Productivity of Ongole Cows and Calves under an Integrated Village Management System (IVMS) in East Java

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the productivity of ongole crossbed (PO) cows and calves managed by the Integrated Village Management System (IVMS). Key principles of the IVMS are weaning of calves at 5-6 months and strategic supplementation of breeding cows and early weaned calf using locally available feeds. In this study, village cows were fed a diet based on untreated rice straw, with supplementation using green feed and concentrates. Calf productivity was recorded by measuring birth weight, weaning weight, and calf mortality. Implementation of IVMS management with rice straw-based feed strategically supplemented with concentrate and tree legume produced good PO cow and calf productivity. Calving percentage was 61%, calf birth weight 25.1-26.1 kg, calf weaning weight 116 kg, calf mortality <3% and body condition score (BCS) of cow maintained at 3.2/5.