Milk Urea Nitrogen Concentration as A Monitoring Tool for Assessing Protein Nutritional Status in Dairy Farms.

The objective of this study was to determine whether milk urea nitrogen concentration could be used as an easy monitoring tool for assessing protein nutritional status of dairy cows. Data collected (Questionnaire) from 5 farms located in Khartoum north were used in this study. Feed samples were collected from each farm and proximate analysis was carried out. Milk samples were collected separately from eight cows from each farm. Milk urea nitrogen concentration was measured. The results showed that the lowest CP content (19.9%) was reported in farm C, while the highest value (24.5%) was reported for farm A. The mean MUN concentrations was higher in farm A (35.6 mg/dl) compared to 20.1 17.0, 13.1 and 11.4 mg/dl in farm D, E, B, and C, respectively. The variation in MU concentration within the farm ranged from 29.6 to 45.5 mg/dl in farm A, 7.0 to 21.0 mg/dl in farm B, 7.0 to 14.0 mg/dl in farm C, 10.5 to 31.5 mg/dl in farm D and 7.0 to 35.0 mg/dl in farm E. Difference in MUN concentration were observed within and between farms. A significant (P