National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal -132001, India
Online published on 5 January, 2012.
Five crossbred bull calves (200 kg) and six Murrah young bulls (231 kg) wereref paddy straw (PR -106) along with 2 kg greee fodder and mineral mixture for 15 d, shifted thereafter to exclusively ammoniated (4% urea, 50% moisture, I m reaction period) paddy ssraw diet (freshly harvested, DM 67%) Amoniation of straw increased the DMI as compared to untreated straw. The DMl and nutrient digestibility were similar in noth the species and the CP digesestibility was 14.34±339 and 13.95±2.93 percent in cattle and buffalocalves, respectively. Lower N intake/kg digestible organic matter intake in both the species (18,96 and 19.51 g) showed the trend of inadequate N supply, and as a result all the animals lost their body weights. Ammoniated paddy straw even did not meet the maintenance DCP reqqirement Energy intake in both the species was higher than their nutritional requirement The DCP and TDN contents of ammoniated paddy straw (fresh) were 0.84 and 52.16 percent, respectively.
