17 Ömer Sevim Ahmet G. Önol Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences JAPS 20192019/02/01 29 1 1-7 1018-7081 N/A <p>A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of slow-release urea (SRU) and/or non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) supplementation to groundnut straw (<em>Arachis hypogaea</em>) on digestibility and some rumen parameters in sheep and goats. A total of four male sheep (43&plusmn;2.6 kg BW) and four male goats (37&plusmn;1.8 kg BW) were used in a 4 &times; 4 Latin square design. Treatments consisted of four experimental groups; control (C) group fed basal diet, T1 fed basal diet + 10 g/day SRU, T2 fed basal diet +10 g/day SRU + molasses at 10% of ration on dry matter (DM) basis, and T3 fed basal diet +10 g/day SRU + starch at 5% of ration on DM basis. SRU and/or NSC supplementation significantly enhanced DM and organic matter (OM) digestibility, nitrogen (N) intake, urinary N, N retention, and N digestibility in sheep whereas OM digestibility, N intake, fecal and urinary N output, and N digestibility in goats. Only ammonia-N (NH3-N) levels among the rumen fluid parameters were significantly different in both sheep (P&le;0.01) and goats (P&le;0.05) at 2 h. In sheep and goats, rumen pH and NH3-N (P&le;0.001), as well as propionate levels (P&le;0.001) in goats were different at 2 h compared to 6 h. In conclusion, SRU and/or NSC supplementation improved the digestibility and weight gain, especially with corn starch under the conditions of present study.</p> Slow-release urea, non-structural carbohydrate, goat, sheep, digestibility Pakistan Agricultural Scientists Forum https://thejaps.org.pk/AbstractView.aspx?mid=AS-17-0062