Balanced ration & its characteristics.
General principles of
computation of rations:
Ration: A ration is the feed offered for a given animal during a day of 24
hours. The feed may be given at a time or in proportions at intervals.
Balanced ration: A balanced ration is one that furnishes nutrients in such
proportions & amounts that it will properly nourish a given animal for 24
hours.
The required nutrients must be present in the amount of dry matter
(DM) the animal is able to consume in the 24 hours period; otherwise the
ration cannot be considered balanced.
Desirable characteristics of a ration:
1. The ration should have highly digestible feed ingredients. It is not
important how much amount of nutrient is present in the feed; how
much of the nutrient present in the feed is digestible by the animal, i.e.
DCP, & TDN is important.
2. The feed must be palatable. Foul smelling, mouldy feed should not be
given. If unpalatable, improve the palatability by the addition of salt &
molasses.
3. Variety of feed in the ration makes it more palatable. A balanced
combination of protein, vitamin & other nutrients can be obtained by
incorporating many feed in a ration.
4. The ration should contain enough of mineral matter. This is specially
important in case of lactating animal since each liter of milk has more than
0.7% ash
5. The ration should be fairly laxative; otherwise the animal may suffer from
constipation. Therefore, succulent green fodders should be included in the
ration.
6. The ration should be fairly bulky to satisfy the hunger.
7. Avoid sudden change in the ration; it may cause tympanitis, impaction. Any
changes in the ration must be gradual & slow.
8. Maintain regularity in feeding. The time of feeding should be evenly
distributed so that the animals are not kept too long without food.
9. Feed should be properly prepared to render it more digestible & palatable.
e.g. grinding of grains, chaffing of coarse fodders, moistening of dry fodders,
soaking of cotton seed & other cakes before feeding.
10. Economy of the ration: The cost of feed & labour charges should be
minimized to make rearing of livestock profitable.
Principles of formulation of rations:
The ration of an animal may be divided for convenince into two parts. 1.
For maintenance 2. For production purposes (milk, meat, wool, work, growth etc)
The maintenance ration is that diet which just enables the animal at rest
to carry on the essential processes of life such as breathing & circulation of blood,
without either gain or loss of weight.
Whatever is supplied to the animal over & above its maintenance
requirement is available for production.
Growth: This is the most important form of livestock production, because it is the
foundation on which the other forms of production such as meat, milk, work etc,
rest on. Due consideration need to pay in computing ration for growing animal.
Reproduction: The extra provision for pregnancy need to be made during last 1/3 rd
of gestation for the growth of the fetus as well as to keep the dam fit to give a
liberal supply of milk after calving.
Milk production: Milk is the most widely used product of livestock. The cow
converts the food proteins into milk protein very efficiently & about 1.25 times the
quantity secreted in the milk will satisfy its requirements for milk production.
Although animals have the capacity to convert CHOs of the feed
into milk fat. Hence, it is advisable that the concetrate ration of dairy cows
contains at least 4% fat & sufficient quantity of roughage for ideal milk fat
production. Minerals & vitamins in the ration of lactating animals are also of
very important.
Work: The nutrient requirement of working animals depend upon the
amount of labour performed. About 1/4 - 1/3rd of the Net energy supplied for
production purpose is converted into actual useful work.
COMPUTATION OF RATION FOR CATTLE & BUFFALOES
Computation of ration involve translating the recommendations
contained in feeding standards into actual formulation of feed mixtures &
feeding practices.
In computing ration for ruminants the Dry matter, digestible protein
(DCP), energy (TDN), minerals & vitamin-A are given consideration.
1. Dry matter: The DM requirement of an animal depends on its body weight
& status of productivity. Cattle generally eat daily 2 – 2.5 kg DM for every
100 kg body weight. Buffaloes & crossbred cattle consume 2.5 – 3 kg DM per
100 kg body weight. Total DM requirement of ruminant animal is partitioned
as follows:
Total DM requirement
2/3rd as roughage 1/3 rd as concentrate
2/3rd as dry roughage 1/3rd as green roughage
If green legume fodder is available in that case the DM from roughage part
may be divided as
DM from roughage
3/4th from dry roughage 1/4 th from green legume
2. Nutrient requirement:
In calculating the nutrient requirements of dairy cattle & buffaloes for
maintenance & milk production the following standards are followed.
Nutrient Maintenance (g/kg W0.75) For milk production (g/kg FCM)
TDN 34 330
DCP 2.84 55
3. Determine the amounts of ingredients that must be fed to fulfill the
animal’s nutrient requirements within its capacity of DM intake limits.
