Effect of urea ammoniated and urea supplemented water soaked wheat straw in adult sheep.

摘要

Fifteen adult ewes were divided into 3 groups which were fed urea ammoniated wheat straw (T1, control), urea supplemented wheat straw soaked in water overnight (T2) or wheat straw soaked overnight only (T3) ad libitum. A preliminary feeding trial of 35 days was followed by a 6-day metabolism trial. It was shown that crude protein (CP) increased in T1 (8.19%) and T2 (10.98%) compared to T3 (2.94%). Organic matter (OM), ether extract (EE) and crude fibre (CF) contents were similar between treatments. Neutral detergent fibre (NDF) were similar in T2 and T3 but was reduced by about 6.27% in T1. Neither urea ammoniation nor supplementation improved the palatability of wheat straw. However, CP intake was significantly higher in T1 and T2 compared to T3. Dry matter (DM), OM, CF, nitrogen free extract (NFE), total carbohydrate and NDF digestibilities were similar in all treatments. CP digestibility was highest in T2, followed by T1 and lowest in T3. Nitrogen balance was negative in all treatments. There was also a gradual loss in body weight in animals in all groups. These results indicate that feeding only urea ammoniated wheat straw without any energy supplementation can not met the maintenance requirements of adult sheep..