Ground Juniperus pinchotii and urea in supplements fed to Rambouillet ewe lambs: I. Feedlot growth traits, blood serum parameters, and fecal characteristics1

ABSTRACT Ground woody products and urea are low-cost roughage and N sources. Rambouillet ewe lambs (n = 48, 6 lambs/treatment; initial BW = 42 kg ± 3.8) were used to evaluate effects of using ground Juniperus pinchotii (juniper) and urea in supplements on feedlot lamb growth traits, blood serum parameters, and fecal characteristics. In a randomized complete block design (40 d), lambs were individually fed an ad libitum basal sorghum-Sudangrass hay diet, which was fed separate from 1 of 8 supplemental diets (6 lambs/diet; 533 g of supplement/d, as-fed basis). Treatment structure was a 4 × 2 factorial: 4 concentrations of ground juniper (JN: 15%, 30%, 45%, or 60% of DM) and 2 concentrations of urea (UR: 1 or 3% of DM). Lamb growth traits were evaluated on d 0, 5, 12, 19, 26, 33, and 40; blood serum was evaluated on d 6 to 8, 20 to 22, and 34 (at h 3 and 6), and feces was evaluated on d 35. Compared to lambs fed all of the other treatments, lambs fed JN60UR1 or JN60UR3 had reduced supplement DMI (negative quadratic, P = 0.007). Hay and total DMI were variable across day (JN × UR × day, P < 0.04), but no linear or quadratic trends were detected (P > 0.10). A JN × day interaction was detected (P < 0.001) for lamb BW and the JN × day negative quadratic trend (P = 0.02) for BW was influenced by reduced ADG (linear decrease, P < 0.001) of lambs fed JN60. Lambs supplemented with UR3 vs. UR1 tended (P = 0.06) to have reduced BW but had similar (P > 0.17) ADG and G:F. Lamb G:F fluctuated across day (JN × day, P = 0.007), but the JN × day quadratic trend (P < 0.001) was mainly due to reduced G:F in lambs fed JN45 or JN60 diets. As the percentage of JN increased in the supplement, serum IGF-1 linearly decreased (P = 0.04), and serum urea N quadratically increased (P < 0.001). The UR × hour interaction (P < 0.001) for serum urea N resulted from a greater decline from 3 to 6 h after feeding in lambs supplemented with UR1 vs. UR3. Increasing JN concentration tended to quadratically increase (P = 0.09) fecal DM and linearly decrease (P = 0.002) fecal N, but an effect due to dietary UR was not detected (P > 0.34). Results indicated that daily supplement DMI was restricted only by using JN60. However, a 60% JN-based supplement will not make an effective rangeland supplement for growing ewe lambs, and using 3% UR should not be considered, especially since daily UR intake was not restricted enough to be considered safe.