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Urea as a Protein Replacement for Ruminants: A Review

Department of Animal Husbandry, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.

ABSTRACT

It has been recognized for some time that urea (and other nonprotein nitrogen-containing compounds) may be used to replace a portion of the protein in the rations of ruminant animals (28, 104). The mechanism making this possible appears to be one in which proteins are synthesized from simple nitrogenous substances by the growth and multiplication of the bacteria of the rumen followed by the digestion of these protein-containing bacteria farther down the digestive tract of the host animal. As recently as 1937, it was not commonly accepted that urea is converted to proteins in amounts of any great significance to ruminants. It was suggested that the apparent protein-sparing action of urea may have been the result of such mechanisms as a neutralization by ammonia of organic acids formed in the digestive tract of the ruminants (42). The results of more recent experiments in which nitrogen balance (25, 30, 31, 44, 49), growth (9, 31, 33, 62, 71, 102), milk yield (1, 67, 80), and body composition (31, 33, 49, 91) were examined suggested that urea is converted to protein.