Enhancement of productivity of sheep through feeding of urea molasses treated rice hulls

The study was carried out to assess the effect of urea treated rice hulls and concentrates supplementation on weight gain and to compare the economics of urea treated rice hulls. the experiment was conducted on indigenous balochi sheep of 10 to 12 month of age. a total of 16 sheep were divided into four groups; each group consisting of 4 sheep,and kept under stall feeding for a period of nine weeks. group a,b and c were given rice hulls treated with 2,3,4% urea and 10% molasses plus concentrate while group d served as control (3kg green fodder plus 0.5kg concentrate mixture and wheat straw). daily feed intake and weekly weight gain were recorded. the experiment was designed in crd fashion. statistical analysis revealed that group a,b and c had similar feed intake (p>0.05),while group d consumed significantly (p<0.05) more feed than all other groups. the average daily weight gain,total weight gain and feed conversion ratios (fcr) were found significant for all groups (p<0.05). however,no differences (p>0.05) were observed between group a and b for these parameters. the group d was found most efficient for daily weight gain,total weight gain and fcr. group c had the highest weight gain as compared to group a and b. no significant difference in feeding cost was observed for group a,b and c. results concluded that the urea molasses treatment affected the productive performance of sheep without much additional cost.