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Feeding Stuff

Storage and Quality Control of Animal Feeding Stuffs and Forage

Losses normally occur during storage of animal feeding stuffs which could be weight loss, quality loss, health risk or economic loss. These losses are caused by insects, microorganisms, animals, improper handling, physical and chemical changes.

Intense insect infestation results in the growth of moulds which poses a serious health risk to animals consuming the feed. Sometimes inadequately processed feed ingredients is the cause of spoilage. Also, there is lack of quality standards for feed ingredients in most developing countries.

Importance of Storage of Animal Feeding stuffs

It prevents contamination by insects and microorganisms eg fungi which cause staleness and mycotoxin production, discolouration;

It prevents destruction of the grain by pest.

It prevents quality loss of feedstuff.

It prevents rancidity of fat components of feed e.g. fishmeal.

In order to ensure good feed quality, feedstuffs need to be monitored. Quality control involves the verification of the quality standards established for each feed ingredient.

One of the advantages of quality control is that it provides knowledge of exact composition of raw materials

Quality Control of Animal Feed stuff and Forages

Visual inspection:

To ascertain level of moisture, mould infestation, presence of foreign bodies for example (scrap metals, stone) non-biological contaminants, presence of insects, signs of stale or poorly preserved ingredients, heat damage and spoilage.

Analyze incoming ingredients check for moisture, color, odour and texture.

Establish rejection criteria for incoming ingredients.

Prevent contamination of feeds.

Frequently sample both ingredients and mixed rations.

Check if analysis matches ration formulation.

The mixer scale should be checked for accuracy.

Bunker forages should be tightly packed to minimize spoilage.

Water must be kept clean.

Reduce bunk shoveling with good bunk management.

Processing of Feeds

Processing is done to;

Alter the physical form or particle size,

Prevent spoilage,

Improve palatability,

Increase surface area,

Obtain a uniform mixture of various ingredients,

Avoid sorting by animals,

Increase digestibility by subjecting to pre-digestion (e.g., heat processing),

Types of Processing Method

This can be classified into dry and wet processing or cold and hot processing.

Cold Processing Methods

a. Grinding:

The particles may be finely, moderately or coarsely ground. However, fine ground may lead to wind loss, tends to form ball in the GIT when mixed with saliva, reduces palatability in cattle, and reduces digestibility and absorption due to faster rate of passage in GIT.

May cause ulcer in pig, feed bloat in cattle. Moderately ground feed is good for pig and poultry. Grinding of grains for cattle may probably not be necessary but sorghum has to be crushed coarsely because its waxy coats may prevent digestions.

Fine ground grains for dairy cattle will result in low butter, fats and milk.

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Rollermill grinding

Rollermills act on grain by compressing it between two corrugated rolls that can be screwed together to produce smaller and smaller particles. Rollermills are not used with roughages.

Hammermills

A hammermill processes feed with the aid of rotating metal bars (hammers) that blow the ground product through a metal screen. The size of the product is controlled by changing the screen size. These mills will grind anything from coarse roughage to any type of grain.

The products size will vary from particles similar to cracked grain to a fine powder. For non-ruminants smaller particle size however ruminants prefer coarsely ground grains.

Soakedgrain

Grain is soaked for 12-24 hours. The soaking, sometimes with heat, softens the grain which swells during the process making a palatable product that should be rolled before using in finishing rations.

Reconstitution

It is similar to soaking and involves adding water to mature dry grain to raise the moisture content to 25-30 percent. This procedure works well with sorghum.

High moisture grain

Grain is harvested at a high moisture content of (25-35%) and stored in a silo or treated with chemical to avoid spoilage. It may be ground before ensiling or ground or rolled before feeding. This is an important method when weather conditions do not allow sun drying.

Storage and Quality Control of Animal Feeding Stuffs and Forage

Hot processing methods

Most of these methods are associated with high cost and maintenance problem of equipment.

