Livestock nutrition Flashcards
What are the different types of feeds for farm animals are there?
Course fodders (roughages), Succulent feed (roots), Green fodders and Concentrate feeds
What are Coarse fodders?
Bulky feeds with a high crude fibre and low moisture content
What are Succulent feeds?
Bulky feeds with a high moisture content
What are Green fodders?
Bulky feeds fairly high in moisture content and fibre
What are Concentrate feeds?
Low moisture and high feeding value
What is in Coarse fodders?
Hay (Meadow, seed and legume hay) and Straw, cheap and high in dry matter, and lower in nutrients
What is in Succulent feeds (or roots)?
Turnips, Swedes, Mangolds. Fodder beet, potatoes etc. (low feeding value due to low dry matter)
What is in Green fodders?
True green crops (fresh or silage)
What are the benefits of Green fodders?
Low cultivation costs, natural, one plant can produce
What is Silage?
Pasture grass that has been ‘picked’
What are the three requirements for the appropriate silage?
Fermentation products, Low pH (optimum 3.5) and Anaerobic conditions
What is the process of creating Silage?
- Cut grass
- The cut grass is chopped into even smaller pieces and then compacted to get out as much oxygen as possible
- Lactic acid bacteria are anaerobic and start the fermentation process.
- The next step is to seal the compacted grass with plastic to keep oxygen out.
- Mounds of silage are covered with huge polythene (plastic) sheets and weighted down (usually with old tyres) to ensure maximum compacting; bales are covered with plastic wrapping.
Why are Fermentation products important in the making of silage?
Lactic acid bacteria (anaerobic) break down glucose into lactic acid, acetic acid, ethanol and CO2
Why is a low pH important in the making of silage?
Makes the environment uninhabitable for many bacteria and lowers enzyme activity
Why are anaerobic conditions important in the making of silage?
Prevents yeast and unwanted bacterial growth
What are the advantages of Concentrate feeds?
Cheaper, saves time and reduces labour cost
What are the disadvantages of Concentrate feeds?
- There are possibilities of making mistakes when mixing. For instance, mixing with the wrong quantity of maize
- A farmer would find it difficult to use concentrate when there is a scarcity of maize or when machines such as hammer mill/crusher and/or mixer are not available.
Which livestock require more water?
Milking/Lactating livestock
What is the correlation between water content and crops?
The more succulent the crop the higher the water content
What are the animal sources of protein?
Milk (whole food), Fish + meat, eggs
What are the vegetable sources of protein?
Pulses (beans, peas, lupin, soya bean), Oilseeds (rapeseed meal, linseed meal), Forage, Distillers grains
What happens if an animal has too much protein?
- Excess protein is excreted in urine
- Excess amino acids can be transported to the liver where they are converted to carbohydrates and oxidised to energy However, converting excess protein into energy is inefficient!
- Excess protein can also be stored as fat
What happens if an animal has too little protein?
- Depressed appetite
- Susceptibility to infection
- General weakness or muscle weakness
- Loss of weight or poor growth
- Atrophy (degeneration) of tissues
- Oedema (swelling)
- Loss of stamina
- Dull coat
Are pigs monogastric or ruminent?
Monogastric