Effect of formaldehyde treated protein on blood hematology in Surti buffalo heifers

With an aim of' ascertaining the effect of feeding formaldehyde (HCHO) treated (bypass) protein on blood metabolites. A total of 20 Surti buffalo heifers of 19-21 month of age with mean body weight (165±5.43) were divided into 4 homogenous groups. Individual feeding of all the animals was followed with basal diet containing 5 kg green roughage, dry roughages ad lib along with required quantity of compounded concentrate mixture (CCM). The animals were offered with the concentrate mixture containing different level of HCHO treated protein and designated as CON (control; CCM), FT-25 (CCM containing HCHO treated bypass protein @ 25%), FT-50 (CCM containing HCHO treated bypass protein @ 50%) and FT-100 (CCM containing HCHO treated bypass protein @100%). Among blood metabolites, level of urea nitrogen and thyroid hormones showed an improvement (P<0.05), while aspartate aminotransferase exhibited a tendency (P=0.072) towards the reduction, due to HCHO treatment of dietary protein. Overall it is concluded that feeding of formaldehyde treated (bypass) protein in buffalo heifers could favorable impact on blood metabolites.