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Effect of urea on the rumen digestion in sheep of straw and grain fractions from whole crop wheat

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2017

D I Givens
Affiliation:
ADAS Feed Evaluation Unit, Stratford on Avon, CV37 9RQ, UK
A R Moss
Affiliation:
ADAS Feed Evaluation Unit, Stratford on Avon, CV37 9RQ, UK
A H Adamson
Affiliation:
ADAS Nutrition Chemistry Department, Bristol, BS10 6NJ, UK
A Reeve
Affiliation:
ICI Nutrition, Runcorn, Cheshire, WA7 2UP
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Extract

There has been Increased Interest 1n the making and feeding of whole-crop wheat (WCW) 1n recent years. WCW provides an alternative source of forage to grass silage, higher dry matter (DM) yields than grass and an alternative means of straw disposal. Conservation is often based on the Incorporation of urea which is hydrolysed to ammonia which preserves the crop without the losses associated with fermentation. Ørskov et al (19B3) have shown that urea applied to whole crop barley and oats at 60gkg-1 DM produced adequate crop preservation.

Since WCW is essentially a two component diet consisting of cell wall-rich straw and starch-rich grains, it is essential to understand the digestion characteristics of each. In addition, since urea has been extensively used to upgrade straws (eg Jayasurlya and Pearce, 1983; Williams et al, 1984) any upgrading effect of urea on WCW needs confirming.

Type
Rumen Metabolism
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Production 1992

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References

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