adminEdson Chifamba
Dairy feed accounts for 76 percent of milk production costs in Zimbabwe, hence the need to solicit for cheaper feed for the development of the Zimbabwe dairy industry. Various by-products from feed processing industries are available for dairy farmers to incorporate into diets fed to dairy cows and replacement heifers. Using these feeds offers at least two benefits:
may decrease the feed costs depending on prices of by-products and grains.
helps dispose of these by-products in an ecologically sound manner.
Considerations
Economics: Producers should check with several brokers to determine the market price and nutrient profile of each by-product feed considered
Storage and Handling: Certain by-product feeds such as dried distillers grains can be stored in grain bins; however, other by-product feeds require specialised storage facilities such as a commodity shed or a pit (for wet feeds).
Nutrient Analysis and Variation: Farmers need to ask their dairy broker for information about the typical nutrient analysis and variation they should expect.
Environmental Considerations: Some by-product feeds have higher phosphorus concentrations than traditional feeds. Feeding large quantities of these feeds increases the amount of phosphorus excreted by the animal.
Selective By-products
1. Blood Meal: Made from clean, fresh animal blood exclusive of the urine, hair, stomach contents, etc. Flash drying process produces a more uniform product with a higher lysine content.
2. Brewer’s Grains: By-product produced by the beer or malt industry which includes spent grain and hops. Dried brewer’s grain is a good source of by-pass (undegraded) protein. Dried product is bulky and must behandled mechanically.
3. Peanut Skins: Includes skins from the processing of peanuts, broken nuts, and nuts rejected during preparation for human consumption. They are high in fat and may contain additional salt and oil added in the processing.
4. Whole Soybeans (Raw or Roasted): Very palatable feed that is easily incorporated into many different feeding systems as a top-dress, part of a total mixed ration, or in a grain mix. Can be fed either raw or roasted.
5. Liquid Whey: By-product of cheese production. Product contains mainly lactose, minerals, and water (6-7 percent total solids). Different products available: liquid whey, sweet whey, acid whey, liquid permeated and dried whey.
6. Fish Meal: Made from clean, dried, ground, and undecomposed fish. Rich in essential amino acids.
7. Molasses: By-product of sugar production from cane, sugar beets, or other sources (cane molasses is the most common). Used to control dust in concentrate mixes and increase palatability of feeds. Molasses is a good source of niacin and pantothenic acid.
8. Hydrolysed Feather Meal: Results from the treatment under pressure of clean, undecomposed feathers from slaughtered poultry, free of additives and (or) accelerators.
9. Meat and Bone Meal: Is the rendered product from mammal tissues, including bone, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents, except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices.
10. Poultry By-Product Meal: consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered poultry, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, droppings and intestines.
11. Bakery Wastes: Stale bread and other pastry products from stores or bakeries can be fed to dairy cattle in limited amounts. These products are sometimes fed as received without drying or even removal of the wrappers
12. Beans: Cull dried beans or peas contain about 25 percent crude protein (dry matter basis). They may comprise up to 15-20 percent of concentrate dry matter or 7-10 percent of total mixed ration of dry matter. Palatability and protein quality restrict their use to these levels.
13. Candy: Candy products are available through a number of distributors and sometimes directly from smaller plants. They are often economical sources of nutrients, particularly fat. They may be high in sugar and (or) fat content.
14. Fat: Commonly used fat sources include whole oilseeds, animal fat and various ruminally-inert granular fat products. Most herds supplementing fat are using a combination approach.
15. Potato waste is available in potato processing areas, and includes cull potatoes, fresh chips and potato chips. Cull fresh potatoes that are not frozen, rotten, or sprouted can be fed to cows either whole or chopped.
The writer is a dairy scientist, international dairy mentor and dairy lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe. Feedback: [email protected]
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