Studies on growth performance of crossbred heifers on feeding of silage prepared from sorghum and bamboo leaves

This study evaluated growth performance of crossbred heifers on feeding of silage prepared from sorghum and bamboo leaves. Total twenty seven heifers were randomly assigned to three dietary treatments for 90 days: T1 (100% sorghum silage), T2 (50% sorghum + 50% bamboo leaves silage) and T3 (100% bamboo leaves silage). Animal performance parameters including feed intake, dry matter intake and growth performance was recorded. Results indicated that T2 showed significantly higher feed intake (19.63 kg/day), DMI (7.06 kg/day) and body weight gain (30.21 kg), compared to T1 and T3. T2 also led to superior growth in body length, height and chest girth. These findings support the use of bamboo leaves in combination with sorghum to enhance silage nutritive value and heifer performance.