NUTRIENT UTILIZATION BY MURRAH BUFFALOS (BUBALUS-BUBALIS) AS INFLUENCED BY VARYING LEVELS OF UREA MOLASSES MINERAL BLOCK ON WHEAT-STRAW BASED DIETS

To ascertain the optimum intake of urea molasses mineral block (UMMB) as a supplement on wheat straw based diets, twelve adult male Murrah b uffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) (390+/-9.0 kg; 4 y) were assigned to three equal groups in a completely randomized design. To minimize individual diurnal variation, the animals on Diets 1, 2 and 3 were fed fixed qua ntity of UMMB at the level of 400, 600 and 800 g, dissolved in 1000 ml of water and mixed manually with 5600 g chaffed wheat straw uniformly , for a preliminary period of 21 days followed by a metabolism trial o f seven days duration. An increased (P<0.05) intake of crude protein a nd decreased intake of ether extract, acid detergent fibre (ADF), cell ulose (g day(-1)), dry matter and total digestible nutrients (TDN) per unit metabolic body size (kg W-0.75) were observed on 800 g UMMB as c ompared to similar intake on other diets. The animals from all the thr ee treatments digested most of the nutrients to a similar extent, exce pt dry matter and organic matter, the digestibility of which was depre ssed on feeding 800 g UMMB daily. Inspite of significantly (P<0.05) lo wer digestible intake of ADF and cellulose in animals offered 800 g UM MB, their digestibility were comparable among the diets. All the anima ls were, though, in positive nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus balance, animals fed 800 g UMMB daily lost body weight probably due to the ins ufficient energy supply. Since supplementation of UMMB at 400 and 600 g levels exhibited similar results and it's inclusion beyond that had no beneficial effect, it can be concluded that a level of 400 g UMMB s eems to be optimum to maximize utilization of nutrients from wheat str aw based diets to meet maintenance requirements of adult male buffaloe s. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.