Animal Nutrition 

Paper 1

Related Items

  1. Concepts
    • Ruminant: Animal with a complex/compound stomach [eg. Cattle, Sheep, Goats]
    • Non-ruminant (monogastric): Animal with a single/simple stomach [eg. Pigs, Poultry, Horses]
    • Rumination: The process of bringing back the cud/bolus food into the mouth for re- chewing, re-insalivation and re-swallowing.
    • Peristalsis: The movement of food through the alimentary canal / rhythmic contraction and relaxation of muscles of the alimentary canal.
    • Retroperistalsis /regurgitation: The bringing back of food from the stomach to the mouth cavity.
    • Chyme : The contents of the stomach
    • Chyle: The contents of the small intestines
    • Biological value (BV): The quality of proteins in the feed.
  2. Diagrams. Possible diagrams.
    1. Alimentary canal for a pig
      Carefully take note of the main parts of the alimentary canal of a pig and locate their functions in the process of digestion.
      alimentary canal of a pig
    2. Alimentary canal for poultry
      Attempt to label all labeled parts and the functions of D, H and N.
      alimentary canal of a chicken
    3. Alimentary canal for cattle
      Identify all labeled parts and supply functions for C, D, L,
      alimentary canal of a cow
    4. Process of rumination
      This process is critical in ruminants. It ensures that food ingested is properly chewed and re-swallowed for chemical digestion to continue.
      alimentary canal of a cow p2
  3. Calculations
    NB: In all calculations, don’t forget to use a calculator.
    1. Digestibility coefficient:
      Note the formula and the calculations for digestibility coefficient
      Digestibility coefficient t= (Feed intake – moisture) – DM Excreted X 100
                                                           (Feed intake - moisture)
      OR
      Digestibility coefficient = Dry matter intake – Dry matter of manure X 100
                                                           Dry matter intake
      E.g. A cow eats 10kg of maize with a 10% moisture content and excreted 4kg of dry matter
      = 9 kg – 4 kg X 100
                9 kg
      = 5 kg x 100
         9 kg
      = 500 kg
          9 kg
      = 55,6 % (56 % )
    2. Nutritive ratio (NR) Note the following:
      • Know the Definition of Nutritive Ratio
        NR is defined as a ratio used to determine the protein content of feed for animals
      • Know the formula of NR
      • Interpretation/implication of the Narrow and Wide ratios
        NR = 1: % Non-nitrogen substances
                     % Digestible Protein (DP)
        OR
        NR = 1: %Total digestible nutrient (TDN) - %Digestible protein (DP)
                                               % Digestible Protein (DP)
        Calculate the NR— 
        1. Maize has a TDN of 80% and DP of 10%
        2. Soya bean has a TDN of 72% and DP of 12%
        3. Oats has a TDN of 95% and DP of 5%
          NR =1: 80 - 10
                         10
          = 1:70
               10
          = 1:7 (Wide NR) above 1:6 .Suitable for Maintenance( more carbohydrates and less proteins)
          NB IF NR is 1:5 or less(Narrow NR) the feed is Suitable for growth , production and reproduction(MORE Proteins and Less carbohydrates).
    3. Pearson square
      A Pearson square is used to balance rations. If for instance, a farmer has got Sorghum meal that contains 13% digestible protein (DP) and oilcake meal with digestible protein content of 23% . The farm animals kept require 17% digestible protein (DP), then the calculation for balancing the rations is done as follows:
      feeds balance

 

Last modified on Tuesday, 15 February 2022 12:14