Effect of urea treated maize stoverwith different levels of concentrate supplementation on growth, digestibility and nitrogen utilization in cattle

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of urea treated maize stover with different levels of concentrate supplementation on growth, nutrient digestibility and nitrogen utilization in cattle fed urea treated maize stover. Sixteen heifers aged 8-10 months, weighing 90-120kg were divided into four equal groups and randomly allotted to four dietary treatments for the growth trial. In the control ration, chopped, untreated maize stover fed ad libitum was supplemented with concentrate mixture at 2.0% of body weight (T1). For the test diets, urea treated maize stover was supplemented with concentrate mixture at 2.0, 1.5 and 1.0% body weight in groups T2, T3 and T4 respectively. Sixteen bulls aged 8-12 months with an average weight of 146kg were used for the metabolism trial. Urea treatment increased crude protein content from 4.5% in untreated stover to 9.4% in urea treated maize stover. Daily weight gain was not significantly different (P>0.05) among the treatment groups. T2, T3 and T4 treatment groups had better feed conversion ratio than T1 group. Dry matter digestibility was similar between bulls fed T3 and T4 rations. Bulls fed T2, T3 and T4 rations had higher crude protein digestibility (P>0.05) than T1. Neutral Detergent Fibre digestibility values were lower in T1 and T2 compared to T3 and T4. Total nitrogen output values were higher in T1 (P<0.05) compared to T2, T3 and T4 treatments. Therefore, feeding urea treated maize stover with concentrate supplementation enhanced feed intake, growth, nutrient digestibility and nitrogen utilization in cattle.