Leucaena planting on private land is increasing due to declining carrying capacity of native pastures in Timor Leste, and feeding 100% leucaena to cattle have started to be a common practice. However, feeding 100% leucaena for cattle fattening may not be economical, therefore it should be combined with crop residues such as maize stover, the most commonly available energy source in Timor Leste. The aim of this experiment was to determine feed intake, feed digestibility, rumen ammonia concentration and live weight gain of fattening Bali bulls feed different combinations of leucaena and maize stover. 12 male Bali cattle were allocated based on body weight into three treatment groups and each group fed either 100% leucaena, 75% leucaena and 25% maize stover or 50% leucaena and 50% maize stover.

This study aims to determine the botanical composition, percentage, and quality of plant feed given to cattle. The research was carried out in West Sumbawa Regency, using a survey method or direct observation in the field with a purposive sampling technique of 50 cattle breeders in Sumbawa Regency. The method used is by weighing the fresh weight of the whole feed given to the cows. Forage plants were observed by separating the plants based on their type, then identified each type of forage plant that has been separated using the help of the Plant Net application and followed by proximate analysis. The results showed that the botanical composition consisted of 19 types of forage plants, namely 6 types of legumes, 4 types of grasses, 2 types of agricultural waste, and 7 types of weeds. The percentage of forage feed respectively is legumes (53%), grass (43%), agricultural waste (3%), and others (1%). Leguminous feed was dominated by lamtoro (46.16%) and other legumes (6.37%). The quality of feed given to cattle is of good quality due to the dominance of forage legumes in feed with a crude protein content of 16.06%.

Water available for livestock in the tropical lowland region is generally high in acidity. This study determined the effects of the acid water on nutrient intake, water balance, and the growth of goats in the tropical environment. A total of nine Kacang goats were stratified based on body weight (BW) and assigned to three treatment groups which were offered drinking water at varying pH levels, namely 6.9, 5.2, and 3.8. All goats were offered ad libitum Asystasia gangetica hay and dried cassava chips at 1% of BW (dry matter (DM) basis) following a crossover design with three treatments tested in three periods. At the 5.2 pH level, drinking water intake (DWI) tended to be lower (P = 0.09) while total DM intake (%BW) was decreased (P < 0.05). Ruminal pH was significantly difference (P < 0.01)" 6.98, 6.94, and 6.58 at the 6.9, 5.2, and 3.8 pH levels, respectively. Metabolizable energy and daily gain tended to be higher at the 6.9 and 3.8 pH levels compared to those at the 5.2 level (P = 0.08). There were no significant adverse effects of acid water on nutrient intake, utilization, and growth of Kacang goats. Moreover, the increase in temperature-humidity index was followed by the elevated DWI (P < 0.01) at 6.9 pH level, but no such significant relationship was found at other pH levels that indicated a better capability of thermoregulation response under heat stress exposure.

Context. Supplementing a leucaena-based diet with locally available energy sources is an important strategy to extend the use of leucaena, increase live weight (LW) gain of Bali cattle and increase profit for the smallholder. Aims. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of various local energy supplements in leucaena-based diets on the LW gain of Bali cattle and income-over-feed costs (IOFC). Methods. Forty male Bali cattle were divided into five treatment groups (n =8) and each was fed one of the following diets: (A) control diet, including leucaena ad libitum, with corn stover at 0.5% DM LW and mineral mix, (B) control + cassava meal at 1.0% DM LW, (C) control + cassava peel at 1.0% DM LW, (D) control + cassava peel and corn grain mix at 1.0% DM LW or (E) control + commercial feed at 1.0% DM LW. The experiment was run for 140 days, which included a 20-day adaptation period. Parameters measured included intake, digestibility, imbibed-water intake, LW gain,rumen and faecal parameters, feed conversion and IOFC. Key results. Supplementation of local energy sources in combination with leucaena and corn stover diets increased LW gain of male Bali cattle above that of the control diet (P < 0.05). The bulls receiving the cassava peel and corn mix supplement had the highest LW gain (0.57 ± 0.09 kg/day), which was associated with an increase in digestible organic-matter intake (DOMI). There were no treatment differences (P > 0.05) in the rumen parameters(rumen fluid pH, rumen ammonia-N concentration and volatile fatty acids) and all parameters were optimum for rumen digestion. Conclusions. The addition of local energy supplements supplied at 1% of LW improved growth rate and extended the use of a limited amount of leucaena and provided a higher IOFC. Implications. Replacing approximately 40% of leucaena with energy sources can have three benefits, including an increase in LW gain, an increased capacity of farmers to feed more cattle per hectare and an increased income per cattle being fattened. This can increase the production scale and subsequent farmer income, provided that the energy sources are available at affordable prices and obtainable

Objective: The study was conducted to determine the marbling score, fat and meat color, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and physical–chemical content of male Bali beef fed fermented pineapple peel.

