Effect of Urea Molasses Straw (UMS) Feeding on the Growth Performance of Crossbred Sheep

Abstract

The difficulty of maximizing sheep growth rates while maintaining sustainability and economic viability remains a less focused research topic. Adding urea molasses straw (UMS) can be a good way to boost rumen microbial activity by giving animals a healthy diet of protein, energy, and minerals. Optimizing the effect of VMS supplementation on crossbred sheep in the southwest of Bangladesh was, thus, the experiment's main objective. The 12 sheep were separated into four treatment groups, each with three replications. Groups T₁, T₂, and T₃ were allowed to feed UMS for one hour, 1.5 hours, and two hours, in addition to grazing respectively, while control group (T₀) continued to graze as usual for 10 hours per day. The experimental setup was based on randomized complete block design (RCBD). The initial weighing and grouping of the sheep involved maintaining a random constant average body weight for each of the four treatment groups. The UMS contains 36.67% ± 00 dry matter (DM), 8.47% ± 0.08 crude protein (CP), 26.25 ± 0.23 crude fiber (CF), 1.06% ± 0.14 ether extract (EE), 17.39% ± 0.29 ash, and 46.82% ± 0.19 nitrogen-free extract (NFE). Each sheep group was allowed to graze for 10 hours a day, from 9 am to 6 pm. The allocated UMS was provided in the morning. A registrar maintained regular records of all relevant data, such as body weight, deworming, and immunization. Before letting them fed UMS and graze, empty body weight measurements were taken every week in the morning. The data analysis software utilized was named R. As UMS feeding durations extended, body weight increased even though the mean differences did not differ substantially (p>0.05). The highest numerical body weight in sheep was recorded in sheep group receiving a daily two-hour UMS supplementation. After 13 weeks of UMS supplementation, the final body weight of the sheep in the T₀, T₁, T₂, and T₃ groups was 16.22 ± 3.45 kg, 18.45 ± 1.13 kg, 19.50 ± 3.67 kg, and 21.90 ± 0.70 kg, respectively. The growth rate of sheep varied significantly depending on the VMS feeding periods. The average growth rate of sheep was shown to be significantly (p<0.05) depending on the amount of UMS supplementation provided at the fifth, seventh, eighth, and eleventh weeks of experiment. Growth rate (g/day) in feeding UMS was assessed at week 9, 10 and 12 for two hours with UMS accordingly (90.47a ± 8.25), (80.95a ± 8.24), and (90.48a ± 16.49), which significantly varied (p<0.01). It can be concluded that UMS feeding for 2-hour is suitable for optimum growth of crossbred sheep.