Assessment of feeding urea ammoniated wheat straw on growth performance, feed intake and nutrient utilization in crossbred calves reared under stall-fed or grazing condition

A K Misra*, U R Mehra and R S Dass

Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar 243 122, U P, India
*Livestock Production and Management, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500 059, India
akmishra@crida.ernet.in

Abstract

A study was conducted to assess the effect of feeding urea ammoniated wheat straw (UAWS) on growth rate, feed intake and nutrient utilization in crossbred calves reared under stall-fed or grazing condition. Sixteen male crossbred calves were divided into four groups of four calves each.  Two groups were maintained under stall-fed condition and offered untreated or urea ammoniated wheat straw while other two groups have 6 to 7 hour access to grazing and supplemented with untreated or urea ammoniated wheat straw. The calves of all the groups were provided their 25 % of their TDN requirement through de-oiled rice bran (DORD). This feeding practice continued for a period of 135 days.   

Significant improvement in dry matter intake was observed due to feeding of ammoniated wheat straw both under grazing as well as stall-fed condition. Ammoniation of the straw and access to grazing resulted in increases in live weight gain and in digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, ether extract and cell wall constituents. 

Key words: Ammoniated wheat straw, crossbred calves, grazing, growth performance and nutrient utilization

Introduction

The important constraints in the productivity of livestock resources of India are inadequacy of feed and fodder resources. The cereal crop residues and agricultural by-products are the major feed resources for animal production in India. The major factor that limits animal production from these feed resources is nutritional imbalance (Misra et al 2006). They are low in nitrogen and high in fibre and lignin, characteristics that restrict intake and digestibility in animals (Smith 2002). Large numbers of animals are allowed for grazing on common property resources (CPRs) like village grazing lands, forestlands, village site, threshing grounds, roadsides, banks of river and canal, community waste/degraded lands in India. About one fifth of the households are dependent on CPR land for grazing of their livestock (NSSO 1999).

In Andhra province of India, 91 percent of households depend on grazing on common lands for an average of 35 percent forage supply (ISPA 1997). About 31 percent of livestock forage in India as a whole comes from common grazing resources (World Bank 1999). The quantum of forage obtained through grazing varies from region to region depending on the pressure on the grazing lands (Misra et al 1999). However, the productivity of animals maintained on grazing is greatly constraints due to low quantity and imbalanced quality of nutrients particularly energy and proteins. Efforts to improve production include supplementation to make up the deficient nutrient intake from grazing or to increase the intake of low quality pastures and crop residues under stall-fed conditions by facilitating optimum rumen fermentation (Devendra 1997; Misra et al 1999; Singh and Prasad 2002).

Urea ammoniation has been found to be most promising and practical chemical method for improving the nutritive value of crop residues (Yadav and Yadav 1989; Devendra 1997; Singh and Prasad 2002, Chenost and Kayouli 1997) for ruminants. It increases the palatability, digestibility and adds a significant amount of nitrogen into the straw (Singh and Prasad 2002; Verma et al 2006). Several studies (Misra et al 1999; Devendra 1997; Singh and Prasad 2002; Verma et al 2006) have reported significant increase in live weight gain of animals fed urea treated straw. Very few studies have been conducted to observe the effect of feeding urea treated straw on calves maintained under grazing conditions. The objective of the present study was, therefore, to assess the effect of feeding urea-ammoniated wheat straw (UAWS) on growth rate, feed intake and nutrient utilization in crossbred calves reared under stall-fed or grazing condition.

Materials and methods

The study area

The study was conducted at Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, situated at 170.6 m above MSL on 28⁰22' N latitude and 79⁰24' E longitude in the Northern upper Gangetic Plain of India, having an annual rainfall of 900-1200 mm. The region is having the deepest soil in India and constitutes the wheat and the rice bowls of India. Wheat and rice being the main cultivated crops, their straws form the basal diet of ruminants in the area and are fed throughout the year. During the study period, the mean minimum ambient temperature ranged from 6.95 to 13.29 ⁰C and maximum temperature ranged from 21.88 to 29.84 ⁰C, with an average ambient temperature of 17.2⁰C. The relative humidity of the location during the experimental period ranged from 68.36 to 76.39 %. The total rainfall received during the experiment was about 74.2 mm.

