Huque et al., 1995. Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci., 8 (4): 337-342

Two feeding trials were conducted to determine the effect of molasses feeding on the growth performance of bulls. In the first experiment, a control diet comprising 970 g straw + 30 g urea/kg was compared with 'M150' and 'M300' diets in which [cane] molasses replaced straw on an equal-weight basis at 150 or 300 g/kg diet. The 3 diets were fed ad libitum to 3 groups of 5 bulls and the dietary responses were statistically analysed in a simple design. The bulls were daily given fishmeal (30 g/head) and wheat bran (0.5% of liveweight LW), and allowed to graze for 5 h/day. Molasses supplementation significantly (P<0.001) increased the dry matter intake (DMI) from 30.4 g/kg0.75 (control) to 35.8 (M150) and 42.9 (M300). Daily LW gain was significantly (P<0.05) higher for the M150 group (982 g) than for the controls or the M300 group. In the second experiment, a control group of 4 bulls was fed a straw diet, while 2 treatment groups of 4 bulls were fed a mixed diet of Leucaena leucocephala and Setaria splendida (1:1, DM basis), alone (LS) or (LSM) with molasses at 100 g/kg. The dietary responses were statistically analysed in a simple design. The bulls of the LSM diet had significantly (P<0.05) higher DMI, DM digestibility and LW gain (128 g/kg0.75, 663 g/kg and 419 g/day, respectively) than the bulls of the LS diet (98.3 g/kg0.75, 583 g/kg and 292 g/day); differences between the LSM group and the controls were not significant. It may be concluded that for profitable beef production from young growing bulls, molasses may be used as a supplement to straw at 150 g/kg diet or to forages at 100 g/kg diet.