DOI: 10.36347/sjavs.2014.v01i04.007

Pages: 180-185

The objectives of the study were to determine the effect of the replacement of soybean meal (SBM) with urea (U) or urea supplemented with sulphur (US) on the performance of lambs. Twelve lambs were allocated to one of three dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. Control lambs were offered SBM diet with Guinea grass as the basal ration while lambs that received either of the other two treatments were offered the same basal ration with the replacement of SBM with either U or US. Dry matter (DM) intakes (g/d), DM digestibility, microbial protein supply and purine derivative excretion were higher (p<0.05) in SBM and US than U. Concentrate, energy and digestible OM intakes, organic matter (OM) digestibility, energy concentration, ratio of digestible energy to digestible crude protein and OM digested in the rumen were greater (p<0.05) in SBM than U or US. N free extract digestibility and urinary N were higher (p<0.05) in U or US compared to SBM. Though there was no (p>0.05) treatment effect on average daily gain and feed conversion ratio, they tended to be lower (p=0.07) in U than SBM or US. In conclusion, the replacement of SBM with U or US can be achieved without affecting the performance of the lambs.