Possible Use of Crop Residues Supplemented with Urea and Molasses in Goat Diets

In this experiment, 20 castrated male Khari and halfbred (Khari x Jamunapari) goats of 6 to 8 months of age were divided into 4 dietary groups comprising of five goats in each. The experiment was conducted for 150 days during the winter season. Animals of first diet group (D1) were fed with fodder leaves (Khanyu) + concentrate @ 1% body weight, second diet group (D2) consisted of fodder leaves ( Khanyu) + chaffed rice straw and 2% molasses top dressed rice straw @ 20% of dry matter (DM) requirement + concentrate @ 1% of body weight, third diet group (D3) had fodder ( Khanyu) + chaffed rice straw and 2% urea-molasses top dressed rice straw @ 20% of DM requirement + concentrate @ 1% body weight, and diet group 4 (D4) consisted of fodder (Khanyu) + chaffed rice straw, 4% urea treated, ensiled and 2% molasses top dressed rice straw @ 20% of DM requirement + concentrate @ 1% body weight were fed to the animals. A digestibility trial for 7 days was carried out at the end of the experiment. Daily feed intake, and urine and faeces excreted by the animals were recorded. Body weight change was recorded at 15 days interval. The average daily weight gain was not significantly different (P>0.05) between diet groups. However, animals under D2 obtained highest growth rate (44.9 g/d) followed by D3 (44.0 g/d), and D1 (34.8) and the lowest average daily gain (ADG) was obtained in D4 (28.9 g/d). Significantly higher (P<0.05) coefficient of digestibility for DM, CP, ADF, hemicelluloses, and cellulose was found in D3. Nitrogen, Ca, and P balance were high and positive in all diets groups. From this evidence, it can be suggested that rice straw could be used for goat feeding without affecting the growth rate provided it was pre-treated either with 2% molasses or 2% urea-molasses solution. Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 7, 2006