Importance of Feeds and Feeding to Farm Animals
After reading this article you will learn about:- 1. Importance of Livestock Feeding 2. Feeds and Fodders of Livestock Feeding 3. Feed Quality 4. Feeding Standards or Requirements 5. Concentrate Feed 6. Fodder Crops 7. Dry Fodders 8. Grasslands, Trees & Shrubs.
Contents:
- Importance of Livestock Feeding
- Feeds and Fodders of Livestock Feeding
- Feed Quality of Livestock
- Feeding Standards or Requirements of Livestock
- Concentrate Feed of Livestock
- Fodder Crops of Livestock
- Dry Fodders of Livestock
- Grasslands, Trees & Shrubs Used for Livestock Feeding
1. Importance of Livestock Feeding :
Farmers keep livestock for obtaining milk, meat, wool, work etc. Food is the source for production for all such products as well for producing offspring. Also, a nutritionally balanced ration is a must for keeping the animals healthy and strong. Note that we call as 'food' of what ourselves eat. The same is known as 'ration' in the case of animals.
Without proper food, i.e. ration, animals cannot grow well, cannot keep good health, nor can they produce products and young ones properly. That is why we have to feed animals with nutritionally balanced and adequate quantity of rations. Hence the need to feed livestock scientifically according to their body needs.
2. Feeds and Fodders of Livestock Feeding :
The feedstuffs used for feeding livestock can be classified into three major classes depending on the contents of fibre, moisture and nutrients as:
(a) Green or Succulent forages or fodders;
(b) Dry forages or fodders; and
(c) Concentrate Feeds.
The forages – both green and dry are also known as bulk feeds or roughages, as they are voluminous due to high fibre content. They contain fewer nutrients per unit weight. Their classification is given in the below. By cultivated feeds and fodders we mean all those main and by products obtained via cultivation of crops by farmers, whatever may be their nutrient quality.
The natural vegetation is that that occurs in nature even without human endeavour. On the other hand, there are some nutrients that are added to feeds or supplemented to the ration for providing some specific nutrient or group of nutrients.
This is done to provide important high value nutrients in small quantities. Due to ever diminishing livestock feeds in the country, many unconventional feeds ranging from tree leaves to sea weeds were increasingly being recommended as animal feeds, especially during scarcity periods.
3. Feed Quality of Livestock :
The nutritive value of a feed is determined by analysing the quantity of various nutrients present in it, which will be available to the animal for maintenance, growth and/or production. This has to be determined with respect to energy, protein, minerals and vitamins. The simplest and earliest method of determining the nutritive value of feeds was to estimate the composition of the feed with respect to various nutrients.
It was soon found that large amounts of nutrients are lost through faeces and that the nutritive value of a feedstuff is more accurately judged when the digestible nutrients are taken into account. As a consequence, the feeding trial and digestibility trial techniques were developed.
Innumerable digestibility trials were conducted the world over to determine the digestible nutrients in various livestock feeds for all different species and classes of livestock under different conditions and activities. Nutritive value (Digestible Crude Protein—DCP, and Total Digestible Nutrients—TDN) of common livestock feeds available in India is given in Table 15.
4. Feeding Standards or Requirements of Livestock :
Feeding standards are statements of the average daily nutrient requirements of different types of animals. Scientists have come to the help of farmers by providing certain guidelines in selecting properly balanced rations for meeting the nutrient requirements of various types and classes of livestock.
These recommendations have been collected, classified, tabulated and revised from time to time and have come to be known as feeding standards. Thus, feeding standards are tables stating the amount of various nutrients that should be present in the daily ration of different classes of livestock for optimum results in growth, work and production.
Work in the field of nutritive value and nutrient requirements is still going on and, therefore, any feeding standard is bound to become obsolete in a few years. Consequently, it has been realised that these standards must be revised every few years to make them up-to- date in describing nutritionally adequate ration.
Leading Indian animal nutritionists came out with a feeding standard for Indian animals, which have been published by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research as a bulletin (No. 25). These and NRC (US) as well as other standards of nutrient requirements for different classes of livestock is given in Tables 16 to 22.
The first consideration in feeding standards should be the capacity of the animal to consume feed. The total dry matter in the daily ration, which could be eaten by the animal, measures this. Usually the dry matter intake is proportionate to the body weight.
Cattle generally eat 2.0 to 2.5 kg of dry matter per 100 kg live weight. Buffaloes eat slightly more than this. As a general rule two-thirds of the nutrients should come from roughages and one- third from concentrates.
After having determined the dry matter need, the next step is to find out the need of the independent nutrients. In this, the major consideration is the needs of the Digestible Crude Proteins (DCP) and Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN).
5. Concentrate Feed of Livestock :
Concentrate feed means a mixture of milled grains, pulses, oil cakes etc. Given in Table 23 below are set of formulae to make feed mixtures with ingredient available in different regions of the country. Farmers can use those readymade formulae for preparing concentrate mixtures themselves. The values given in Table 23 are based on raw matter basis, i.e. weights of feeds, as they are normally available.
Average dry matter content in feeds may be considered as follows:
6. Fodder Crops of Livestock Feeding:
Leguminous Fodders:
The leguminous fodders (stem and leaves) are a group of plants belonging to the group Leguminosae. These plants, by virtue of bacteria of rhizobium group in their root nodules, 'fix' nitrogen from atmosphere and make it available to themselves, other plants, animals and man.
