Principles Of Fodder Processing And Preservation Techniques

D.Desinguraja Department of animal nutrition CVAS, Mannuthy.

Introduction
Physical, chemical, thermal, bacterial or other alterations of a feed ingredients before it is fed. Purpose of processing To improve palatability To improve digestibility To alter nutrient composition To detoxify

To increase voluntary intake Less wastage of hard and fibrous parts Increased density Less space required for storage and convenient handling

 Processing of fodder classified in to, Conservation of green fodder Hay and silage making Quality improvement

Silage making
wet /green fodder preserved by organic acids lactic acid Basic principle Convert the sugar in the ensiled fodder in to lactic acid. Reduces the ph 4.0 or lower Anaerobic environment

WHY ENSILING
Animals prefer soft green fodder than dry grass When the grass is over matured with stems, it is rejected by animals Storage of dry fodder requires more space. Large amount of green grass can be stored in a small silo pits of one cubic meter.

Silage making
Cut the grass at the early flowering stage. Dry the grass in the field for about 4 to 5 hours. Cut into small bits of 10 to 15cm length with a chaff cutter or a knife. Prepare molasses solution in a bucket by dissolving five kg molasses in 20 litres of water. Dissolve one kg salt in five litres of water.

 Make a circular pit in an elevated area. The size of the pit should be at least one meter in depth and one meter in diameter. Every one cubic meter of pit can hold 600 kg of green grass. Cover the bottom and sides of the pit with dry leaves or straw Fill the pit with grass for about one foot height and press it well.

 Sprinkle molasses over it. Add another one foot layer of grass. Sprinkle salt solution with the help of a rose can. Repeat the filling in the same way till the entire pit is filled. Press the grass well to remove any air space inside. On the top, cover the grass with a layer of dry leaves.

 Cover the pit with mud for about one foot height to protect the pit from air and water. Care should be taken to protect the pit from rain water. Silage will be ready after two months. Pit can be opened even after four months.

Crops suitable for silage

Excellent silage may be made from crops like Jowar, Maize, Bajra Oats and Barely.

Stage of harvesting the crop:

Flowering to milk stage is recommended for making silage from maize, Jowar and oats crops In case of bajra is best harvested at blooming stage Hybrid napier and Guinea grass should be harvested at 1.25 meter height stage.

types of silos
pit silo tower silo trench silo Bunker silo

 Pit Silo Dig a circular or rectangular pit of desirable dimension. one cubic meter of the silo can have 650 to 700kg settled silage.

Losses during silage making

During ensiling, respiration, fermentation and effluent losses take place. During longer period of wilting considerable losses of dry matter as high as 6 to 10 per cent During fermentation, gaseous losses 5-30% Molding losses, 4-12%

Important points for silage making

Crop and plant material rich in soluble sugar DM -15-30% Chaffing- increase compactness Silo should be air-tight after filling Fermentation starts with in hour Accelerates at 2-3 days Terminates after three weeks

Merits & demerits

It contain more nutrient Loss due to shattering, leeching, and bleaching are avoided De merits It requires labor Construction cost Handling and transportation is more effort

Hay making
Basic principle: Reduce the moisture Storage without spoilage Without nutrient loss Moisture is less than 15% Crops with thin stem and many leaves

Types
1. Natural drying 2. Artificial drying Forage can be dried in barn by flowing hot air Adv: Nutrient loss is reduced Forage can be harvested irrespective of weather condition Dis adv- expensive

Why Hay making

The drying and storing of high quality forage after harvesting at proper stage supply of high digestible feed with highly protein and calorific values all the year round It reduces the amount of concentrates 130 kg of hay containing 90 per cent dry matter would be worth as much as 780 kg of green forage containing 15 per cent dry matter the same crop

 The storage losses are less than those in silage. It reduces the labour involved in handling and transport green forage

Stage of harvesting the crop

Cut berseem or lucerne in the pre-blossom stage Chop the forage while still moist (fresh or wilted) with a chaff-cutter Chopping need not be too fine. The best length of the cut is about 5 to 8 cm.

 Spread the wet chopped forage in the sun on a smooth hard surface in a thin layer not exceeding 12 to 15cm in height. The usual threshing floors, roof tops, polythene sheet etc. can be used for drying of forages. Stir the drying forage every 2-3 hours When thoroughly dry(usually) after 2-3 days,

depending on, The frequency of stirring, the intensity of the sun and the movement of the air, When hay balers become available, the chopped and dried forage can be baled. Baling reduce the storage space and facilitates the transport of the forage to the market

CROPS SUITABLE FOR HAY-MAKING

thin-stemmed grasses namely, anjan, oat, Rhodes grass, thin guinea, thin Napier; legumes, viz. lucerne, berseem, peas, cowpea, field bean, rice bean and velvet bean

Losses in hay making

Depends on, Maturity when cut Method of handling Moisture content Weather condition during harvest

 Respiration by living plant cell after harvesting Losses due to shattering and dropping of leaves Leaching during rain, soluble nutrient loss Bleaching of hay excessive exposure to sunshine during drying, Especially carotene. Fermentation and moulding nutrient losses 15-50%

For quality improvement

methods

PHYSICAL chaffing bhoosa making grinding

CHEMICAL acid tt alkali tt ammoniation

BIOLOGICAL bacterial method fungal tt

physico chemical NaOH pelleting NaOH STEAM

densification water treatment steam treatment irradiation

 1.Chaffing MACHINES
Hand operated 75-100kg/hour @40rpm Power operated 200-250kg/hour @ 100rpm: 5-10hp 1000-2000kg/hour

