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Steam Treatment of Crop Residues for Increased Ruminant Digestibility. II. Lamb Feeding Studies¹

University of California, Davis 95616 and and US Department of Agriculture, Berkeley, CA 94710

Abstract

Steam pressure-treated rice straws with and without added chemicals were fed to lambs in digestibility and performance trials. A diet containing 65% rice straw treated with steam only at 28 kg/cm² for 20 sec had lower digestibility of organic matter (–6.3%), cellulose (–9.7%), nitrogen (–26.4%) and energy (–8.1%) than did an identical untreated straw control diet, although overall animal performance (weight or energy gain and feed intake) was similar. A diet containing 65% rice straw treated at 28 kg/cm² for 90 sec was inferior in all respects to the untreated control. A diet containing 65% rice straw treated with 4% NaOH by weight and then steam treated at 28 kg/cm² had higher organic matter (4.0%) and cellulose digestibility (17.6%), poorer nitrogen digestibility (30.5%) and essentially the same energy digestibility as the untreated control. Animal growth was significantly improved with the NaOH diet than with the untreated control. Comparison of diets containing 72% rice straw treated with NaOH (3%) or NH₃ (2.6%) prior to steam treatment at 21 kg/cm² indicated that the NaOH-treated diet produced significantly better gains than did the diet treated with NH₃ or the untreated control. Lambs fed the NaOH-treated straw diet approached the performance characteristics of those fed a positive control diet containing alfalfa hay (82%). Digestion coefficients for all components except nitrogen were higher for the NaOH-treated straw than for the NH₃-treated sample or the untreated control.

¹ Reference to a company and (or) product is for purposes of information only and does not imply USDA approval or recommendation of the product to the exclusion of others which may also be suitable.

² Dept of Anim. Sci.

³ SEA, Western Regional Research Center, Berkeley, CA 94710

⁴ Deceased.