Survival feeding of cattle with molasses. 1. Feeding non-pregnant heifers with molasses plus urea and roughage

Abstract

Twelve groups, each of four yearling Hereford heifers of mean ± s.e. initial fasted liveweight of 211 ± 6.5 kg, were fed solely on molasses either with or without roughage for 23 weeks in a 2 x 3 x 2 factorial experiment. The experiment examined the effects on liveweight change of molasses allowance (2.0 or 3.2 kg/animal per day), type of molasses mixture (undiluted; molasses 80%; water 20%; molasses 80%; water 17%; urea 3%; all w/w) and roughage allowance (nil or 0.3 kg/animal per day). Increasing the molasses allowance improved growth rate from -0.25 to -0.12 kg/animal per my (P<0.01); including urea in the molasses improved growth rate from -0.22 to -0.11 kg/animal per day (P<0.01). 'Molasses toxicity' was not a problem even in the absence of roughage, and dilution of molasses with water did not affect animal performance.