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Treatment of barley straw with mixtures of calcium hydroxide and urea : Effect on intake and digestibility in sheep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2017

Md. Shahiduzzaman  and
E. Owen
Md. Shahiduzzaman
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Earley Gate, Reading RG6 2AT
E. Owen
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Earley Gate, Reading RG6 2AT
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Extract

Calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) is widely available in Third World countries because of extensive limestone deposits. Previous studies (reviewed by Owen et al 1984) have shown Ca(OH)2-treated straw to be prone to mouldiness and low intakes. Urea was added to Ca(OH)2 in the present study to inhibit mould and supply nitrogen. Two experiments are reported which investigated the amounts of Ca(OH)2 and urea required for improving intake and digestibility of barley straw in sheep.

Forty Suffolk x Mule store lambs (20 castrates, 20 ewe lambs) aged 8 months were used to measure intake and digestibility of 5 straws (Table 1) in a randomized block experiment, with blocking according to weight and sex. Animals were fed restricted concentrates (Table 1) and ad libitum straw (allowing refusals of 25% of intake) over a period of 35 days, with collection of faeces over the last 8 days. For treatment, straw was chopped, mixed with chemical solutions (Table 1) in a concrete mixer, and “ensiled” for 60 days (September & October) at 500 g dry matter (DM) per kg, in plastic bags contained in 45-gallon oil drums. Straw was aerated for 3 days before feeding. Untreated straw was simply chopped before feeding.

Type
The Utilisation of Agricultural Crops and By-Products for Industrial and Animal use in Britain and the Third World
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Production (1972) , Volume 1987 , March 1987 , pp. 68
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Production 1987

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References

Owen, E., Klopfenstein, T. and Urio, N.A. 1984. Treatment with other chemicals. In: Sundstøl, F. and Owen, E. (ed), Straw and Other Fibrous By-products as Feed. Elsevier, Amsterdam.Google Scholar