When breeding livestock in domestic or industrial conditions, it is very important to make the right diet, since the quantity of milk produced by cows and the quality of meat depend on the quality of food. Feed for livestock must be selected based on their age and the amount of milk given. This is the only way to achieve maximum industry productivity with minimal financial costs.
general information
Cattle have a peculiar structure and functioning of the digestive system, so its diet requires special attention. The stomach consists of several chambers in which multi-stage digestion of food occurs, so that beneficial substances are better absorbed. For animals of this group feeds of plant origin are best suited, such as various crops, succulent and coarse types of feed, as well as some types of waste resulting from industrial production.
Juicy livestock feed is represented by crops in which the moisture content is extremely high. These include silage mixtures, fresh grass, some crops and many others. Hay and straw are used for feeding livestock in winter, as they are very nutritious.
A mandatory component of a full-fledged cattle diet, necessary to achieve maximum animal productivity, is grain feed. They concentrated a large amount of nutrients and useful macronutrients. This can be a cake and various combined feed for livestock, rich in vitamins and minerals.
In order for the milk produced by the cows and the meat to be of high quality, it is very important that the animal receives animal feed for food, since they contain vitamins of groups B, A, D and E1. To do this, bone meal is added to conventional feed.
To date, the following types of feed are used in cattle breeding:
- green feed;
- hay and straw;
- crops;
- concentrated feed;
- cereals;
- humanitarian and branch feed;
- silage;
- compound feed.
To understand how to properly compile a ration for livestock, you need to have a detailed understanding of each type of feed and its nutritional properties.
Green feed
Green feed for livestock is a grass grown in natural conditions in meadows and pastures, as well as various forage crops that are grown specifically for feeding animals. The feed of this group has a large amount of nutrients, vitamins and macronutrients, as well as excellently digested and absorbed by livestock. The greatest value as feed is considered to be young green grass, because it contains the most useful and nutritious substances, and as the grass grows, their amount decreases significantly.
Grass for livestock feed should be selected based on the composition. It should contain many vitamins, phosphorus, proteins and calcium. If grass of low quality is used, then legumes, such as clover, peas, alfalfa and others, should be added to the diet of animals. The daily ration of an adult cow is 70 kilograms of feed. With proper nutrition, meat and milk will be of high quality.
Hay
In winter, there is no grass on pastures, therefore, hay is harvested for feeding livestock. This feed plays a very large role in the diet of cattle. Hay has a positive effect on the normal functioning of the digestive system. The nutritional value of hay largely depends on the type of herbs that were used for harvesting. The most valuable are clover, alfalfa and sainfoin.
When harvesting hay for the winter, it is very important not to dry the grass, as this will lead to a very strong decrease in the content of nutrients and nutrients in the feed. In addition, when drying grass and further storing hay, it is not recommended to let it get wet in the rain, therefore, feed should be stored in a designated place. With proper harvesting and storage of hay, it will retain all the necessary nutrients and vitamins.
Root crops and gourds
As a feed for cattle, various varieties of beets, potatoes, pumpkin, rutabaga, carrots and some other vegetable crops are perfect. These crops are dietary and contribute to the reproduction of high-quality milk. Animals eat them with great pleasure, because they cause them appetite, which favorably affects the use of other types of feed.
Root crops and gourds do not completely make up a complete diet for livestock, but they will be a great addition to other feeds, especially in the first months after the cow calves. In addition, these types of livestock feed are simply indispensable when feeding animals in the winter. Despite the fact that they contain a small amount of vitamins and minerals, they are not very well eaten by cattle, nevertheless they contribute to the production of large milk yield and increase the quality of milk.
As for root crops, potatoes for livestock feed, carrots and beets are perfect. Depending on how much milk a cow gives, the average daily rate of these products is about 20 kilograms. These crops contain a large amount of water, sugar, starch and other minerals necessary for livestock.
Concentrated feed
Concentrated feeds include cereals, bran, as well as waste resulting from the production of flour. They contain a lot of nutrients, so if you add them to the diet of livestock, the nutritional and quality of milk and meat increases very much. Bean concentrated cultures contain a lot of protein, so it is better to add the diet of those breeds of livestock that produce large milk yield.
Cereal feed
Cereals, such as oats and barley, belong to the category of dietary feeds, since the carotene content in them is much lower than in cereals. Therefore, if you use them as the main feed for livestock, then you should add legumes, soy, grain, as well as other feeds that contain a large amount of protein to them.
Humane and branch feed
This group of feeds includes straw of spring crops, which, by and large, is low-quality hay. Despite the fact that straw contains significantly less nutrients, vitamins and fiber, nevertheless it is perfect as a winter feed for livestock with low and medium production capacity. For livestock producing large milk yields, straw should be mixed with bran, oilcake, silage or various root crops. This will significantly increase the nutritional value of the feed. As for branch feed for cattle, coniferous branches from which vitamin flour is made are well suited.
Silage
Silage is very widely used for feeding cattle in many regions, as it has high nutritional value and low price. This type of feed is able to fully provide animals with all the nutrients and nutrients necessary to obtain large and high-quality milk yield in the winter.
This type of feed is obtained in the process of milk fermentation of a special mass occurring in a tank closed from air. For the manufacture of silage using tops of various crops, meadow grass, cabbage leaves, green mass of sunflower and corn, as well as various legumes. During fermentation, the feed is saturated with lactic acid and sugar. The more of these substances in the silo, the more quality food is considered. Depending on what the silo was made of, this feed can be easily or hardly digestible. The best quality is a combined silo, which is made from both types of silo, mixed in a ratio of 1 to 1. This food is very nutritious and has a positive effect on the quality of reproduced milk. You can also add grain to cattle feed in the silo to provide it with the necessary amount of fiber and make nutrition more complete.
Combined feed
Combined feeds are considered one of the most versatile and high-quality types of feed for cattle, since they are made taking into account all the rules, norms and requirements for a full-fledged diet of animals, due to which maximum productivity of cattle is achieved. They contain the optimal set of vitamins, minerals and nutrients needed by an adult cow for a day.
The nutritional properties of compound feeds are determined by their dry matter content. If the feed is produced on the basis of products with a high moisture content, then the dry matter in it should be no more than three kilograms for every 100 kg of live weight of the animal. If livestock is kept in a stall without meadow grazing, then it is better to use coarse feed for their feeding. Wastes from livestock feed resulting from production are also excellent. This is quite enough to provide high-quality nutrition to livestock. At the same time, the daily norm of combined feeds depends on how much milk a cow gives per day. At low milk yields, about 5 kilograms of feed will be sufficient, and for cows with an average milk yield, the norm should be increased to eight kilograms.
A few words about the proper feeding of livestock
Making a ration is far from all that affects livestock productivity. It is very important to adhere to the correct feeding schedule. Cattle are advised to provide three meals a day. In the morning and in the afternoon, it is better to give crops and feed containing a large amount of moisture, and in the evening it is worth using coarse bait for feeding.
Conclusion
Cows with high productivity should receive good nutrition, since not only the quality and quantity of milk, but also the productivity of livestock as a whole depends on it. With a poor diet, such cows can permanently lose their productivity. Therefore, it is very important to graze them in the meadow in summer so that the cattle receive young grass for food, and in winter it is very important to draw up a high-quality diet for the animal, which will include foods and feeds rich in vitamins, minerals and macrocells.