COMPRESSED COMPLETE FEED BLOCK AS A ANIMAL FEED
A.K. Patil and R.K. Jain
Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Vet. Sci. & A.H., Mhow
- Introduction
A successful livestock production largely depends on continues supply of adequate, balanced and economic feeding. Feeding alone accounts for more than 70 percent of the total cost of milk production; therefore, balanced feeding of dairy animals can play a pivotal role in a successful dairy development programme worldwide. To maximize profitability from the animals, one needs to ensure that these animals must receive the required quantity of protein, energy, minerals and vitamins, preferably from locally available feed resources. All these nutrients can be supply by an innovation called Complete Feed Block, which can help our farmers in balanced feeding of dairy animals and thereby, increasing milk production and profit incurred from dairy farming. Apart from being an economically viable technique, it has multiple advantages like easy transportation, cheaper storage, correcting multi-nutritional deficiency, easy handling and reduces feeding cost as locally available feed ingredients can be utilized. It can be stored for almost a year and therefore is helpful in seasons of fodder scarcity. Complete feed system is one of the latest developments to exploit the potential of animal feed resources in the best possible way. The concept of feeding complete rations comprising of fibrous crop residues to dairy animals are popular among farmers. During the last decade, efforts were made to change from the traditional extensive animal farming to an intensive system. Many authors recommended giving feed blocks in dry seasons to ruminants on poor quality fibrous feeds (e.g. straws, low quality hays, stubble, etc.).
- Components of CCFB
The major components of CCFB are forage and concentrate, added in different ratios, depending upon the level of production while the minor component constitutes micronutrients and feed additives. The complete feed blocks can be formulated by using straws and diet supplements such as molasses, concentrates, minerals and salt. Such feed blocks can be stored over a long period of time and transported economically over long distances. Complete feed blocks are based on locally available roughages, which are suitable for ruminants and can be useful in maintaining animal’s productivity under stall feeding.
- Feeding practices in India
3.1 Separate feeding of roughage and concentrate:
In India mostly in the rural areas of southern, eastern and western parts, farmers often do not chaff and soak the straws or stovers, and offer them dry and in un-chopped or semi-chopped forms . Concentrate components of the ration are given separately to animals at the time of milking only. The animals are mostly low producing and are offered different types of crop residues like wheat, rice or gram straw, stovers of sorghum, maize or finger millets and little amount of concentrate grains. The un-chopped straw provides complete choice to the animal for selectively consuming the more digestible parts and leaving behind the less digestible parts, which consequently leads to substantial feed wastage. In addition, the animal might need to spend more energy for chewing the un-chopped straw, than the chopped straw (Chander, 2011).
- Compressed Complete Feed Block:
Compressed complete feed block (CCFB) is comprised of forage, concentrate and other supplementary nutrients in desired proportion capable to fulfill nutrient requirements of animals. Complete feed block is defined as a solid product containing roughage and concentrate in desired proportion capable to fulfil nutrient requirements for the targeted production purpose. They are considered as a catalyst supplement, allowing a fractionated, synchronized and balanced supply of the main nutrients i.e. energy, nitrogen, minerals and vitamins for animals. It is often reported that feed block utilisation in livestock feeding was initiated since the early 1980s. The available feed resources are often low in energy and digestible proteins, and fail in most cases to cover livestock maintenance requirements. They can be better used by the animal if the rumen ecosystem for fermentative digestion can be balanced by supplying deficient nutrients mainly energy and nitrogen. Many livestock owners hardly follow any feeding standards as they are unable to scientifically compute a balanced ration for their animals, mainly due to lack of knowledge and also the means to do so. This results in poor utilization of feed resources and sub-optimal production from their animals. Complete feed block is a new concept in delivering nutrients as a complete balanced ration to dairy animals. Each feed block is a total ration for a cow or a buffalo for 24 hours and supplies all the nutrients, including micronutrients required by the animal.
- The Process of Making Compressed Complete Feed Block:
The first step in the process of making straw based feed blocks is the grinding of concentrate ingredients, followed by their mixing and addition of the feed additives. This is then followed by mixing of these ingredients and straw in proper proportions along with addition of molasses in a specifically designed Total Mixture Ration mixer or manually, taking care that mixing is uniform and ingredients are not separated due to gravity. Finally, the weighed quantity of the mixed stuff is transferred into a hydraulic press and subjected to the preparation of blocks at 4000 psi in an automatic or manual feed blocking machine.
