An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of feeding concentrate supplement and urea treated rice straw on nutrient intake, apparent digestibility, and growth performance of goats. For this study, nine goats were assigned in individual cages according to Randomized Complete Block Design on a bodyweight basis. They were divided into three groups with one animal per replicate and each received dietary treatment as follow: (T1) Untreated rice straw with concentrate supplement at 1% of live weight (LW), (T2) urea treated rice straw with concentrate supplement at 1% of LW, (T3) urea treated rice straw with concentrate supplement at 1.25% of LW. Rice straw (RS) and urea treated rice straw (UTRS) were fed ad libitum with concentrate supplement in a separate feeding trough for 10 weeks. Five days digestibility trial was conducted at the end of the study. Results showed that the voluntary feed intake of RS and UTRS were similar for all treatments. Dry matter intake was highest in T1 comparable to T3 whereas intake of crude protein, organic matter and ether extract were similar across treatments. On the other hand, apparent digestibility of dry matter, organic matter and ether extract were significantly higher in T2 and T3. There were no significant differences in live weight gain for all treatments but reduced of weight was observed in T1. Thus, it can be concluded that concentrate supplementation at 1% and 1.25% LW on urea treated rice straw diet only promote better apparent nutrient digestibility of goats raised in complete confinement.

















