Effect of cattle urine vs 4 % urea treated rice straw feeding on milk yield, straw intake and dung output in Jersey crossbred cows in the hills of Nepal

摘要

The rice straw plays a dominant role in feeding the large ruminants in Nepal, It is considered as a basal diet and makes up a large proportion (60 %) of the cattle and buffalo feed (Dhaubhadel et al, 1991, LARC Seminar Paper 28), Rice straw is fed throughout the year. However, it is fed mostly from November to June (hungry-gap period) when herbage growth is minimum. Urea treatment of straw and its use as animal feed is practised to some extent on government farms in Nepal, Whilst, at the farmer's level the use of urea as a source of non-protein nitrogen (NPN) is still in its initial stages due to a variety of constraints. A trial was conducted at LARC (1650 m asl) between February and March 1992 to investigate whether cattle urine (T1) could be a possible source of non protein nitrogen to replace urea (T2).