@article{fdi:010040620,
  title = {{I}mproving nutritive value of a {N}orth {A}frican range grass ({S}tipa tenacissima) : {E}ffect of dung ash and urea treatment on digestion by goats},
  author = {{G}enin, {D}idier and {K}horchani, {T}. and {H}ammadi, {M}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{I}n and zones of {N}orth {A}frica, hays formerly harvested from native range forages such as {A}lfa ({S}tipa tenacissima), can provide alternative diets for livestock during periods of forage scarcity. {H}owever, they usually constitute low-quality forages. {S}oaking {A}lfa hay in alkaline solutions prepared from dung ash, with the addition of urea, was evaluated as a potential economic treatment for improving rumen digestibility. {A} digestion trial was conducted using 3-year-old male goats to compare digestibility of untreated {A}lfa hay with a treatment containing a 200 g/{L} solution of dung ash from dromedary, and 30 g/kg urea. {A} second experiment was conducted in order to evaluate the effectiveness of dung ash source (dromedary or goat), concentration of dung ash solution (0, 100, 200 or 300 g/{L}) and urea (0 or 30 g/kg) on in vitro digestibility of {A}lfa amongst goats. {R}esults of digestion trials showed that treated {A}lfa hay had higher ({P} < 0.01) digestion coefficients for dry matter (0.483 versus 0.420), organic matter (0.558 versus 0.487), neutral detergent fiber (0.664 versus 0.531) and acid detergent fiber (0.620 versus 0.545) than untreated hay. {C}rude protein apparent digestibility presented no significant different values ({P} > 0.05) between untreated and treated hay (0.356 versus 0.402). {D}aily dry matter intake ranged from 40.8 to 46.2 g/kg {BW}0.75 for untreated and treated hay, respectively ({P} < 0.05). {T}his resulted in an increase of the daily digestible dry matter intake of about 31% for treated hay as compared with the untreated hay. {R}esults of the second experiment showed that in vitro organic matter digestibility coefficient ({IVOMD}) raised from 0.271 for untreated hay to 0.499 for {A}lfa hay treated with a 300 g/{L} solution of dung ash from goats and with 30 g/kg urea. {D}ung ash from goats appeared to have a higher effect than those from dromedary. {M}eanwhile, {IVOMD} of {A}lfa hay only treated with 30 g/{L} urea was intermediary (0.403). {I}t is concluded that treating {A}lfa hay with a 200 g/{L} solution of dung ashes and 30 g/kg urea can provide an average quality forage which meets the nutritional maintenance requirements of livestock. {T}he significance of these findings is discussed in relation to feeding management strategies for low-input livestock systems.},
  keywords = {{S}tipa tenacissima ; dung ash ; urea ; nutritive value ; goat},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{A}nimal {F}eed {S}cience and {T}echnology},
  volume = {136},
  numero = {1-2},
  pages = {1--10},
  ISSN = {0377-8401},
  year = {2007},
  DOI = {10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2006.08.013},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010040620},
}