Pin Chanjula and Wanwisa Ngampongsai

pp. 571 - 578

Abstract

For this study, four Thai Native (TN) x Anglo Nubian (AN) crossbred growing goats with an average liveweight of 19.0±1 kg were randomly used in a 4x4 Latin square design to determine the effect of supplemental nitrogen from urea on digestibility, rumen fermentation pattern, microbial populations and nitrogen balance in growing goats. Fresh elephant grass (FEG) was offered ad libitum as the roughage. Four dietary treatments with supplemental nitrogen from urea were T₁ = urea at 0% cassava chip, (CC = 30%), T₂ = urea at 1% (CC = 40%), T₃ = urea at 2% (CC = 50%) and T₄ = urea at 3% (CC = 60%), respectively. Based on this experiment, it was found that there was no significant difference (p>0.05) among treatment groups regarding nutrient intake (OMI, CPI, NDFI and ADFI) and digestion coefficients of nutrients (DM, OM, CP, NDF and ADF), while digestible nutrient intake of CP (g/d) was affected by increasing urea levels. Ruminal volatile fatty acid profiles were similar among treatments. Moreover, rumen microorganism populations were not affected (p>0.05) by increasing urea levels. The amount of N absorption and retention were similar among treatments, except for T₄ which tended to be slightly lower in N absorption as compared to control diet, but higher N output retained (% of N intake) than the control-fed goats. From the overall results, it can be concluded that a higher level of urea (3%) could be used with a high level of CC (60%) in concentrate when fed with FEG and it was found to be a good approach to exploiting the use of local feed resources for goat production.