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Response of Lambs Fed Varied Levels of Elemental Sulfur, Sulfate Sulfur and Methionine^{1, 2, 3,}

University of Illinois⁵

Abstract

An experiment is reported in which forty growing-fattening lambs were fed a purified ration (consisting primarily of wood cellulose, wheat straw, starch, cerelose, and urea) to study the utilization of inorganic sulfur and urea nitrogen in the nutrition of lambs. The basal ration, containing 0.054 percent sulfur with 92 percent of the nitrogen from urea, was supplemented with three gaded levels each of elemental sulfur (0.2%, 0.4% and 0.6%), sodium sulfate (0.89%, 1.33% and 1.78%), and DL-methionine (0.2%, 0.5% and 0.7%).

Weight gains and wool growth were increased by the addition of the sulfur supplements. This increase was highly significant (P <0.001). There was no statistically significant difference among the sulfur sources or levels within each source.

The lambs receiving the basal ration lost weight throughout the trial. One died at 53 days and a second at 58 days. The rations having the lowest level of each sulfur supplement (0.2 percent elemental sulfur, 0.89 percent sodium sulfate, and 0.2 percent DL-methionine) furnished adequate or nearly adequate sulfur as judged by gain in weight and wool growth.

Under the conditions of this experiment the high levels of urea fed apparently had no effect on blood urea levels.

The efficiency of the three sulfur supplements is briefly discussed.

¹ Published with the approval of the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station.

² This is a fifth paper in a series on sulfur in sheep nutrition.

³ We wish to express acknowledgement with thanks to Dr. P. D. Beamer and Associates of the College of Veterinary Medicine, for conducting autopsies; and to Dr. H. W. Norton for his counsel and excellent cooperation in the statistical analysis of the data; Mr. Garvey Hayden and Mr. Richard Levis of Armour and Company, Chicago, Illinois, for assistance in obtaining slaughter data and tissue samples. Thiamin hydrochloride and riboflavin were generously supplied by Merck and Company through the courtesy of Dr. R. T. Major. E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company generously provided the urea through the courtesy of Dr. M. F. Gribbins.

⁴ Present address, Department of Animal Husbandry, Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa.

⁵ Department of Animal Science, Urbana, Illinois.

⁶ Present address, Department of Animal Husbandry, University of Tennessee, Martin, Tenn.