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High-Level Urea Feeding to Dairy Cattle. I. Effect of High-Level Urea Feeding on the Growth and Metabolism of Growing Dairy Heifers without Sulfur Supplementation¹

Departments of Dairy and Agricultural Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing

ABSTRACT

Twenty-four Holstein dairy heifers wera used in a 150-day trial to study the effect of feeding grain rations containing 3.0, .5.0, and 7.0% urea upon growth, feed consumption, and metabolism. Ground corn cobs were fed as the sole source of roughage. As the levels of urea in the ration increased, the consumption of corn cobs decreased, although not significantly, and daily gains and feed efficiency decreased significantly. The average daily gain for heifers fed rations containing 3.0, 5.0, and 7.0% urea were 1.14, 0.85, and 0.64 lb. per day, respectively. The level of urea in the ration did not significantly affect nitrogen retention or blood levels of urea nitrogen, but as the intake of urea increased, blood serum levels of nonprotein nitrogen increased significantly and the levels of serum proteins significantly decreased. The possibility of a sulfur deficiency in a ration containing either 5.0 or 7.0% urea was discussed.

¹ Published with the approval of the Director of the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station as Journal Article No. 2072.