The Effect of Ammoniation Treatment on Intake and Nutritive Value of Wheat Straw

Abstract

The effect of ammoniation treatment on the nutritive value of wheat straw (WS) was studied in a three-period in vivo digestion trial with steers. Wheat straw was treated under ambient conditions (mean temperature 6 C for 44 d) with 50 g NH₃/kg WS dry matter (DM). Six beef-type steers (average weight 288 kg) were randomly allotted to three groups (two animals/group) and fed the following diets: (1) ammoniated WS (NH₃ + WS), (2) untreated WS (WS) and (3) untreated WS plus feather meal (WS + FM). Three 15-d periods (in a 3 × 3 modified Latin square design) were used to test the diets. The animals were individually fed. Ammoniation increased the crude protein (CP) content of WS from 3.6 to 8.1%. Voluntary intake of DM, organic matter (OM), CP and gross energy (GE) were improved (P<.05) by ammoniation treatment. Digestibility coefficients for DM and OM did not differ (P>.05) among diets, but apparent CP, acid detergent fiber (ADF) and GE digestibilities were increased (P<.05) by ammoniation treatment. VFA concentrations and molar proportions of individual fatty acids did not differ (P>.05) between treatments. Plasma urea N and rumen ammonia N concentrations were lower (P<.05) with the WS diet than with the other diets. These results suggest that treatment of WS with ammonia will improve its nutritive value, but supplemental energy may be required to maximize utilization of added N. Copyright © 1982. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1982 by American Society of Animal Science