Wheat Straw and Urea in Pelleted Rations for Growing-Fattening Sheep

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Abstract
AN experiment was conducted with 30 growing-fattening Awasi sheep to study the effect of different levels of urea supplementation on feed intake, body weight gain, carcass quality and nutrient utilization of rations containing 45% wheat straw. Three groups of 10 lambs each received urea supplementation at levels of 0, 0.75 and 1.5% of ration during the first 30 days, and for the remaining 60 days the urea levels were 0, 1.5 and 2.0%. The control ration contained soybean meal as protein supplement. All rations were isonitrogenous and pelleted. Animals were fed ad libitum. The average daily gain and daily feed intake during the 90-day growth trial did not show any marked difference between groups and the average values were 0.132 kg and 1.6 kg, respectively. The feed requirement was lowest for the 1.5% urea fed group. The results of three metabolism trials with nine sheep selected at random (three from each group) indicated no significant difference in the digestibilities of dry matter, crude protein, crude fiber, nitrogen free extract and energy among rations. Percent nitrogen retained out of that absorbed tended to decline as the proportion of urea increased in the rations. Metabolizable energy in the rations did not show any change. Blood glucose and ruminal ammonia level decreased and increased, respectively, at each increase in the level of urea in the rations.

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