Steam rolling

The steaming is accomplished by passing steam through a tower above the roller mill. The grains are subjected to steam for only a short time (3-5minutes) prior to rolling.

Most results had only little or no improvement on animal performance as compared to dry rolling but use of steam does allow production of larger particles and fewer fines.

Steamflaking

Grain is subjected to high moisture steam for a sufficient time to raise the water content to 18-20%, and the grain then rolled to produce a flat flake. This process is beneficial in term of weight gain efficiency.

Roasting

Maize is usually the target. The maize is passed through a roaster. The moisture constant will be reduced to about 5% but the bulkiness is increased by 15%.

Results of livestock feeding trials with roasted maize used for pigs consistently shown an improvement in the rate of grain to about 812% and improvement in feed efficiency to about 9-10%.

Cooking

It is usually done for two reasons:

To destroy the antinutritional factors in feed stuffs and to increase the utilization of starch granules present.

Pelleting

Pelleting is accomplished by grinding the feed and then forcing it through a thick die. Feedstuffs are usually but not always steamed to some extent prior to pelleting.

Pellets can be made in different diameters, lengths and harnesses and are commercially available. It is good for pig and poultry.

Extruding

By passing the feed through a machine with a spiral screw that forces the feed through a tapered head.

Feed is ground, heated, and extended, producing a ribbonlike product. It is being used to process whole soybean seeds or other oil seeds. Heating is enough to destroy anti-nutritional factors in soybean.

Common Processing Methods for Roughage

Bailing Still one of the most common methods of handling roughage, and large bales are becoming more common.

Chopping or grinding – Provide more uniform product & can reduce feed refusal and wastage.

Pelleting Usually consumed readily by ruminants, horses, and rabbits, and improve animal performance more with “low-quality” roughage.

Cubing Hay is forced through dies that produce a square product (about 3 cm in size) of varying lengths & hardness. Often used for dairy cattle.

Dried/dehydrated, e.g., alfalfa – A substantial amount of alfalfa meal is produced. The cost is relatively high, thus used in limited amounts in pig or poultry diets as a source of carotene and vitamins.

Toxicity

This may seem a strange term to use in conjunction with feed stuffs. However, there are harmful substances which, when used at certain levels, are harmful enough to be classed as toxic.

Urea is an example of a feed stuff that is potentially toxic if too much is fed at one time. If the correct amount of urea is fed, the feed stuff is very valuable. The term ‘toxic’ must not be confused with ‘poison’.

Mycotoxins are toxic to animals, and are produced on plants by fungi, particularly during weather stress during the growing or harvest seasons or during feed storage (e.g., vomitoxin, zearalenone, aflatoxin and T-2, etc).

Feed ingredients liable to have antinutritonal factors must be checked for trypsin inhibitiors and urease in soyabean products, gossypol in cotton seed, aflatoxin in corn and ground nuts, rancidity in fats.

Additives and Residues

Many feed additives must be withdrawn from feeds to ensure residue-free carcasses, and withdrawal periods before slaughter vary among additives.

The main concern is sulfa residues. Some people are hypersensitive to sulfa and can develop allergic reactions.

FAO is concerned to implement the relevant standards and guidelines of the Codex Alimentarius which relate to the safety of animal feed in these matters. Relevant Codex standards include:

Contaminants and Toxins in Food

Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for Pesticides, etc.

Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for Veterinary Drugs.

International Code of Practice for Control of the Use of Veterinary Drugs.

Aflatoxins in Raw Materials and Supplemental Feeding Stuffs for Milk Producing Animals.

Labelling of Pre-Packaged Foods and the forthcoming Code of Practice for Good Animal Feeding.

To this may be added the issue of environmental pollution, particularly by intensive livestock. In Europe, there is a demand for reduction in Nitrogen (and Phosphorus) excretion, which has implications for animal nutrition, particularly in the use of protein feeds.

In summary, it is important to maintain the quality of feed ingredients by ensuring proper storage. Unwholesome feed ingredients will produce low quality feeds which can be harmful to the animal and man which is the end user.

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