Monday, October 7, 2019

Livestock Feed Concentrates And Mixing

  Obyke Nonny       Monday, October 7, 2019
Like we know some newbie farmers may not understand what these concentrates means and how to properly do mixing. So I  want to discuss on Livestock feed concentrates and mixing.  Make sure you read this post to the end to understand every detail am going to explain here.

Before I  go down into this topic, I will like to first explain what a concentrate feed is. So we can have the idea of what we are doing.

What is Concentrate Feed?

Concentrate feed can be explained as a feed used with
another feed to boost the nourishing or nutritional  balance of the whole feed. This can be achieved by adding and mixing of feed in other to create a supplement or a whole feed.
https://www.livestockspot.com/2019/09/how-to-keep-poultry-birds-strong-and-healthy.html
Feed concentrate - Source: www.indiamart.com

A better view of concentrate is that, it is an incomplete feed which contains higher proportion energy, protein, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, organic acids and different feed additive depending on the kind of concentrate it is.

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Here, it means the concentrate is going to be mixed with different feed ingredients maize, soya bean meal, groundnut cake, maize or wheat variety meat, bran, etc. Therefore, concentrate feed must not be given to your livestock animals until it's been thoroughly mixed with different ingredients as specified  by the manufacturer or producer.

Types of Concentrate?

Concentrate feed is basically a feed that intensely targets on one category of nutrition. Below are the 5 major concentrates we have;
1. Energy concentrate
2. Protein concentrate
3. Minerals concentrate
4. Vitamins concentrate
5. Additives concentrate

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Concentrate feeds are accessible for various livestock animals (they include: poultry, pig (swine), ruminants (sheep, goat and bovine, fish and different micro livestock) at different production stages. For example, there are: Chicken concentrate, Turkey concentrate, Piglet and pig concentrate, Cattle concentrate, Sheep and goat concentrate

Different livestock corporations own their concentrate feed merchandise or brand names completely different. For example, in Nigeria, Animal Care has Grow fast Concentrate, etc. However, no matter the name, the actual functions they serve are invariably indicated on the packaging label or sack.

Advantages of Concentrate Feed

1. It is cheaper to afford
2. It saves time and energy
3. Reduction of labour

Disadvantages of Concentrate Feed

1. There are potentials for doing mistakes during mixture and this is risky too. For example, mixing with the incorrect amount of maize.
2. A farmer would notice it is tough to use concentrate once there's a scarceness of maize or when machines like hammer mill/crusher and/or mixer aren't accessible.

Also Read: How To Take Proper Care Of Pig Farm

How to combine Concentrate Feed With Corn (Maize) and different Ingredients

Mixing a concentrate feed with maize and different feed ingredients is simple. The method is described as follows:
Measure the specified amount of maize grain. If you wish to add wheat variety or the other ingredients, measure the quantity and keep them separately.

 Crush the maize grains to the acceptable size by employing a hammer mill or device.

 Reweigh the crushed maize grains to endeavor the weight is still the same as the initial weight.

 If you have got a mixer, you'll use it to combine the concentrates and different ingredients along. If not, you'll combine manually on a clean floor by employing a shovel or spade. However make sure that the mixture is done thoroughly.

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 Re bag the feed when you are done with the mixture or better still you can feed them to your livestock animals.

How to Calculate the Blending and Mixing Ratio

Notice, most of the concentrate feed manufacturers do write the percentages required by livestock animals on the packaging sack of their concentrates. For instance, If you see 20% Broiler Finisher Concentrate.
Most farmers may think that the 20% means the total level of crude protein (CP) within the concentrate.

That does not mean that the percentage is even the amount or level of crude Protein. Rather, it is the proportion or ratio to which the concentrate should be mixed or produced together with the quantity of feed. Like I said earlier on the heading, it is the blending or mixing ratio.

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Let me show an example, if you want to make 500kg of broiler finisher feed using 20% broiler finisher concentrate, then you will be needing around 100 kg which is (4 bags). Here is how to Calculate that:

(20/100) x 500 kg = 100 kg of the finisher concentrate

The remaining 80% would be the Maize or Maize + wheat variety (or any energy rich ingredient) or  better still, as being instructed and advised by the producers.

So I  hope with all the information I have explained on livestock feed concentrate and mixing, I was able to show you how to produce and mix your concentrates properly. Remember to give us feedback with the comment box below. 
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Thanks for reading Livestock Feed Concentrates And Mixing

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