For many centuries, people have sought high quality meat and cattle derived products by grazing animals and harvesting large amounts of feed for the winter. However, due to technological progress, various feed additives have appeared that provide livestock with all the vitamins and minerals necessary for animal health. Therefore, every cattle breeder engaged in the cultivation of KRG on an industrial scale is interested in the question of which additives to feed are best used.
general information
Various prestigious world institutes conducted a lot of research in the field of animal husbandry and developed the right feeding regime and diet for various livestock breeds, containing the necessary amount of nutrients. To get high-quality meat and milk, animals must receive all vitamins and yeast daily.
What vitamins do cattle need ?
The daily diet of cattle should be balanced and complete. Therefore, the use of feed additives for farm animals is very important. These bait must contain the following vitamins and substances:
- Calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D: without these substances, animals become very shy, and they also lose their appetite, which leads to tooth loss, weight loss and a significant decrease in meat quality.
- Salt. With its deficiency, animals may develop acobaltosis, as well as cows begin to produce less milk and lose weight.
- The feed additive should also contain copper. With its lack, a healthy coat color is lost, reproductive ability is reduced, and paralysis of the limbs can occur.
- Manganese, cobalt and vitamin A. If the animal does not receive these substances every day with food, this can lead to disruption of the digestive system, as well as cause depletion.
- Zinc and iodine. With a lack of these elements , milk yield is very much reduced, and the likelihood of becoming pregnant in animals is reduced.
- Vitamin E. One of the most important vitamins, without which cattle very often develop anemia and very heavy weight loss occurs.
The modern production of feed additives is aimed at ensuring that they contain all the necessary nutrients that cows must receive every day.
A few words about the right diet
Nowadays, it is impossible to make the right diet for KRG without using various additives. In the warm season, animals can be grazed in meadows, where they receive a large amount of nutrients with grass, but what about winter when there is no possibility of grazing? In this case, special feeds and feed additives will help to solve the problem. Without them, providing animals with proper nutrition will be quite difficult and expensive.
Therefore, each person who is engaged in the cultivation and breeding of KRH should closely monitor what animals eat. For example, for one year, each cow should receive about 26 kilograms of salt alone. No less important is the protein, which in its composition is very close to animal proteins and is necessary for the development of muscle tissue. Protein is found in fodder yeast, so they must be included in the daily diet of animals.
Supplements to animal feed have a beneficial effect on cattle digestion and provide all vital vitamins and substances. However, at the same time, the safety of feed and feed additives is also very important, so you should not chase the price and buy too cheap compound feeds, since they can bring not so much benefit as harm.
Varieties of additives
Today, there are quite a few different types of additives in livestock feed. When choosing them, you should focus on the age and live weight of cattle. Vitamin complexes are produced in the form of oils and concentrates. However, it is immediately worth noting that it is strictly forbidden to add all the additives to the feed at once and give them to animals at one meal.
An animal does not need to be prepared for a change in diet beforehand, so a feed supplement can be used immediately. Ready-made complex feeds already contain all the necessary vitamins and minerals, which eliminates the need for cattle breeders to choose the right diet on their own. Thus, nowadays it is no longer necessary to prepare food for livestock for the winter, but you can just buy ready-made feed. However, it must be borne in mind that various additives are designed for a certain breed of animals. How to choose the right supplement for your cattle will be discussed later.
Additives for breeding bulls
If the diet of breeding bulls does not contain the necessary amino acids and nutrients, then its ability to fertilize cows is significantly impaired, and it will take at least two months to restore it. In addition, excess magnesium and protein in the feed can lead to obesity in the bull. Therefore, it is very important to provide the animal with proper nutrition, the preparation of which should be done by professionals.
It is worth noting that the feeding process cannot be approached by force. The animal should receive all the necessary substances when eating food, in which feed additives for animals come to the rescue.
Additives for pregnant cows and heifers
A few weeks before the introduction of dietary supplements, cows should receive high levels of calcium, sugar, animal fats, magnesium and a huge list of other macronutrients with food. Meadow grass can provide a cow with all these nutrients, but what to do in winter, when the main ration of the animal consists of silage or straw?
In this case, to solve the problem of good nutrition will help a balanced feed supplement, which can be purchased at various specialized stores at an affordable price.
Production of modern additives
The first additives to livestock feed appeared even during the USSR, in the quality of which were various mixed feeds and bentonite. Their introduction into the daily diet of animals allowed to significantly increase milk yield, accelerate the gain in live weight, and also improve reproductive ability. These supplements were given to cows once a day along with grain. However, despite the fact that such feeding does not require special financial costs, nevertheless it is morally and technologically outdated. Modern feed and additives are produced taking into account the optimal proportions of all the necessary vitamins, minerals, fodder yeast, precipitate and other derived products obtained during various chemical reactions. Such additives are very versatile and allow you to use them for feeding various breeds of cattle.
Conclusion
The feed supplement not only allows you to increase the number of milkings and the quality of meat, but also has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the digestive system and gives animals good health. Therefore, modern complex additives are an integral part of the diet of cows. Most importantly, you do not need to save on feed, because the general condition of the animal depends on its quality.