Effects of Ammonia, Urea Plus Calcium Hydroxide and Animal Urine Treatments on Chemical Composition and In sacco Degradability of Rice Straw

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to examine the effects on the composition and rumen degradation in sacco of rice straw treated with animal urine (1 l of 2.9 g N/kg DM straw) and urea plus calcium hydroxide (2% urea plus 0.5% Ca(OH) 2 /kg DM straw) as a cheap and relatively safe alternative for ammonia (3% ammonia solution/kg DM straw). Mold occurred in urine treated straw, but other treatments were apparently mold-free. All treatments significantly (p<0.05) increased CP content in the straw compared with untreated one. Ammonia-treated straw contained CP at about twice that in urine or urea-calcium hydroxide treated straw. NDF and hemicellulose contents decreased significantly (p<0.05) in all treatments, while ADF and cellulose showed no differences compared with untreated straw. The degradable fraction of DM, CP, NDF, hemicellulose and cellulose was significantly (p<0.05) increased for ammonia and urea-calcium hydroxide treatments than for urine treated or untreated straw except for CP of urine treated straw. Chemical treatment of rice straw increased the readily degradable fraction of CP, while it decreased the slowly degradable fraction for urine or urea-calcium hydroxide treated rice straw. The degradation rate of hemicellulose was significantly (p<0.05) increased for ammonia and urea-calcium hydroxide treatments compared to urine treated or untreated straw. However, no effect on cellulose degradation rate was found by any of the treatments. There was no improvement in the degradation kinetics caused by the urine treatment despite the improvement of the chemical composition. Although the improvement in rumen degradability was less in the urea-calcium hydroxide treatment than in the ammonia treatment, its use may be more desirable because it is less expensive to obtain, less hazardous nature, and readily available. For further improvement it is necessary to investigate the supplementation of slowly degradable nitrogen to ureacalcium hydroxide treated rice straw diet.

Nutrient digestibility and ruminal fermentation characteristic in swamp buffaloes fed on chemically treated rice straw and urea

“…The increase of DM intake and DM, OM, CP, and NDF digestibility in urea-lime-treated rice straw treatments are consistent with the earlier findings of other researchers (Trach et al 2001;Fadel Elseed et al 2003;and Wanapat et al 2009). The increased DM intake was obtained when lowquality rice straw was treated with alkali agents which affected on cleavage of linkage between lignin and hemicellulose and cellulose.…”

“…However, in recent year, these approaches have so far been limited mainly due to economical reason and affecting on practical use by farmers. In an attempt to search for possible alternatives, rice straw treatments using urea plus lime have been studied by Fadel Elseed et al (2003) and Wanapat et al (2009) who reported that when amount of urea was reduced and combined with calcium hydroxide, the improvement in rumen fiber degradability and milk yield were obtained, respectively.…”

Performance of sheep offered ammonia, or urea‐calcium hydroxide treated rice straw as an only feed

“…Despite the large quantities of poor quality roughages available for ammoniation in developing tropical countries, commercial application of this approach has so far been limited mainly to developed countries because of technical and economical constraints in the former. However, in an in situ study Fadel Elseed et al . (2003) suggested that, when amount of urea was reduced and combined with calcium hydroxide the improvement in rumen degradability was somewhat smaller than ammonia treatment but the technical and economical feasibility might give additional value to the urea‐calcium hydroxide treatment.…”

Effects of treating rice straw with urea or urea and calcium hydroxide upon intake, digestibility, rumen fermentation and milk yield of dairy cows

“…Although, urea-treated (5%) rice straw has been used as a roughage during the dry season but the cost was relatively high due to increasing price of urea (Wanapat, 1994;Preston, 1995). Fadel Elseed et al (2003) suggested that when amount of urea was reduced and combined with calcium hydroxide Ca (OH) 2 , it could improve rumen degradability. The concentrated alkaline agents can chemically break the ester bonds between lignin and hemicellulose and cellulose, and physically make structural fibers swollen.…”