author(s)
Rachel Jemimah E, P Tensingh Gnanaraj, T Siva Kumar, A Gopinathan and S Meenakshi Sundaram

abstract
A study was conducted to assess the growth performance of Tellicherry crossbred female kids fed with varying levels of hydroponic maize fodder. 24 Tellicherry crossbred femalekids aged around 4 months were randomly selected and allotted into three treatment groups namely, control (100% concentrate mixture), treatment 1 (75% concentrate & 25 % hydroponic maize fodder) and treatment 2 (50% concentrate & 50% hydroponic maize fodder) consisting of eight animals each. The study was conducted for a period of8 months.Phase feeding was followed as per NRC. During the study, initial body weight, final body weight, overall weight gain, average daily gain, body condition score, dry matter fed and intake per day and feed conversion efficiency were recorded to assess the growth performance. Economics were calculated for the entire study period.Hydroponic maize fodder supplemented groups had significantly (P<0.05) higher final body weight and total weight gain than the control group. Though the hydroponic fodder supplemented groups had significantly (P<0.01) higher total cost of feeding/animal from 4 months to 1 year of age (Rs.), numerically they had the lowest cost of production/kg live weight gain (Rs.) than the control group. No statistical differencewas noticed between the groups in terms of initial body weight, average daily gain, body condition score, dry matter fed and intake per day, feed conversion efficiency and cost of feeding per animal per day (Rs.). To conclude, the weight gain in the Tellicherry female kids can be enhanced by supplementing hydroponic maize fodder at 25% and 50% level with the added advantage of the reduced cost of production/kg live weight gain.