A study of the effect of different types of rations on the quality of milk, milk yield and the general condition of milch buffaloes

Summary

• (1) Amongst the localGaolies and cultivators there is a belief that if milch animals are fed with oil-cakes instead of cotton seed, there is a deterioration in the quality of the milk although the milk yield may remain unaffected.

• (2) Some feeding experiments were therefore conducted to test the effect of two different types of rations on the milch cattle (buffaloes), one consisting of groundnut cake in combination withtur chuni andjuar meal and the other consisting of cotton seed in combination with linseed-cake andtur chuni.

• (3) Results obtained show the following:-

• (a) Inclusion of cotton seed in the ration fed to which buffaloe does not show any particular advantage over a ration consisting of groundnut cake andjuar meal, in so far as the general health and individual weights of the animals, and of the calves at birth, are concerned.

• (b) Average daily milk yields of the various animals were neither adversely affected nor particularly improved by the exclusion or inclusion of cotton seed in their daily diet and no characteristic variations in the percentage of fat in the milk were observed. These results are significant as they definitely show that the quality (commonly understood as the percentage of fat) of the milk is not in any way lowered by the exclusion of cotton seed from the diet,

• (c) Cotton seed, however, significantly affects the characteristics of the butter fat by increasing its melting point, and by lowering the proportion of the volatile water-soluble and insoluble fatty acids contained in it.

• (4) These results further establish the important fact that market samples of genuine butter andghee should ordinarily give a much higher Reichert-Meissl value than the minimum of 19.0 fixed under the C.P. Prevention of Adulteration Act of 1919, and in this respect they therefore confirm the results previously obtained by Plymen.¹