1-4 cm long pieces Increases intake and reduces the scope of hard parts Adv Wastage avoid Easy handling Increase surface area

2.Bhoosa making Long straw broken in to various size-5 cm length More palatable, soft 3.Grinding Straw- chaffed into 4-5 cm Grind in a hammer mill- for the densification of fodder in the form of pellets More uniform mixing of fodder with other ingredients

Densification
Compaction of forages Baling, block making, pelleting Depends upon, Type of material Desired final density Cost of processing Market value

Need for densification

Densification Bulky roughages are compressed several times and volume reduced to less than 1/3 of the fodder Bulk density of straw is 50-75 kg/m3 Concentrates- 500 kg/m3

 A)Baling Compressed product of about half cubic meter to 1 cubic meter pressing with a machine Facilitate easy transport B)Block making Blocks are similar in baling ,size(10*25*5 cm) Binder is used

Adv : Less pre treatment Less pressure Less energy Dis adv: Densification is not sufficient

 C)Pelleting Due to grinding rate of passage increases , increases digestibility Adv : High degree of densification Dis adv: More energy for grinding and extruding

Wafering or cube making 5-8 cm cube shape prepared by compressing roughage through the die of desired size and shape Irradiation X-rays, gamma rays Reduces chain length of fibrous CHOformation of oligosaccharides- eff. Utilized by rumen micro- organisms

 Basic principle- molecular depolarization, radical formation 100 M rad Increasing the availability of nutrient Adv- enhance the rate of passage, increased voluntary feed intake Dis adv- digestability depressed , cost of treatment

 Water washing Deeped in water for about 2 hrs- water is decanted Washing is repeated twice Paddy straw- removes oxalates, potassium Water soaking > 3 hrs soaking in water- swelling and soften

Adv: rumen microbes and their enzymes to penetrate quicker in a pre wetted feed Less abrasive to mouth Dis adv: Loss of nutrients (soluble carbohydrates) DM loss 8-14% -3 days

 Steam processing Steam is injected in the stacked roughage for sufficient time to make moist 1-42 kg/cm2-1.5 min Digestibility increases 26-47% Increase moisture content

CHEMICAL PROCESSING
Objective: Increase digestibility Increase feed intake Mechanism of action Solubilisation of cell wall components Disruption of complexes of lignin

Urea treatment
Only chemical treatment with practical potential for farmers Relatively safe chemicals Easy available Easy to dissolve in water

Urea treatment depend upon

Concentration of urea Duration of treatment Amount of water Way of stacking

Urea
White crystalline N concentration- 46.6% Equal to cp is -290 g Urea- ammonia+co2, urease enzyme Ammonia+H2O -ammonium hydroxide It enhances the nutritional quality of starw Improved palatability Improve digestability

Factors affecting process

1. Urea concentration: 4 kg urea- 100 kg of starw lower- not produce sufficient ammonia 2. Water Essential for hydrolysis of urea Required to form alkali 50-60 litres- 4 kg of urea

3. Method of spraying Uniform spraying is impartant Gardeners sprinkler Use broom with bucket 4. Compactness of straw Adv- ammoniation process is better Less chance of mould growth

5. Duration of treatments

Outside temp (oC) Below 5 5-15 15-30 Above 30

Treatment time (weeks) More than 8 4-8 1-4 Less than 1

6. Type of crop: Poor quality-highly effective for treatments 7. Storage method Covered with layer of untreated straw Coconut leaves, banana leaves Empty urea bag

 1.ACID TREATMENT H2SO4: Hydrolyse the hemi cellulose release sugar Pre-treatment for SCP 1-5% H2SO4 at 120oC HCL: 1.7% HCL Digestibility increases 26-36% Store for 3-4 weeks Dis adv- handling and transportation of acid Reduce the palatability

Oxidizing agentsAlkaline hydrogen peroxide, ozone, Sulphur dioxide, Sodium sulphite, Sodium thiosulphate, Sodiumhypochlorite and Bleeching powder

 Reduce the lignin content Break the bond between lignin and carbohydrates Dis adv: It may be hazardous Cost Uses: Industrial and bio-technological process

NaOH treatment
Increase the digestibility by alkali treatment soluabilize hemicellulose Not changing cellulose content Increase hemicellulose and cellulose digestion by making to swell Without removing lignin break bond with cellulose and hemicellulose 3-4 % only effective

 Soaking straw in 10 times its weight of 1.5% NaOH solution for about 24 hours. Liquid is washed and drained off until alkali is removed. Organic matter digestibility increases 46-70%. Leaching losses - 20% , to eliminate this Spraying of low concentration of alkali on the chopped straw.

Calcium hydroxide
Cheaper Safer Low solubility 4 kg / 100 kg Higher digestibility by long incubation

Ammoniation
Ammonia act as similar to sodium hydroxide Reaction require much longer time 20 days NAOH 24 hours Advantages As NPN No mineral residue in crops Dis adv Air tight Reduced feed intake

Ammoniation Chaff the crop residues-2-3 cm length Dig a circular pit on an elevated place Add 35-40% water to moisten the crop residues Fill in to the pit and apply 2.5-3.0% liquid ammonia Cover and seal the pit with plastic sheet Open the pit after 30-35 days by which time the feed is ready for livestock Kept in the open for over night before feeding- help to evaporate excess quantity of ammonia

BIOLOGICAL METHOD
Fungal treatment Straw- lignin-reduces digestibility of the polysaccharides Wood rotting fungi- delignify the lignin Eg Ganoderma applanatum, Coriolus versicolor Preference lignin degrader not hemicellulose Increases DM digestibility Degrade 45 % lignin