Chemical composition and digestibility of urea-calcium hydroxide treated barley straw, date palm frond and corn cobs with and without molasses

F. Mohamad, S.; Hassan, A.A.

	Chemical composition and digestibility of urea-calcium hydroxide treated barley straw, date palm frond and corn cobs with and without molasses
Al-Anbar Journal of Veterinary Sciences
Article 1, Volume 5, Issue 1, 2012, Pages 103-115 PDF (1.07 M)
Authors
S. F. Mohamad; A.A. Hassan
Abstract
The objective of this work was to study the effect of supplementation molasses to urea-calcium hydroxide treated barley straw, date palm frond and corn cobs, using urea (0, 2, 4 and 6%) plus calcium hydroxide (0, 2, 4 and 6%). within an ambient temperature range from 30 - 37Co with a storage time of 3 week (4 treatments) then supplement with 10% molasses on dry matter basis. Treated barley straw with urea and calcium hydroxide affected significantly (P<0.01) the nitrogen content from 5.43 to 11.28 g/ kg DM, Dry matter In vitro digestibility (IVDMD) from 39.110 to 43.646% and Organic matter In Vitro digestibility (IVOMD) increased from 40.055 to 42.305%, the metabolizable energy (ME) was increased from 6.01 to 6.05 MJ/kg DM and total digestible nutrient (TDN) improved from 43.43 to 50.98%, the lignin content was decreased significantly (P<0.01) from 88.710 to 66.343 g/ kg DM. Furthermore the best treatment which gave better improvement in nitrogen content, IVDMD, IVOMD, TDN and ME was associated with combination of 6% urea and 6% calcium hydroxide. It was found that date palm frond treated with urea and calcium hydroxide brought about increased significantly (P<0.01) nitrogen content from 1.50 to 11.58 g/ kg DM, IVDMD from 30.661 to 43.480%, IVOMD from 36.495 to 42.210% and ME from 5.48 to 6.33 MJ/ kg DM, the lignin content was lower (P<0.01) from 107.500 to 98.591 g/ kg DM. 4% urea plus 4% calcium hydroxide treated date palm frond were effective in increasing (P<0.01) IVDMD, IVOMD and ME. Treatment corn cobs with urea and calcium hydroxide improved (P<0.01) the nitrogen content (from 0.57 to 10.43 g/ kg DM), IVDMD (from 28.091 to 36.591%), TDN (from 45.26 to 46.97%), IVOMD and ME increased (P<0.05) from 35.207 to 38.669% and 5.28 to 5.80 MJ/ kg DM respectively, while lignin content was lower (P<0.05) from 54.211 to 50.868 g/ kg DM. A level of 6% urea and 6% calcium hydroxide treated corn cobs significantly increased the nitrogen content, IVDMD, IVOMD and ME. The result indicated that the effect of supplementing 10% molasses to barley straw, date palm frond and corn cobs with level 4 and 6% of the best urea and calcium hydroxide treatment respectively improved nitrogen content, IVDMD, IVOMD and ME.

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