Use of urea-molasses mineral blocks in lambs fed with straw

This study was carried out to investigate whether using urea-molasses mineral blocks (UMMB) prevent weight losses of lambs fed with poor quality forages in winter conditions of north-east Turkey. Eighteen, 7 month old, Tuj lambs weighing 35.4 ± 0.4 kg were divided into three equal groups and fed individually for 66 days ad libitum with either barley straw alone (Group I, Control), or with barley straw + UMMB (Group II) or with barley straw + UMMB + 100 g crushed barley (Group III). A metabolism trial was carried out in the last 6 days of feeding trial to determine nutrient digestibility. The dry matter intake of barley straw was increased significantly (P< 0.01) in groups supplemented with UMMB. Dry matter and organic matter digestibilities increased significantly (P< 0.05) in UMMB-fed groups. CP digestibility also increased significantly (P< 0.01) even higher CP intake. Significantly (P< 0.05) higher blood urea, rumen ammonia-N and total volatile fatty acids concentration were observed in UMMB-supplemented groups. Using UMMB as supplement did not prevent weight losses of lambs, but decreased it. It is concluded that using UMMB in lambs fed with poor quality forages may decrease body weight losses and prevent sporadical mortalities in winter conditions of Northeast Turkey.