Detailed Explanation of 13 Practical Methods for Value-Added Feed Processing

Practice has proven that simple processing and preparation of livestock and poultry feed before feeding can greatly increase its utilization rate and improve feeding results. The following 13 processing and preparation methods are introduced for reference and selection.

Crushing

Rice straw, sweet potato vines, green grass, hay, etc. should all be cut up before being fed to livestock. Green vegetables fed to pigs should be cut into 1 cm to 2 cm pieces to achieve the effect of "cutting grass three times per cun, fattening even without feed."

Grinding into powder

Hay, grain, and other feed materials must be ground into fine powder before feeding to aid digestion. The degree of grinding should be determined according to the feed and the type of livestock and poultry. Feed for pigs and cattle can be crushed to a coarse particle size of about 1 mm to 2 mm, while chicken feed should be ground into coarse powder.

Pulping

Sweet potato, cassava, beans, and oilseed cakes used as feed should be soaked and then pulped before feeding. This benefits digestion, improves feeding results, and can also remove toxins such as hydrocyanic acid from the feed.

Sprouting

When grain feed sprouts and grows to 10 cm, its vitamin content, especially carotene and riboflavin, is extremely rich, making it one of the good vitamin sources for breeding stock and young poultry and livestock.

Air-drying

After fresh green feed is harvested, living cells continue to oxidize and consume nutrients in the feed, and microorganisms rapidly multiply, causing deterioration. Therefore, fresh green feed should be air-dried in time, but not exposed to strong sunlight, to avoid vitamin loss.

Softening

Corn, wheat, sorghum, soybean cake, etc. should be soaked in light salt water before feeding to soften them. This not only saves feed but also makes digestion easier, and livestock and poultry enjoy eating them.

Heat processing

Bean feed should be processed by steaming or boiling to destroy trypsin inhibitors in the beans and increase the effective methionine and cystine in soybean protein, which can improve the biological value of the feed and increase palatability. The steaming time is about 50 minutes.

Storage processing

This means storing green feed in various pits, ponds, vats, and non-toxic polyethylene plastic bags. Pit storage can carry out fermentation under anaerobic conditions, producing lactic acid to protect the nutrients in green feed and improve utilization and digestibility; plastic bag silage keeps it fresh for a long time without molding, is rich in nutrients, and has good palatability.

Alkali treatment

This means using 1% quicklime milk to alkalize coarse feed. The standard is that the water can submerge the feed. Soak for 24 hours, then take it out for feeding without rinsing with water. After alkalization, livestock can fully digest and absorb its nutrients, and it also supplements trace elements such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium, and can increase feed intake and digestibility.

Acidification

Mix an appropriate amount of phosphoric acid into green feed for storage, then add a small amount of Glauber's salt. This can increase sulfur-containing compounds in the feed, help non-protein compounds form bacterial protein, enhance the vitality of lactic acid bacteria, and thereby increase nutritional value.

Ammoniation

First cut coarse feed into 2 cm to 3 cm pieces. For every 100 kg of coarse feed, use 12 kg to 15 kg of 15% ammonia water. Layer and compact it, spraying layer by layer, and seal tightly. At a room temperature of 25°C to 30°C, ammoniation is complete after 7 days. When opening, aerate fully to let the residual ammonia volatilize completely before feeding. After ammoniation, the nutritional value of coarse feed increases significantly. For example, the crude protein content of rice straw is 40% to 80% higher than that of untreated rice straw.

Aldehyde treatment

Treating feed, silage, and hay with formaldehyde can all improve their nutritional value. For example, when adding 0.12% formaldehyde and 0.14% acetic acid to make a mixed silage of grasses and legumes, heat energy loss is small, and protein destruction is almost completely prevented during ensiling, while also increasing the nutritional components of insoluble protein in the silage.

Saccharification

Add 2 kg to 5 kg of prepared enzyme (starter) to 100 kg of coarse feed, add 100 kg of water, stir evenly, put into a vat and seal, let the temperature rise to about 40°C, then compact and seal the feed tightly, control the temperature, and after 2 days to 4 days the feed can be taken out for feeding. After saccharification, the feed has the characteristics of being sour, sweet, fragrant, soft, and cooked, with excellent palatability. Livestock and poultry love to eat it, and the feeding results are good.