Applied Animal Nutrition-I

TRADITIONAL METHODS OF FEEDING LIVESTOCK DURING SCARCITY

Traditional methods of feeding include,

• Use of by-products of commercial crops such as oil seed crops, grams etc as well as drought resistant vegetation in combination with NPN source of nitrogen and molasses as source of energy for meeting the immediate nutritional requirements.
• Certain varieties of tree leaves and extractions of inedible oil seeds can be used to meet the essential requirements of intact protein in ruminants. This proved to be successful during drought in many parts of India.
• Large scale feeding of bagasse and molasses in combination with urea and mineral supplements without any toxic effects. Some of the daily ration schedules that have been successfully tried are given below.

i. Ration for an adult non-producing cattle (50-300 kg body wt.) fed twice a week

• Bagasse - 2.0 kg
• Molasses - 0.4 kg
• Sugarcane tops - 8.0 kg (chopped)
• Urea - 22 g
• Common salt - 30 g
• Sterilized bone meal- 20 g
• or mineral mixture
• Trace element mix - 0.5 g

Note: ii. Ration for a growing animal (50-150 kg body wt.) fed twice a week

• Bagasse - 2.0 kg
• Molasses - 0.8 kg
• Sugarcane tops - 3.0 kg (chopped)
• Urea - 40 g
• Common salt - 20 g
• Sterilized bone meal- 20 g
• or mineral mixture
• Trace element mix - 0.5 g

In case of non-availability of tops, the ration should be fortified with 5,000 IU of vit.A and replacing the tops with forest grass hay or any other available crop residues in surrounding areas of drought affected zones.65

Procedure for treating Bagasse with Urea-Molasses

• Bales of bagasse are spread in layers of 15 – 20 cm thickness.

Note:

• This process can be repeated using dry tree leaves, coarse forest grasses and such other materials available in areas of short supply instead of bagasse.
• Urea and molasses are mixed in empty drums. Approximately, 33 % of water is added to reduce dustiness of material.
• The urea-molasses mixture is sprayed over the bagasse, which is turned frequently to ensure proper mixing and soaking.
• For spraying urea – molasses mixture, watering can should be used.