Abstract 441

Maglad,-MA; Lutfi,-AAA; Wasfi,-IA; Adam,-SEI

Dep. Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Univ. Khartoum, PO Box 32, Khartoum North, Sudan.

Tropical-Animal-Production. 1984, 9: 2, 157-164; 16 ref.

Diets were based on sorghum grain, wheat bran and lucerne hay with a supplement of cottonseed, groundnut or sesame seed oilmeals, or of sesame seed oilmeal with urea providing 17% of total dietary nitrogen. The diets had equal energy and N and each was offered freely for 94 days to a group of 10 Desert [Sudanese] sheep initially of 21 kg mean weight. Mean daily gain was significantly greater with cottonseed, 0.152 kg, or groundnut, 0.184 kg, than with sesame, 0.127 or sesame and urea, 0.112 kg. Daily feed intake also was greater with the 1st two diets mentioned. Free intake of water followed that of diet and the free intake of water per kg DM intake remained the same. Feed/gain was significantly greater with urea than on any other diet. Source of N in diet had no significant effect on N balance or on the apparent digestibility coefficients of diet proximate components, except that crude fibre had a higher coefficient in diet with cottonseed than in the diets. Three h after a feed the plasma urea N was significantly higher with sesame, or with sesame and urea, than with the other 2 diets. Concentration of volatile fatty acids in rumen fluid was higher for sheep given cottonseed than on other diets. There was no effect of treatment on rumen pH.