They always have a higher nitrogen content and can form a major source of protein to farm animals. For cattle and buffaloes if legumes are fed liberally, there is no need for any additional supply of protein.
Important leguminous fodder crops include true clovers (Trifolium species). Medics (.Medicago species), Crotalaria species and certain other miscellaneous legumes. Important true clovers useful as fodder crops are Berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum), Shaftal (T. resupinatum), White clover (T. repens), Red clover (T. pratense) Crimson clover (T. incarnatum) and Subterranean clover (T. subterraneum).
Among medics, Lucerne (Medicago sativa) is the most popular fodder crop. Black medic (M. lupulina) and Bur clover (M. hispida) are other members of utility as fodder.
Crotalaria group includes a large number of species useful for foraging like Sunhemp (Crotalaria junica), Cowpeas or Lobia (Vigna sinensis) and Kudzu vine (Pueraris thunbergiana). Certain other legumes like soya beans (Glycene soya) are also important in livestock feeding.
Non-Leguminous Roughages:
The non-leguminous fodder generally consists of a lower percentage of nitrogen. Therefore, when livestock get non-leguminous fodder, special care has to be taken to add sufficient protein rich concentrates to balance the ration. They include many cereal fodder crops, perennial cultivated grasses, some indigenous grasses and introduced grasses.
1. Important cereal crops used as fodders:
Maize (Zea mays), Sorghum (Sorghum vulgare), Bajra (Pennisetum typhoides), Oats (Avena sativa) and Teosinte (Euchlaena mexicana).
2. Important perennial cultivated fodder grasses crops used as fodders:
Para grass (.Brachiana mutica), Guinea grass (Panicum maximum), Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum), Hybrid {giant) Napier (an interspecies cross between Napier and Bajra), Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana), Blue panic grass (Panicum antidotale) and Sudan grass (Sorghum vulgare var Sudanense).
3. Some indigenous grasses that are traditional livestock fodder and which can be developed further are Anjan grass / Kolukattain grass (Cenchrus celiaris), Dhub grass / Hariali (Cynodon dactylon), Giant star grass (Cynodon plectostachyus), Marval grass (Dichanthium annulatum), Sewan grass (Elyomirus hirsatus) and Masel grass (.Iseilema laxum).
4. Some introduced grasses: Deenabandhu grass (Pennisetum pedicellatum), Orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata), Signal grass (Brachiaria brizantha) and Meadow fescue (.Festuca elatior) have been introduced to India.
Fodder Production :
The system of fodder production varies from region to region, place to place and farmer to farmer, depending upon the availability of water mainly and other inputs like fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, etc. and the topography.
An ideal fodder system is that which gives the maximum out turn of digestible nutrients per hectare, or maximum livestock products from a unit area. It should also ensure the availability of succulent, palatable and nutritive fodder throughout the year.
Given in Table 24, are the crop rotations recommended for each region or 2 or 3 (row wise). The farmer can choose any of the one or two or three crops listed under each crop rotation as it suits his/her farm conditions.
One crop combinations sown in a season followed by the second crop combination after the preceding crop is harvested. Also one can choose from one of the 2 or 3 crop rotations recommended as it suits his/her farm conditions.
The above fodder cropping scheme and the schedule of feeding livestock has to be in synchrony, i.e., go on together. This is so because green fodder based feeding is the most economical method and fodder must be made available round the year. Details of crop rotations and cultivation practices for fodder crops in different regions are given above.
These should be helpful in understanding the fodder cultivation methods. Note that forages are more valuable when they are reasonably young. On further maturing they become woody and lignified with consequent reduction in the digestibility of nutrients.
On the other hand harvesting the crops too early will reduce the yield and make the crop watery. Therefore a via media has to be struck. Usually at the flowering stage there is maximum yield of digestible nutrients and, the forages should be harvested at this stage.
7. Dry Fodders of Livestock Feeding :
Dry fodders contain more than 85% dry matter, i. e. less than 15% or moisture. They are highly fibrous, bulky, and less digestible and mostly help in filling the large digestive tracts of ruminants. These are mostly crop by-products are listed in Table 25.
8. Grasslands, Trees & Shrubs Used for Livestock Feeding :
Grasslands are those covered with grasses and other edible plants of the locality that can be used for grazing livestock. Though the grasses grow naturally season wise, farmers can also carry out reseeding and develop the grasslands. We do not have specific pastures (cultivated grasslands) for livestock like in western countries.
But still grazing is the most common and traditional practice of feeding livestock in India. Forest areas; common village lands; embankments of rivers, canals and ponds; bunds of crop fields; hill slopes; and fallow lands are used as grazing lands. The quality of grasslands in India varies considerably with respect to their ecology. The major types of grasslands seen in various regions of the country are listed in Table 26.
Please note that, in general, the quality of the grasslands with respect to utility for the livestock is the best in region E and reasonably good in region D.
The quality deteriorates from region C to A, it is more seasonal, rain dependent and also subjected to overgrazing. A balanced time and grazing pressure is the key in any grazing management system – delay only until the axillary (main) buds on the plant crowns develop into side tillers, thus increasing the swath thickness.
Source: https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/livestock-management/feeding/livestock-feeding-importance-quality-and-standards/87104
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