Ovine Feed Production, Production Technologies and Feed Additives

As the need for red meat is increasing day by day, it should be a duty for us to put an emphasis on breeding and to create supportive conditions for animal husbandry. Unconscious diets negatively affect the reproductive ability of our animal breeds. It should not be forgotten that food safety can be sustained only through the safeguarding of safe food sources.

Sheep, which has an important share in ruminant livestock all over the world, is the best animal kind that can use forages and grassland regardless land type and structure. Seasonal and regional plant covers are the main factors for the nutrition of these animals which spend 300- 325 days of the year in forages. In order to produce milk and feed economically in the ovine breeding, rangelands and meadow should be largely available and usable. However, unconscious grazing, untimely plowing and industrialization of agricultural land close to cities have decreased the productivity of rangelands and have negative effects on animal husbandry. Besides, due to Turkey’s climate, it takes a longer time for snow on moorland and high grounds to melt down. In these periods, the indoor feeding costs of the animals fed with compound feeds rises.

OVINE’S FEED RATIOS AND METHODS OF FEED PRODUCTION

The best way to feed the ovine is the combination of mash feed and bushes or grass collected at rangelands during the spring. It is better to provide protein, selenium, calcium and vitamin in technological feed format that animals need particularly during birth process and weeks following the birth. The worst negative aspect of unconscious feeding is overconsumption of high-energy feed for a long time, which is defi ned as “Acidosis.” Unfortunately, this illness of which treatment takes a long time ends up with death most of the time. For this reason, while preparing compound feed, the digestibility is as important as the homogeneity.

Some of the nutrition methods that should be emphasized especially for Turkey are;

Intensive Sheep Fattening: It covers the period in which daily live weight gain is 250-300 grams/animal. Providing haystack and sometimes alfalfa support will be adequate.
Prolonged Sheep Fattening: In this method, which we usually see in western regions of Turkey, nutrition continues until an animal is seven months old and in this period, 0.25 kg of oil seed meal is provided along with haystack.
Spring Lamb Fattening: Addition to breast milk, a maximum of 18 percent crude protein concentrate is recommended. In addition to grains, molasses can be added up to 3 percent in the concentrate.
Economic Grain Breaking Units; As it is mentioned before, the ovine livestock indicates a more economic nutrition method which has a narrower raw material variety in comparison with the bovine livestock.

As it can be understood from the table, despite of being economical, concentrate feed along with rangeland provide additional 80 percent live weight gain per day for animals. Although the content of concentrate feed varies, barley and corn content constitutes 50 percent of the feed all the time. During grinding, with Roller Crushers, grains protect their vitality and are protected from the ineffi ciency of powder form.

Besides, it is possible to carry out an economic and useful crushing process which can easily reduce the oilseed meals in pellet form to the desired grain size.

MORE USEFUL FORM OF BARLEY AND CORN: FLAKE TECHNOLOGY

Highly nutritious grains, such as barley and corn, have been in the ration for all animal species for many years. Another technology, which increases digestibility in ovine nutrition for barley and makes a signifi cant contribution to live weight gain, is the steam fl ake technology, also known as crushing technology. The flake does not have the same features with the well-known crushing method. In the flake, cereals are tempered with steam at 75-80 centigrade in homogeneous form; following this process, they are mashed with a roller so that they have leaf forms. After that, these forms are gelatinized. As their collectivities are not degraded, barley brans keep their forms, and as they got shape under pressure, fermentation and bacterial effects are eliminated. The risk of dust is extremely low. It is consumable and delicious in every transition and season. For many years, the consumption of cereals with fl ake approach has been shown to be the basis of metabolic regulation and healthy nutrition for humans. The reason why it is recommended, especially at breakfast, is that no acid come into existence due to starch. It is much healthier than any other carbohydrates. Since the consumption level in the fattening programs will be more when compared to whole grain barley, there will be an increase in the live weight gain. The increase of this value to a higher level, which is the fundamental expectation in ovine breeding, is the most significant benefit. At this point, the primary expectation in terms of technology is through homogeneous heat and moisture distribution during the pre-annealing process and preserving the product form during the fl ake. Another important factor is drying and cooling after the fl ake process. The tempering process should guarantee a homogeneous heat distribution in the fi rst in-fi rst out approach even in the continuous production. Yemmak, which uses steam injection method of different pressure and fl ow at different layers, shows its technological superiority and its experience in the fl ake technology. The structure of the rolling drum and its rotational speed inside the flake machine guarantee the processing of products without crushing and without breaking the product structure. With single point hydraulically or mechanically assisted adjustment systems, it ensures that products of constant thickness are used for feeding.

HIGH PROTEIN PELLETIZED FEEDS AND PELLETIZING TECHNOLOGY
Without doubt, the gaining of each raw material and their effect on total cost is different. While some cereals solely provide full nutrition, some process outputs considerably drive the costs down. However, the fact that they are presented as a blend in different quantities in the skilled hands of conscious nutritionists is benefi cial in the feeding of all kinds of animals. The weak points of these mixtures that can be seen as a disadvantage are eliminated by the pelletizing technologies. Although pelleting is a process that increases the costs, in many cases the price advantages of raw materials are more dominant. In ovine nutrition, feed in pelletized form is used by many producers for a short term for protein supplement purposes. Unfortunately, as the rangeland is getting smaller in Turkey, ovine breeding is confi ned to small indoor places. At this point, beyond any doubt, it is important to continue to choose concentrate feed for the continuation of animal breeding; however, technological feeds are becoming more common instead of the grass that is not achieved to be procured seasonably.

An important phenomenon for the lamb pellet feed is the raw material variety. As raw materials with high energy levels cannot be used, pelleting has to be done on a much more limited scale. Powdering is also one of the most undesirable factors for this feeding group as it is in bovine feed. The easiest way to prevent this is conditioning naturally. Since the aim of the conditioning is to give moisture and temperature to the raw material mixture in the pelletizing process, it is perceived as a goal to provide these two elements in a healthy manner. Multilayer conditioners entering the sector in 1990 left their place to variable conditioners today. Variable duration conditioner is the equipment that can adjust the process of mixing the mixture with steam in accordance with the raw material density, can obtain a homogeneous mixture, is usually provided as a double shaft, and moves at differential speeds. Another advantage is the ease of cleaning because it is a hot environment, which allows for the inclusion of liquids such as molasses, provinces and vinasse which are mostly used in cattle feeds. As the need for red meat is increasing day by day in Turkey, it should be a duty for us to put an emphasis on breeding and to create supportive conditions for animal husbandry. As breeders faced with unhealthy conditions and deal with ever-increasing raw material and feed prices, they now also tackle with the shrinkage of rangeland in the face of shanty settlement. Unconscious diets negatively affect the reproductive ability of our animal breeds. It should not be forgotten that food safety can be sustained only through the safeguarding of safe food sources.