EFFECT OF USING UREA TREATED STRAW OR ALFALFA HAY IN KARADI LAMB DIET

• Main Author: Salm Omar Raaof
• Format: Article
• Language: Arabic
• Published: College of Agriculture 2010-12-01
• Series: Mesopotamia Journal of Agriculture
• Online Access: https://magrj.mosuljournals.com/article_28015_208a7d0c0e6577eec125ef0f4883002a.pdf

This experiment was carried out in Grdarasha Farm , College of Agriculture, University of Salahaddin, Erbil, during 22/4/2008 to 2/7/2008. A total of 12 Karadi lambs of 5.5 – 6 months old weighting 29.12 kg were used in this investigation. The lambs were divided randomly into three groups (G1, G2 and G3) of 4 lambs each. All groups were fed a basal diet of 250 gm barley and ad libitum of either untreated straw (G1), treated straw with urea (G2) or untreated straw plus 200 gm of alfalfa hay (G3) to investigate the influence of these diets on lamb's growth. The result revealed that daily dry matter consumed by G1, G2 and G3 were 615, 650 and 645 gm, respectively. Lambs in groups 2 and 3 exceeded group 1(P<0.05) in average daily weight gains. The respective averages daily weight gains were 110, 139 and 133 gm . The results also indicated that groups fed hay and urea treated straw (G2 and G3) surpassed (P<0.05) the digestion coefficient of dry matter, organic matter, and crude protein and crude fiber of the group fed untreated straw (G1). Whereas, there was no significant differences in digestion coefficients of feed elements between G2 and G3. It was concluded that treated straw or adding alfalfa hay will improve lambs feeding efficiency compared to feeding untreated straw.