Feeding of Livestock and Poultry

Principles of Cattle Feeding

1. Dry Matter (DM) Requirements:

• • For a crossbred cow and buffalo, the dry matter (DM) intake requirement is as follows:
    • Dry cow: 2.5% of body weight
    • Lactating cow: 3.0% of body weight

2. Roughage Requirement:

• • The roughage requirement is fulfilled through green and dry fodders.
    • About 2/3rd of the DM requirement comes from dry fodder.
    • The remaining 1/3rd comes from green fodder.
    • For roughage types:
      • 2/3rd should be from non-leguminous fodders (e.g., grasses like napier grass, guinea grass).
      • 1/3rd should be from leguminous fodders (e.g., cowpea, lucerne, and other legumes).

3. Concentrate Requirements for Different Purposes:

• • Maintenance Requirements:
    • For a Deshi cow: 1 kg/day
    • For crossbred cows and buffaloes: 1.5 kg/day
  • Lactating Animals:
    • Lactating cows/buffaloes should be given an additional 1 kg of concentrate for every 2.5 kg of milk produced (buffalo) or 3 kg of milk (cow).
  • Pregnant Animals:
    • During advanced pregnancy, an additional 1.5 kg/day of concentrate is required for both cows and buffaloes.
  • Breeding Bulls:
    • Bulls in service need an additional 1 kg/day of concentrate to maintain good health and libido.

4. Mineral and Salt Requirements:

• • Animals should receive 25-50 gm of mineral mixture and common salt daily to fulfill their mineral requirements.
  • Urea molasses mineral block licks are especially useful under good management, particularly in tropical regions.

Ration Formulation for Livestock

• A balanced ration is a combination of feed ingredients that supply all the necessary nutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals) in the right proportion for the animal’s needs.

Feeding Standards and Nutrient Requirements:

• • Nutrient requirements are based on different physiological states (maintenance, growth, lactation, pregnancy, etc.).
  • Common feeding standards used in many countries include:
    • NRC (National Research Council) of the USA
    • ARC (Agricultural Research Council) of the UK
    • ICAR (Indian Council for Agricultural Research) recommendations (adapted for Indian conditions).
  • The main considerations are energy (TDN) and protein (DCP).

Dry Matter (DM) Calculation:

• • The total DM requirement is about 2.5–3.0% of the live body weight of the animal (crossbred cow/buffalo).
  • Dry Matter Distribution:
    • 2/3rd from Roughage and 1/3rd from Concentrate.
    • Roughage is further divided into:
      • 2/3rd from dry fodder and 1/3rd from green fodder.

Calculating DCP and TDN:

• • Find out the DCP (Digestible Crude Protein) and TDN (Total Digestible Nutrients) values for the roughage and concentrate, based on the animal’s age, activity, and physiological state.
  • Roughage typically provides a lower amount of DCP and TDN compared to concentrate.

Minerals and Salt: Add mineral mixture and common salt at 1% of the concentrate mixture to meet mineral requirements.

Least-Cost Ration (LCR)

• Least Cost Ration aims to provide all the essential nutrients at the lowest possible cost. The idea is to select feed ingredients with good nutritional value but at affordable prices, thus minimizing the overall cost of feeding while ensuring good animal productivity.
• Feed Ingredients Selection:
  • High-nutritive-value ingredients available at a reasonable price should be prioritized for cost-efficient feeding.

Maintenance Ration

• This is the basic ration that provides enough nutrients to sustain the animal’s essential body processes, without any gain or loss in body weight.
  • It is generally given to dry, non-lactating animals.
  • Nutrient Requirements:
    • For Deshi cows: 1.0-1.5 kg/day of concentrate mixture.
    • For crossbred cows and buffaloes: 1.5-2.0 kg/day of concentrate mixture.
  • The ration should satisfy the minimum needs for:
    • Body maintenance
    • Normal functioning of the body.

Gestation Ration (Pregnancy Ration)

• Given to pregnant animals, particularly in the last quarter of pregnancy, in addition to their maintenance ration.
• It helps in:
  • Optimum fetal growth
  • Udder development
  • Increased milk production after calving
• Nutrient Requirements for Pregnant Cows:
  • Deshi cow: 1.0–1.5 kg/day additional concentrate.
  • Crossbred cows and buffaloes: 1.5–2.0 kg/day additional concentrate.

Production Ration (Lactation Ration)

• This ration is given to lactating animals to meet their increased nutrient demands, especially for milk production.
• For lactating cows:
  • Deshi cow: 1 kg concentrate for every 2.5–3.0 kg milk produced.
  • Crossbred cows and buffaloes: 1 kg concentrate for every 2.0–2.5 kg milk produced.
• Additional Nutrients Needed for Lactating Animals:
  • 0.051 kg DCP and 0.370 kg TDN for every kg of milk produced.

Formulation of Concentrate Mixture

Concentrate mixtures are made by combining various feed ingredients in specific proportions:

By-pass Protein and Non-Protein Nitrogen (NPN)

• By-pass proteins are those proteins that bypass the rumen and get digested directly in the small intestine. These are essential for dairy animals to support milk production without affecting rumen fermentation.
• NPN (Non-Protein Nitrogen): Sources like urea can be used as an alternative protein source in ruminants when properly treated.

Treatment of Crop Residues Crop residues like wheat straw and paddy straw can be treated with alkalis (e.g., urea treatment) to improve digestibility and make them more nutritious for livestock.

Steaming Up (Challenge Feeding) Steaming up refers to feeding grains to pregnant heifers before calving to help their growth, sustain the unborn calf, and prepare them for lactation.

Feeding Tips for Dairy Cattle

• Concentrates should be fed individually, based on the animal’s production requirements.
• Good quality roughage reduces the need for concentrate feeding.
• Feed should be given regularly and split between morning and evening.
• Avoid abrupt feed changes and ensure a consistent feeding schedule.
• Silage and wet fodder should be fed after milking to prevent flavor contamination in milk.

Poultry Feeding

Nutrient Requirements for Poultry