Formaldehyde treatment of concentrate diets for sheep. II.* Effect on urea synthesis and excretion

Abstract

The synthesis of urea, its return to the gastrointestinal tract and excretion in the urine were studied in sheep given concentrate diets, untreated or treated with formaldehyde, containing four different protein levels.

Rumen ammonia and plasma urea levels increased with protein level and decreased with formaldehyde treatment. Changes in urea excretion were closely related to changes in plasma urea levels. There was a relationship between urea synthesis and rumen ammonia levels, but differences in the amount of urea returned to the gastrointestinal tract did not follow a consistent pattern. When expressed as a percentage of urea synthesized, urea recycling decreased as protein level increased but tended to increase when the diets were treated. The results are consistent with an appreciable fraction of the nitrogen returned to the rumen being in forms other than urea.

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*Part I, Aust. J. Agric. Res., 28: 1055 (1977).