Livestock nutrition

Question 1

What are the different types of feeds for farm animals are there?

Answer 1

Course fodders (roughages), Succulent feed (roots), Green fodders and Concentrate feeds

Question 2

What are Coarse fodders?

Answer 2

Bulky feeds with a high crude fibre and low moisture content

Question 3

What are Succulent feeds?

Answer 3

Bulky feeds with a high moisture content

Question 4

What are Green fodders?

Answer 4

Bulky feeds fairly high in moisture content and fibre

Question 5

What are Concentrate feeds?

Answer 5

Low moisture and high feeding value

Question 6

What is in Coarse fodders?

Answer 6

Hay (Meadow, seed and legume hay) and Straw, cheap and high in dry matter, and lower in nutrients

Question 7

What is in Succulent feeds (or roots)?

Answer 7

Turnips, Swedes, Mangolds. Fodder beet, potatoes etc. (low feeding value due to low dry matter)

Question 8

What is in Green fodders?

Answer 8

True green crops (fresh or silage)

Question 9

What are the benefits of Green fodders?

Answer 9

Low cultivation costs, natural, one plant can produce

Question 10

What is Silage?

Answer 10

Pasture grass that has been ‘picked’

Question 11

What are the three requirements for the appropriate silage?

Answer 11

Fermentation products, Low pH (optimum 3.5) and Anaerobic conditions

Question 12

What is the process of creating Silage?

Answer 12

• Cut grass
• The cut grass is chopped into even smaller pieces and then compacted to get out as much oxygen as possible
• Lactic acid bacteria are anaerobic and start the fermentation process.
• The next step is to seal the compacted grass with plastic to keep oxygen out.
• Mounds of silage are covered with huge polythene (plastic) sheets and weighted down (usually with old tyres) to ensure maximum compacting; bales are covered with plastic wrapping.

Question 13

Why are Fermentation products important in the making of silage?

Answer 13

Lactic acid bacteria (anaerobic) break down glucose into lactic acid, acetic acid, ethanol and CO2

Question 14

Why is a low pH important in the making of silage?

Answer 14

Makes the environment uninhabitable for many bacteria and lowers enzyme activity

Question 15

Why are anaerobic conditions important in the making of silage?

Answer 15

Prevents yeast and unwanted bacterial growth

Question 16

What are the advantages of Concentrate feeds?

Answer 16

Cheaper, saves time and reduces labour cost

Question 17

What are the disadvantages of Concentrate feeds?

Answer 17

• There are possibilities of making mistakes when mixing. For instance, mixing with the wrong quantity of maize
• A farmer would find it difficult to use concentrate when there is a scarcity of maize or when machines such as hammer mill/crusher and/or mixer are not available.

Question 18

Which livestock require more water?

Answer 18

Milking/Lactating livestock

Question 19

What is the correlation between water content and crops?

Answer 19

The more succulent the crop the higher the water content

Question 20

What are the animal sources of protein?

Answer 20

Milk (whole food), Fish + meat, eggs

Question 21

What are the vegetable sources of protein?

Answer 21

Pulses (beans, peas, lupin, soya bean), Oilseeds (rapeseed meal, linseed meal), Forage, Distillers grains

Question 22

What happens if an animal has too much protein?

Answer 22

• Excess protein is excreted in urine
• Excess amino acids can be transported to the liver where they are converted to carbohydrates and oxidised to energy However, converting excess protein into energy is inefficient!
• Excess protein can also be stored as fat

Question 23

What happens if an animal has too little protein?

Answer 23

• Depressed appetite
• Susceptibility to infection
• General weakness or muscle weakness
• Loss of weight or poor growth
• Atrophy (degeneration) of tissues
• Oedema (swelling)
• Loss of stamina
• Dull coat

Question 24

Are pigs monogastric or ruminent?

Answer 24

Monogastric

Question 25

Are pigs Carnivores, Herbivores or Omnivores

Answer 25

Omnivores