Effect of Feeding Urea Treated Wheat Straw Ration on DM Intake and Nutrient Utilization in Buffaloes

Study was conducted on male buffalo bullocks. Animals in experiment-I were offered standard ration consisting of 32 parts maize, 32 parts wheat bran, 33 parts deoiled GN cake, 2 parts mineral mixture and 1 part common salt as concentrate mixture, ad-lib. wheat straw and 2kg berseem. In experiment-2, urea treated (4%) wheat straw ad-lib, 2kgoatand requisite quantity of mineral mixture and common salt were supplied. After 6 wks feeding metabolism trials were conducted in each experiment which showed signficantly higher (P<0.01) DM intake in experiment-1 as compared to experiment-2. Higher digestibility coefficients were observed in experiment-1 for DM, EE and OM than in experiment2. The results suggested that feeding experimental diet 2 could have an adverse effect on intake and utilization of nutrients.