Study on the fattening the yak and yak-cattle crossbreed in the agro-pastoral transition zone in Linxia Prefecture of Gansu Province

An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of fattening yak and yak-cattle crossbreed fed in the sheds in agro-pastoral zone, Linxia Prefecture of Gansu Province. The results indicated that the best time for fattening the yak and yak-cattle crossbreed in Linxia was from Dctober to March, when the livestock show high adaptation to local environments. The daily body weight gain and the body weight rate of the yaks fed with diet Ⅰ were significantly (P0.05) improved by 32.43% and 5.04%, respectively, in comparison with those of the control. The daily body weight gain and the body weight rate of the yaks fed with diet Ⅱ were significantly (P0.05) improved by 26.98% and 3.81%, respectively, in contrast to those of control. The daily body weight gain and the body weight rate of the yak-cattle crossbreeds fed with diet Ⅰ were significantly (P0.05) improved by 29.26% and 6.94%, respectively, in comparison with those of the control. The daily body weight gain and the body weight rate of the yak-cattle crossbreeds fed with diet Ⅱ were significantly (P0.05) improved by 28.82% and 6.21%, respectively, in contrast to those of control. It can be concluded that, fattening the yak and yak-cattle crossbreed with concentrates in shed is a good integrated economic-ecological system, which can not only promote the economic incomes for the livestock-fattening farmers in agro-pastoral zone of Linxia, but also increase the off-stock rates of grazing livestock and reduce the grazing pressures in the pastoral areas.