Urea-molasses Multinutrient Block as a feed supplement to dairy cattle

Crop residues mainly rice straw, corn stover, wheat straw, millet straw, and other similar types of residues are predominantly used as basal feed for ruminants in Nepal. Poor quality forages and cereal straws are of low quality and digestible protein content. Protein supplements such as oil cakes are expensive to buy, if available at all. To improve production, the efficiency of utilization of the available feed resources can be optimized by the use of supplements that provide the deficient nutrients. This book, therefore highlights the use of molasses and non-protein-nitrogen sources such as urea, in the form of multinutrient blocks, to compensate for the nitrogen deficiency in fibrous feeds. Eight cross-bred dairy cows of 2nd to 3rd parity and between the 2nd to 5th months of lactation were selected and divided into two equal groups.One group was kept as a control (on routine feeding)and the other group was supplemented with Urea molasses multinutrient blocks (UMMB) 400g /cow/day for 30 days in addition to routine feeding.The results of this trial should motivate the farmers,especially of the developing countries, to adopt this feeding technology to their livestocks.