COMPLETE FEED BLOCK AND ITS ADVANTAGES IN LIVESTOCK

COMPLETE FEED BLOCK AND ITS ADVANTAGES IN LIVESTOCK

^*1Salur Srihitha

¹Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Nutrition, IVS& AH, SOA DU, Bhubaneswar.

*Corresponding author- patnaiksrihithaa@gmail.com

Introduction

In countries like India, where dairy animals rely mainly on crop residues, ensuring that the provided ration is balanced is crucial. A balanced diet is essential for maintaining good health, optimum production, and maximizing benefits from dairy farming. The Complete Feed Block (CFB) innovation offers a solution by providing a balanced feed that enhances milk production and profitability. It is economically viable and has multiple advantages, including easy transportation, cheaper storage, correcting multi-nutritional deficiencies, and reducing feeding costs by utilizing locally available feed ingredients. CFBs can be stored for up to a year, making them useful during fodder scarcity.

Complete Feed Block (CFB)

CFB is a compressed mixture of forage, concentrate, and supplementary nutrients designed to meet the nutrient requirements of dairy animals. Available in various shapes, it is the latest technology for exploiting locally available feed resources and using non-conventional feed resources effectively. CFBs assist farmers by decreasing reliance on expensive concentrates and enhancing the efficient use of feed resources.

Components of CFB

Major Components:

• Forage: Crop residues like wheat, paddy straw, sorghum stalk and maize stover.
• Concentrate: Added in different ratios based on the animal’s production level.

Minor Components:

• Micronutrients and feed additives: Essential vitamins, minerals, and other supplements to enhance productivity and health.

Proportion of Components

The proportion of straw and concentrate varies with the animal’s milk yield:

• For survival during calamities: 86% straw, 10% molasses, 2% mineral mixture, 1% urea, 1% salt.
• For 5–10 kg milk yield/day: 60% straw.
• For 10–15 kg milk yield/day: 50% straw.
• For 15–20 kg milk yield/day: 40% straw.

Ingredients of the Concentrate Mixture

• Protein Sources:Oil cakes/meals.
• Energy Sources:Molasses, grains, grain by-products.
• Supplements:Bypass protein or fat, micronutrients, vitamins, minerals, binders, probiotics, enzymes, antioxidants, immune-protective agents, antitoxins, herbal extracts.

Process of Making Complete Feed Blocks (CFB)

1. Grinding:The process begins with grinding the concentrate ingredients, such as oil cakes, grains, and other energy sources. This ensures that the particles are small enough to mix uniformly with the other components.
2. Mixing:The ground ingredients are then mixed with feed additives, which may include vitamins, minerals, binders, probiotics, enzymes, antioxidants, immune-protective agents, antitoxins, and herbal extracts. These additives play various roles in enhancing the overall health and productivity of the animals.
3. Addition of Straw:Crop residues like wheat, ragi, paddy straw, sorghum stalk, sugarcane tops, and maize stover are added to the mixture. In hilly areas, non-conventional forages like forest grasses and tree leaves can be used.
4. Incorporation of Molasses:Molasses is added to the mixture to improve palatability and act as a binder. This ensures that the minute concentrate particles adhere to the fibrous straw particles, preventing separation and selective feeding by the animals.
5. Uniform Mixing:The ingredients, including the straw and molasses, are mixed thoroughly in a Total Mixture Ration mixer or manually. Uniform mixing is crucial to ensure that each feed block provides a balanced diet.
6. Compression:The uniformly mixed feed is transferred to a hydraulic press, where it is compressed into blocks at a pressure of 4000 psi. This densification process binds the particles together, forming solid blocks that are easy to handle and store.
7. Formation:The compressed mixture can be shaped into square, circular, or quadrangular blocks depending on the dye used in the machine.
8. Storage:The finished feed blocks can be stored for almost a year, making them a reliable feed source during periods of fodder scarcity.

Advantages of Complete Feed Block Technology

1. Nutrient balance:CFBs ensure that dairy animals receive a balanced diet, fulfilling all their nutritional requirements, including micronutrients, which are often missing in traditional feeding methods and help in correcting multi-nutritional deficiencies by ensuring that each block contains a comprehensive mix of necessary nutrients
2. Utilization of local resources and crop residues:This technology allows for the efficient use of locally available crop residues and non-conventional feed resources, reducing dependence on expensive concentrates.
3. Year-Round Availability:By incorporating tree leaves and other local feed resources, CFBs can provide quality feed throughout the year, even during off-seasons or natural calamities.
4. Cost-Effective Storage and Transportation:The compressed nature of CFBs makes them cheaper to store and transport compared to bulky raw roughage. This is particularly beneficial in regions with limited storage space or during the transportation of feed to remote areas.
5. Enhanced Palatability and Reduced Wastage:The process of densification improves the palatability of poor-quality roughages and prevents selective feeding by animals, thereby reducing feed wastage.
6. Labor and Time Saving:CFBs simplify the feeding process, saving farmers time and labor that would otherwise be spent on preparing and distributing various feed components.
7. Improved Health and Productivity:Regular feeding of CFBs leads to better health, improved productive and reproductive performance, and reduced veterinary costs. This is due to the balanced and comprehensive nutrition provided by the feed blocks.
8. Environmental Benefits:Feeding CFBs can result in lower methane emissions from animals, contributing to a reduction in the environmental impact of dairy farming.
9. Flexibility in Feed Inclusion:CFBs allow for the inclusion of a wide range of alternative feeds, providing flexibility in managing the diet of dairy animals based on availability and cost.
10. Economic Benefits:Studies have shown that feeding CFBs results in higher intake of dry matter and nutrients, leading to increased milk yield and additional income for farmers. It also promotes early and regular calving, further enhancing profitability.

Conclusion

Complete Feed Block technology offers a comprehensive solution for balanced feeding in dairy farming. By utilizing local resources and providing a balanced diet, CFBs enhance the health and productivity of dairy animals while offering economic and environmental benefits. This technology is a practical and efficient approach to addressing the challenges faced by dairy farmers, especially in regions with fodder scarcity and limited resources.

References

• IFAD, 2000. Feed Blocks: a strategic alternative supplement for small ruminants raised within crop-livestock systems under semi-arid conditions.
• Hozhabri, F. and Singhal, K.K. 2006. Physical parameters of complete feed blocks based on wheat straw and sugarcane bagasse. Indian Journal of Animal Nutrition. 23: 150-154.
• Ganai, A.M., Singh, P.K. and Ahmad, H.A. 2007. Importance of complete feed blocks in livestock production. Livestock Line, 1: 4-7.

Please follow and like us: