The impact of using slow-release urea instead of fast-release urea in feed on the milk production of Awassi sheep and some blood traits

Hashem, Waseem; A. M. Tayeb, Mothna

doi:10.21608/ejvs.2023.235038.1605

The impact of using slow-release urea instead of fast-release urea in feed on the milk production of Awassi sheep and some blood traits

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Waseem Hashem ¹
Mothna A. M. Tayeb ²

¹ Animal Resources Department, College of Agriculture and Forestry, Mosul University, Mosul, Iraq

² Department of Animal Production, Technical College Agricultural of Mosul, Northern Technical University, Mosul, Iraq

10.21608/ejvs.2023.235038.1605

Abstract

Our study was completed in the sheep field of the (Kosar) company in the Kalk area to determine the effect of adding slow-release urea to the concentrated feed gradually instead of fast-release urea in an attempt to improve the efficiency of feed utilization and improve rumen conditions and reflect that on milk production of Awassi sheep using 24 heads of newly born ewes aged between 3 and 4 years distributed to four treatments fed on a concentrated feed close in its energy and protein content and different in its urea content, which was gradually replaced with slow-release urea (Minogen) where the first treatment took (1.5% urea only) and the second treatment (1% urea and 0.6% slow-release urea) and the third treatment (0.5% urea and 1.2% slow-release urea) and the fourth (1.8% slow-release urea only) The study lasted four months, from the birth of the ewes until the end of the milking season (their dryness), with a completely randomized design (Completely Randomized Design). The average total weight gain for ewes was (8.37, 9.72, 6.74, 5.67) kg, and through the results it was observed that there is a positive effect of adding Minogen to Awassi ewe feed in average daily milk production and total as the fourth treatment excelled significantly (P> 0.05) on the rest of the treatments as average production reached (202.92, 286.40, 207.13, 320.69) g/day and total reached (1623.33, 2291.17, 1657.00, 2565.50) g/ewe respectively, and fat and protein ratios also excelled in the fourth treatment significantly (P> 0.05)

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