Value of Added Methionine in Low-Protein and Urea Rations for Lambs

Abstract

A ration containing 7.2 percent of protein (N × 6.25) supplied by cottonseed hulls, cottonseed meal and corn, and the same ration made to contain the equivalent of 10.2 percent of protein by addition of urea, were supplemented with DL-methionine and fed to lambs in digestion and nitrogen balance trials. Trace minerals and sodium sulfate were included in all rations. Methionine supplementation at the rate of 3 or 6 gm. per day failed to improve the low-protein ration. When added to the urea ration at the rate of 1.6, 2 and 3 gm. per day, it increased the average digestibility of nutrients and nitrogen utilization; these differences between the unsupplemented and methionine rations, however, were not statistically significant. Copyright © . .