Influence of urea-calcium mixtures as rumen slow-release feed on in vitro fermentation using a gas production technique

In this experiment the effects of different urea products (urea [U] and urea-calcium mixtures [UCM]) on rumen fermentation were investigated in dependence of different energy sources by using in vitro techniques. The 7x2 factorial arrangement followed a completely randomised design using seven urea products (U100, U40CaCl2, U50CaCl2, U60CaCl2, U40CaSO4, U50CaSO4 and U60CaSO4) in combination with cassava chips (CC) or corn meal (CM). Compared with other treatments, the cumulative gas production (96 h) was significantly increased for U60CaCl2+CC and U60CaSO4+CC (p0.01), which was combined with a higher in vitro true digestibility (p0.01). In addition, the concentration of volatile fatty acids in the fluid of U60CaCl2+CC and U60CaSO4+CC was significantly higher than in other treatments. Urea treatments (U100+CC and U100+CM) caused the highest concentration of ruminal ammonia nitrogen (p0.01), which was significantly decreased by all UCM products in combination with CC, but not with CM. The highest levels of total bacteria, Fibrobacter succinogenes and anaerobic fungi were found for treatment U60CaCl2+CC and U60CaSO4+CC (p0.05). The findings revealed that the utilisation of U60CaCl2 and U60CaSO4 in combination with cassava chips improved the ruminal fluid fermentation in terms of NH3-N and volatile fatty acid concentration, digestibility of energy and increased the fibrobacter concentrations.