman crossbred cows (mean body weight 394 ± 62.04 kg, aged 3–4 years, had at
least calved once) were divided into two dietary treatment groups (n = 30/group). The treatments were: (1) low crude protein (LCP; 12.46%
CP); (2) high crude protein + organic Se (HCP + Se; 16.22% CP + 2 mg/kg Se) on dry matter basis were formulated referring to NRC recommendations. The feed offered was calculated on an as-fed basis. Feeding treatment was conducted for four months. Blood serum collection
and estrous synchronization were carried out after three weeks of dietary treatments. The estrous cycle was synchronized using 5 ml prostaglandin F2a (injection via intramuscular). Artificial insemination (AI) using post-thawed frozen Belgian Blue bull sperm was conducted at
8-12 hours from estrous detection. The cows’ pregnancy was diagnosed by transrectal palpation 60 days after AI. The data were analyzed
with an independent sample T-test. All statistical analysis was performed with IBM SPSS Statistics (version 20) predictive analytics software. The result showed that serum urea (40.23 vs 32.85 mg/dl), blood urea nitrogen (18.80 vs 15.35 mg/dl), calcium (11.35 vs 9.83 mg/dl),
phosphor (3.36 vs 2.79 mg/dl), and selenium (9.48 vs 6.62 mcg/100 ml) were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in cows consuming high protein
with high Se (HCP + Se). The serum glucose, protein, albumin, cholesterol, triglyceride, creatinine, uric acid, and iron were similar among
the two dietary treatments (ns). In addition, the pregnancy rate in the HCP + Se group was higher (16.67% vs 6.67%) than in the LCP group.
The present study concludes that high protein enrichment with Se increased the serum urea, calcium, phosphor, blood urea nitrogen, selenium and improved the pregnancy rate in Brahman Crossbred cows. |