- Use of Compressed Complete Feed Block:
Complete feed block may be used in dry season or winter season to ruminants when their diet is high in fibre. The use of block in wet season may not advantage digestion of ruminants as green forage during this period is relatively high in nitrogen and low in fibre. Precaution should be taken to introduce the block gradually in the diet of ruminants during a transition period of 2 weeks to enable the animals to adapt to this new supplement. This is particularly important when animals have suffered a degree of underfeeding as intake can be more rapid than usual. The best way to restrict intake during the adaptation period is to control the time of feeding. Urea containing feed blocks should not be given to monogastric species or to pre-ruminants calves, young kids and lambs (less than three months of age) as these animals can’t use efficiently ammonia generated from urea, therefore their intoxication would occur.
6.1 Better Health Status of Animal
The optimum supply of nutrients and micro-nutrients through densified complete blocks also has a positive impact on the maintenance of good animal health. The feeding of the blocks provides immunoprotection against infectious diseases and also decreases the occurrence of nutritional deficiency disease as well as metabolic and reproductive disorders.
6.2 Blocks Act As A Vehicle For Medicine or Neutraceutical Administration
Compressed Complete Feed Block may be used as a carrier of several chemicals and prophylactic medicines. There is substantial room for improving the quality of straw based complete feed blocks. Different supplements, newer feed additives, neutraceuticals, anthelminths and herbal extracts may be added in the densified complete feed blocks to improve their overall nutritional quality.
6.3. Other Advantages of Feeding Feed Blocks
- Easy to transport and feeding to stall-fed and free grazing animals.
- It has the potential to fulfill the nutrient requirements of animals.
- Simple and efficient technique for long term conservation of crop residues which are available abundantly in one season and scarce in another season.
- Reduces use of conventional concentrate feeds, thereby feeding cost would be alleviated.
- Allows a synchronous and fractionated supply of essential nutrients for ruminants fed on low quality roughages.
- It gives added advantage of correcting multi-nutrient deficiencies in animals.
- It makes the quality feed available year round and is cost-effective.
- It enhances utilization of poor quality of roughages and improves the palatability of unconventional feeds and also reduces feed wastage as the animal is unable to do selective feeding.
- Environment pollution may be reduced, because farmers do not have sufficient time between harvesting of matured crop and sowing of next seasonal crop. As a result, crop residues suitable for feeding are being burnt in the field per se. The burning of crop residues pollutes the environment.
- Feeding of complete feed block results in low methane emission from animals.
- Improved productive and reproductive performance.
- Economic Benefits to Farmers
It was observed that the growth rate of calves could increase by 25–35%, while the milk yield could increase by 15–20% (Walli, 2009). There could also be some increase in fat content of milk. After feeding densified complete feed blocks, the milk yield of the animal persists at a higher level over a longer period, resulting in increase in total lactation yield. This may be explained by the fact that the feeding of straw based complete feed blocks eliminates any day to day dietary fluctuations thus providing the rumen microbes a constant supply of the same type of feed/substrates, bringing stability in the rumen environment and making ruminant system overall more efficient. In addition to the direct monitory benefit that the block feeding gives, it also offers other benefits to the farmer for example early calving and regularity in calving, reduction in feed wastage and saving on labour and time required for feeding and cleaning of mangers. There is also saving on purchase of medicines and treatment of animals, as the animal generally maintains better health (Walli, et al., 2012. Because of the faster growth rate, feeding of densified complete feed blocks could result in early maturity and early age at first calving for the animals. The age of heifers at first calving may decrease by about 4–6 months (Walli, 2009), which is a distinct advantage for lowering the cost of rearing animals. As a result of these positive changes, overall reproductive efficiency of the animal also increases. The occurrence of reproductive problems such as late maturity, anestrous and repeat breeding condition can also be reduced in animals, which are fed densified complete feed blocks.
- Conclusion
Compressed Complete Feed Block (CCFB) technology provides scope for incorporation of deficient nutrients, use of unconventional and agro-industrial by products for optimum livestock production and also provides cheaper transportation cost of bulky materials from surplus to scarcity areas. It ensures optimum roughage and concentrate ratio, proper supply of nutrients and maximum utilization of nutrients leading to better performance of the animals, which ultimately bring better returns to the farmer. Thus, the compressed compete feed block is an innovative technology, which could play an important role in feeding the balanced rations to ruminant for sustainable livestock production. The technology also has the potential to remove the regional disparity in feed availability, as the units can be set up to act as ‘Feed or Fodder Banks’. This technology is very much helpful in areas that face an acute shortage of feed or fodder particularly during natural calamities like draught and flood situations.