Ammoniation of straw

Ammoniation of wheat straw was done with four per cent urea (w/w) and 40 per cent moisture for three weeks (ICAR 1985). Weighed amount of wheat straw was treated with urea solution (40 kg in 400 litre water per 1000 kg straw). This treated straw was packed in the cemented pit and finally the pit was sealed with black polythene sheet to develop anaerobic condition. The pit was opened after three weeks from one side to take out the straw. The average ambient temperature at the time of treatment of straw was 23.79 ⁰C. Urea-ammoniated wheat straw was aerated for 24 hrs prior to feeding to facilitate the escape of free ammonia

Animals, treatment and feeding management

 The experiment was conducted on sixteen male crossbred calves (Holstein Friesian x Jersy x Haryana) of about 6-7 months of age with an average body weight of 64.6 kg. They were randomly divided into four groups of four calves each and were provided with 25 per cent of their TDN requirement through de-oiled rice bran (DORB) as per NRC (1989). The calves were maintained on the following feeding schedule:

The amount of DORB varied from 650 to 950 g/calves/day depending upon the weight of the calves. It was adjusted at fortnightly interval to provide 25 % of the TDN requirement. The mineral mixture (2 kg) and common salt (1 kg) was fortified per 100 kg DORB.

The dominant grass species in roadside and natural pasture were Heteropogon contortus, Bothriochloa pertusa, Brachiaria mutica, Chloris barbata, Cynodon dactylon, Dichanthiam annulatum and Leucaena leucocephala. The calves were housed individually in well-ventilated clean and dry pucca pits. They were let loose for about 6-7 hours daily for exercise (WS and UWS) or grazing (WSG and UWSG). Proper health coverage and preventive measures were followed throughout the experimental period. All the calves were provided clean drinking water twice a day.

Growth and digestibility trial

A growth trial for a period of 135 days was conducted from November to March (winter season). At the end of 125 days feeding trial, six days conventional digestibility trial was conducted for stall-fed calves. Simultaneously for grazing calves, digestibility trial was conducted using faeces collection bags. Nutrients intake through grazing was determined by indirect method using acid insoluble ash (AIA) as an internal indicator (Shrivastava and Talapatra 1962). The calves were weighed at fortnightly intervals for two consecutive days during the feeding trial and at the beginning and end of the digestibility trial before offering the feed and water.

Analytical techniques

The feed and faeces samples were analysed for proximate principles (AOAC 1990). The cell wall constituents, acid detergent fibre (ADF) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) were analysed using methods described by Goering and Van Soest (1970). Acid insoluble ash (AIA) was determined according to Van Keulen and Young (1977). Mineral extracts of feed, faeces and urine were prepared (AOAC 1990) and analysed for Ca and P (Talapatra et al 1940).

Statistical analysis

The data were subjected to analysis of variance for a 2*2 factorial design to determine the treatment effects and their interaction (Snedecor and Cochran 1981). The factors were access to grazing or not and feeding of untreated wheat straw or urea ammoniated wheat straw.

Results and discussion

Chemical composition

The average crude protein (CP) content of untreated wheat straw (UWS) was 2.97 %, which was raised to 9.65 % due to ammoniation with decrease in NDF and hemi-cellulose contents (Table 1).

The crude fibre (CF) and ADL content remained unaltered whereas ADF and cellulose content were increased. The increase in CP content after ammoniation varied greatly in different studies. The low increase in CP content through ammoniation in the present study was may be due to drying of straw before feeding. Sundstol et al (1978) reported that one third of the added N is bound during ambient ammoniation of crop residues and the rest is lost when materials are aerated before feeding. Increase in ADF and cellulose content in ammoniated wheat straw might be due to solubilization of hemicellulose by the action of ammonia evolved from urea. The CP and NFE content of DORB were 16.7 and 55.1 %, respectively and constituted supplemental source of energy and protein. The CP content of pasture herbage was 14.7 %, which was about four times higher than that of wheat straw. The CF content of pasture herbage was about half than that of wheat straw, indicating that quality of pasture herbage was good.

Intake, digestibility and growth performance

Significant (P<0.01) improvements in live weight gain, DM intake and digestibility were observed due to feeding of ammoniated wheat straw both under grazing as well as stall-fed condition (Table 2).  Significant increases in growth rate,  DM intake and digestibility were also observed in the calves that had access to grazing, probably, because of stimulatory effects of the grass on rumen function as was demonstrated by Gutierrez and Elliott (1984). These researchers showed that, in stall-fed sheep,  supplementing  a basal diet of sisal (Agave fourcroydes) pulp with fresh pasture grass increased by almost 50% the digestibility of cellulose in the rumen as well as the DM intake. The beneficial effects on growth rate of ruminants by ammoniating cereal straws is well documented (Chenost and Kayouli 1997).

Conclusions

• Access to grazing of good quality pasture improved the growth performance of crossbred calves fed either untreated or ammoniated wheat straw, as compared to stall-fed calves.

References

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Received 9 August 2006; Accepted 22 September 2006; Published 1 November 2006

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