A rapid and precisemethod for the determination of urea

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of different dietary protein levels on the performance, nutrient balances, blood biochemical parameters and thyroid hormones of crossbred calves. Thirty crossbred (Bos taurus×Bos indicus) calves aged 3-5 months were divided into 3 equal groups of 10 each and fed graded levels of crude protein, namely 100 (NP), 75 (LP) and 125 (HP) percent of the Kearl recommendations for 105 d. The calves had access to ad libitum oat hay as the basal roughage. A metabolism trial of 6 d duration was conducted at 90 d of the study. Blood collection and its analysis for various hematological and biochemical parameters as well as thyroid hormones was done both during the pre- and post-experimental periods. The fortnightly body weight changes and the net gain did not differ significantly due to dietary variation. The average daily gain was 367±21.6, 347±22.9 and 337±26.4 g in calves fed NP, LP and HP diets, respectively. Averaged across the feeding trial, oat hay intake was higher (p 0.05) on feeding of the LP diet besides showing an increasing trend with the advancement of age. Considering the similar performance and metabolic profile, it could be concluded that crossbred calves can be satisfactorily reared on 25% lower protein level as recommended by Kearl for developing countries, which would not only economize the cost of production but also help to reduce environmental pollution attributable to livestock production.

Effect of Dietary Protein Levels on the Performance, Nutrient Balances, Metabolic Profile and Thyroid Hormones of Crossbred Calves

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of protein and energy on goats fed oil palm fronds (OPF) as roughages. Twenty-four male Saanen goats aged between 7 and 8 months and weighing 23.4±1.6 kg were used in a 2×3 factorial design. Factors were three levels of urea (3%, 4% or 5%) and two levels of energy (low energy (LE) or high energy (HE)). On average, all parameters measured, including dry matter intake (DMI), nutrient digestibility, digestible nutrient intakes, ruminal ammonia-N (NH3-N), ruminal total volatile fatty acid (total VFA) and individual VFA concentrations (mM/L), microbial N supply, P/E ratio and N retention were higher for HE compared to LE diets. Significant (p<0.05) interactions were found between levels of urea and energy for non- structural carbohydrate (NSC) and energy (DE) digestibilities, ruminal NH3-N and total VFA concentrations. HE diets had higher N absorption and retention than LE diets. Interactions between urea and energy for plasma urea nitrogen (PUN), heat production (HP), and urine and faeces N excretion were significantly lower (p<0.05) for the HE diets than those recorded for the LE diets. The results indicated that supplementation of energy enhanced utilization of urea and resulted in higher animal performance as a consequence of improved ruminal fermentation, microbial yield and N balance. However, the optimal level of urea supplementation remained at 3% in

Utilization of steam-treated oil palm fronds in growing saanen goats: II. Supplementation with energy and urea

Eighteen Suffolk wether lambs (BW = 24 kg) were chronically exposed to temperatures of cold (2°C) or warm (22°C). The experimental design consisted of a 2×3 factorial with a single crossover of environment treatment. The sheep were closely shorn and were housed in individual metabolic crates in controlled environment rooms. Sheep consumed pelleted diets ad libitum, which consisted of mainly barley grain and brome grass, and diets contained 7, 11 or 14% crude protein (CP). Animals were catheterized via one jugular vein with a PVC catheter and received a single injection of 60-65 Ci of ( 14 C)urea. Plasma urea-N (PUN), urinary urea (UU), and carbon specific radioactivity were measured. Urea metabolism was not affected by environment. Percent urea recycling and urea space clearance were highest (p<0.05) on the low nitrogen diet. Urea pool was increased (p<0.10) for the 14% CP diet. Both UU and PUN concentration were positively related (p<0.01) with diet CP content. Therefore, dietary CP content significantly influenced urea metabolism, however, cold exposure did not alter those parameters. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2005. Vol 18, No. 6 : 795-801)

Urea kinetics in wethers exposed to different ambient temperatures at three dietary levels of crude protein

Five male dairy goats (Saanen), 4.6 month old with a body weight of 21.4 (SD±1.6) kg, were used to examine 5 dietary urea treatments in a 5×5 Latin Square experimental design. The five levels of urea were 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 g urea/kg DM of steam-treated oil palm fronds (OPF) and dry matter intake tended (p>0.05) to increase with increasing urea supplementation up to 30 g/kg OPF (77.7 g/kg BW 0.75), but decreased (p<0.05) with 40 and 50 g urea/kg OPF (67.4 and 63.7 g/kg BW 0.75, respectively) supplementation. Similarly, dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber and hemicellulose digestibilities increased (p<0.05) with the addition of urea to 30 g/kg OPF but thereafter decreased (p<0.05) with 40 and 50 g/kg OPF. Ruminal pH, ruminal NH 3-N concentration and plasma urea concentration increased linearly (p<0.01) and quadratically (p<0.01) as a consequence of addition of urea to the diet. Excretion of total purine derivatives (PD) by goats fed 30 g of urea/kg OPF was highest (p<0.05) followed by goats fed 20, 40, 10 and 50 g of urea/kg OPF. Microbial N (g N/day) and efficiency of microbial N supply expressed as g N/kg organic matter apparently digested in the rumen were higher (p<0.05) in goats fed 30 g of urea/kg OPF (5.5 g N/day and 22.0 g N/kg DOMR, respectively) than in goats on 10 and 50 g of urea/kg OPF treatments. However, the former did not differ from goats fed 20 g of urea/kg OPF (3.9 g N/day and 16.6 g N/kg DMOR, respectively). Ruminal VFA concentration, protein/energy ratio, N absorption and N retention increased (p<0.05) with the addition of urea to the diet up to 30 g/kg OPF but decreased (p<0.05) with 40 and 50 g/kg OPF. This implies that the optimal level of urea supplementation in an OPF based diet was about 30 g urea/kg OPF.

Sangsoo Sun

Papers

Urea kinetics in wethers exposed to different ambient temperatures at three dietary levels of crude protein

Impact of Ambient Temperature and Dietary Crude Protein in Wethers: Nitrogen Metabolism and Feed Efficiency