Influence of ad libitum feeding of urea-treated wheat straw with or without corn steep liquor on intake, in situ digestion kinetics, nitrogen metabolism, and nutrient digestion in Nili-Ravi buffalo bulls

Abstract

Influence of different levels of corn steep liquor (CSL) on chemical composition of urea-treated wheat straw (UTWS), feed intake, ruminal characteristics, digestion kinetics, nitrogen (N) metabolism, and nutrient digestibility by ruminally cannulated buffalo bulls was studied using 4 × 4 Latin square design. Wheat straw was treated with 5% urea and ensiled with 0, 3, 6, and 9% CSL on a dry matter (DM) basis and was ensiled in laboratory silos for 5, 10, and 15 days. Neutral detergent fibre (NDF) contents of UTWS ensiled with 0, 3, 6, and 9% CSL were 74.01, 76.16, 77.34, and 78.93%, respectively. Acid detergent fibre (ADF), cellulose, and lignin were similar across treatments. The increase in NDF content was due to increased neutral detergent insoluble nitrogen (NDIN), as when NDF was calculated on crude protein (CP)-free basis (NDF – NDIN × 6.25), its concentration was same for UTWS ensiled with or without CSL. Four diets were formulated to contain 20% concentrate and 80% UTWS ensiled with or without CSL. Dry matter, digestible DM, organic matter (OM), CP, ADF, and NDF intakes were higher in bulls fed UTWS ensiled with CSL. Significant increases in both DM disappearance and rate of disappearance and a reduction in lag time of UTWS ensiled with CSL was noticed. There were significant differences in ruminal ammonia concentrations between diets containing UTWS ensiled with or without CSL at 3, 6, and 12 h postprandial. Higher digestibilities for DM, OM, CP, ADF, and NDF were noted with UTWS ensiled with CSL. Nitrogen balance was positive for all animals; however, the animals fed UTWS ensiled with CSL retained higher amount of N. These results indicated that CSL was very effective in enhancing the utilisation of ammoniated straw for buffaloes by minimising the nutrient loss at ruminal and cellular levels.

Nitrogen Retention and Chemical Composition of Urea Treated Wheat Straw Ensiled with Organic Acids or Fermentable Carbohydrates

“…Hassoun et al (1990) reported non-significant effect of treatment period on urea hydrolysis however; the moisture level had a positive effect on urea hydrolysis. In the present study 50% moisture level was used across all treatments that was reported to be optimum for maximum urea hydrolysis with in one week when urea treated wheat straw was ensiled for different periods (Nisa et al, 2002). The urea hydrolysis was very marked for 40 and 60% moisture level (Hassoun et al, 1990) and moisture level higher than 60% was reported to have no effect on urea hydrolysis (Cloete and Kritzinger, 1984).…”

“…However, it was well documented that the urea treated wheat straw only retained about 30-35% of NH 3 added to the straw during treatment and the remaining 65-70% was lost to the atmosphere (Saadullah et al, 1981;Ali et al, 1997). To overcome this problem, some researchers have tried to fix the excess NH 3 in the straw by spraying some organic acids (Borhami et al, 1982) or inorganic acids (Dass et al, 2001) and more recently with fermentable sugar sources with different degree of NH 3 fixation (Nisa et al, 2002).…”

DIETARY PROTEIN LEVELS AFFECT THE NURSING PERFORMANCE AND SERUM BIOCHEMICAL PROFILE OF LACTATING MINK (Neovison vison)

“…1-5). This increase in rumen degradation may be due to physio-chemical changes occurred in the cell wall during microbial fermentation as described by Zorrilla-Rios et al, (1985) and Mahr-un-Nisa et al, (2004). They reported that NH3 produced during fermentation increases the fragility of wheat straw.…”

Addition of molasses, corn steep liquor, and rice polish as economical sources to enhance the fungal biomass production of wheat straw by Arachniotus sp.

“…Among these, crop residues are emerging as dominant and abundantly available feed ingredients for sustainable crop-livestock systems. It is well known that crop residue such as wheat straw (WS) has a low feeding value due to its depleted protein and energy content and therefore results in poor animal intake (2,3).…”

“…They are rich sources of energy and protein and are lowcost byproducts of the corn and sugar industries compared to other sources such as sucrose, glucose, and urea (8). CSL is composed of carbohydrates, peptides, essential amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and an abundance of unidentified organic and inorganic compounds (2). Enhancement in biomass protein production could be possible by using Arachniotus sp.…”