Abstract

Background:
Urea, a non-protein nitrogen, is a widely utilized, affordable, and readily available protein supplement.

Aim:
This work aimed to investigate the effect of urea as a protein substitute in growing camel ration on performance, digestion, nitrogen balance, blood metabolites, antioxidant status, immunity, inflammatory markers, and rumen fermentation, and to identify its ideal inclusion level.

Methods:
Twenty Dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) with one hump originally from Egypt, aged around 30 months, averaging 305.25 ± 2.15 kg in body weight, were randomly allocated to four treatments with 5 animals in each group. The crude protein of the camels’ diets was substituted with urea as follows: 0 (0% urea, T1), 33% (1.4% urea, T2), 50% (2.1% urea, T3), and 66% (2.8% urea, T4). Weight gain and feed conversion were significantly improved (P

Key words: Blood metabolites; Camels; Performance; Ruminal parameters; Urea.