Nutritive Value of Hay from Nitrogen-Fertilized Blue Grama Rangeland

Abstract

Wether lambs were used in a feeding study (voluntary consumption, nutrient digestibility, metabolizable energy, and nitrogen retention) to evaluate the nutritive value of hays harvested from unfertilized and nitrogen-fertilized blue grama rangeland. Fertilization increased consumption by 29%; increased digestibility of dry matter, protein, and energy by about 5%; and increased the retention of nitrogen by about 7%, although the percentage retention of absorbed nitrogen (biological value) was apparently depressed.