Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
2420911 | Animal Feed Science and Technology | 2007 | 10 Pages |
Abstract
The average voluntary DM intakes were 5.56, 5.92 and 5.81Â kg/day for untreated, urea and ash treated rice straws, respectively, and the mean differences were not significant. Values for DM and organic matter (OM) digestibility of ash treated rice straw (0.633 and 0.684) were higher (P<0.01) than those of urea treated (0.579 and 0.643) and untreated (0.559 and 0.617) straws. Neutral detergent fibre (NDF) digestibility of WAE (0.726) and urea (0.689) treated straws were higher (P<0.05) than untreated (0.606) straw. Calcium concentrations in the blood plasma of steers fed WAE treated (94.8Â mg/l) and untreated (99.3Â mg/l) straws were lower than those fed on urea treated rice straw (104.9Â mg/l). Values of urinary excretion of calcium by the steers fed on WAE (1.88Â mg/l) and urea (1.74Â mg/l) treated straws were lower (P<0.05) than those fed on untreated (5.93Â mg/l) straw. Magnesium concentration in the blood and urine of steers fed on WAE treated rice straw (20.5 and 104.7Â mg/l) were lower (P<0.05) than in those fed on untreated (28.7 and 660Â mg/l) and urea treated (29.6 and 628Â mg/l) rice straw. The blood sodium level was not influenced by the treatments, though the urinary excretion of sodium was lower (P<0.05) for steers fed on WAE treated (620Â mg/l) than those fed on urea treated (1689Â mg/l) and untreated (1049Â mg/l) straws. It is concluded that wood ash extract is effective in improving the nutritive value of low quality roughage and short time feeding of WAE treated straw has no detrimental effect on the mineral concentration in the urine and blood of the animals.
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Authors
G.H. Laswai, J.D. Mtamakaya, A.E. Kimambo, A.A. Aboud, P.W. Mtakwa,