Department of Animal Sciences, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar-263 145, India.
Online published on 21 January, 2012.
Sixteen crossbred heifers were divided into four groups to study the efficiency of urea utilization. In groups A and B urea was mixed in concentrate mixture and in groups C and D urea was mixed in green maize fodder. Animals of groups A and C were fed twice, while those in B and D thrice daily. Restricted green maize fodder @ 1 kg DM/100 kg body weight and ad libitum wheat straw was offered to all the animals. In growth study of 120 days which included digestion trial of 7 days duration, the gain in body weight was significantly (P<0.05) higher in groups B and D than the other groups. The DM and OM intake in groups B and D was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than the other groups. The digestibility of NDF and ADF differed significantly (P<0.05) among the groups. Thus, increasing the frequency of feeding urea supplemented diets from twice to thrice daily is advantageous.
