ANN 121: Applied Animal Nutrition-I (2+1)

GROUP FEEDING VERSUS INDIVIDUAL FEEDING

• Feed records are desirable features  of all feeding trials.
• It is essential for the interpretation of the results based on the feed consumed, leftover if any etc.
•  In many feeding experiments to avoid labour and equipment cost, the animals are fed as a group,
• It is more common when there is wide variability in the individual behaviour of the animal within the lot, as to both production and feed consumption.
• The performance of the individual can be eliminated from consideration, but the food it ate cannot be exactly found out.
• It is here where individual feeding plays an important role.
• In certain species which are fed together in practice may consume somewhat less when fed individually. Thus certain workers stress this " Competition in the feedlot" as being of practical importance in feeding trials with beef cattle, sheep and hogs.
• Here several small groups will yield a more sensitive test than a few large ones.

Group feeding
Advantages This is cheaper in terms of equipment and labour cost. Disadvantages Group feeding introduces complications in the interpretation of results if there is a wide variation in the individual behaviour within the group like in production, feed consumption etc., In case of the death of an animal in a group, the feed consumed by the dead animal till death could not be accounted. In group feeding, when fed together, the animals consume somewhat less than when fed individually. This may be due to competition in the feedlot.
Individual feeding
Advantages The data on feed consumption can be maintained and the individual performance of the animal can be ascertained. Individual records are much more useful from stand point of statistical treatment. Disadvantages High cost of equipment and labour  required.