Materials and Methods: Twelve heads of male Bali cattle with an initial weight of 168.46 ± 11.95 kg were put into individual cages at random based on a completely randomized design with three treatments and four heads of Bali cattle as replicates, namely T0 = NG + (39% MC + 61% RB + 0% fermented pineapple peel)" T1 = NG + (10% MC + 70% RB + 20% fermented pineapple peel with yeast culture)" and T2 = NG + (15% MG + 65% RB + 20% pineapple peel fermented by lactic acid bacteria). The sample of Bali cattle meat used in testing the research variables was the LD muscle, with as many as 24 samples for each treatment. The data were analyzed based on the analysis of variance using the Statistical Product and Service Solutions software program, following Duncan's test with 5% confidence.

Results: The results showed that the treatment T2 could increase the marbling quality of the meat from 2.58% to 4.00%. The cholesterol content (80 mg/100 gm), HDL (60 mg/100 gm), LDL (10 mg/100 gm), water-holding capacity (36.10%), cooking loss (29.16%), tenderness/shear force (4.08 kg/cm2 ), crude protein (22.99%), crude fat (4.23%), and meat collagen (1.65%) were determined.

Conclusions: Adding 20% of fermented pineapple peel by lactic acid bacteria to the ration can improve the quality of marbling, produce cholesterol, and the physical–chemical value of meat that meets the Indonesian National Standard.

Research and government agencies in eastern Indonesia have identified 2 systems with potential to increase productivity and incomes of small-holder cattle producers: improved cattle feeding practices through forage tree legumes (FTL); and the development of more efficient and specialized cattle-fattening systems. Extensive research has been conducted on production and technical aspects of FTL-fattening systems, but there is a gap in research on economic incentives for households to adopt the systems. This paper provides an economic analysis of a leucaena-fattening system in a village in West Timor. It draws on trial data from associated technical research projects and detailed semi-structured interviews with farmers and other stakeholders to populate a bio-economic model built for the research. Under all measures of profitability, leucaena-fattening systems in representative households are profitable in the wet season. Importantly, ’returns to person days’ are higher than off-farm incomes. The activity generates cash income, increasingly required to meet cash expenses in modern rural Indonesian society. However, returns vary considerably between households, are considerably lower in the dry season and, as would be expected, are sensitive to relative prices of feeder and finished cattle.

There is a desire to increase cattle production on Sumbawa Island but anecdotal reports from farmers indicate that calf mortality can be high. The aim of this paper is to report the occurrence and common causes of calf mortality, as well as to determine if colostral antibody transfer is sufficient in new-born calves. Personal interviews were conducted with 27 farmers. Immunoglobulins were measured in neonatal calves (n=18) using the FASTest IgG Bovine kit. The presence of various pathogens was investigated in fecal samples from calves (n=12) with signs of diarrhea between 1-2 months of age using the FASTest D4T bovine kit and the presence of gastrointestinal parasites was investigated using fecal floatation from preweaned calves (3 weeks-3 months of age" n=62). From the questionnaire calf losses ranged from 10–27%, with most losses occurring in older calves. Only one of the 18 calves demonstrated an insufficient concentration of IgG in serum, indicating the possibility of failure of passive transfer from the dam. Of the samples tested from scouring calves, 7 out of 12 samples tested positive for one of the microorganisms causing general diarrhoea in calves. A range of different gastrointestinal nematode parasites were found although very few coccidial oocysts were seen. The results of these studies indicate that calf mortality is high and will be a limitation on the production of beef cattle for slaughter in the Dompu region of Sumbawa Island. Further investigation is required to determine which pathogens are the cause of this calf loss.