Animal feeding hygiene and veterinary and sanitary assessment of feed quality. Sanitary and hygienic requirements for feed and feeding and measures to improve the sanitary quality of feed 3 feed hygiene and feeding of farm animals

HYGIENE OF FEED, HYGIENIC REQUIREMENTS FOR THEM AND FEEDING OF FARM ANIMALS

Introduction

hygiene feed farm animal

Modern livestock farming is characterized by an active process of intensification, which is only possible with well-balanced diets and good-quality feed.

Food becomes the main link connecting the animal with nature, as modern industrial technologies are associated with long stay animals in enclosed spaces where movement is limited and the feed used is exposed to a host of factors, including thermal, mechanical, microbiological and others, which leads to a decrease in productive and reproductive qualities, the emergence of new unknown diseases.

It is known that two opposite processes occur in a living organism - assimilation and dissimilation, in which in the first case the transformation of non-living into living occurs, and in the second - living into non-living. However, it should be noted that these two processes are interconnected into one whole.

1. Hygienic value standardized nutritious feeding

Achieving a high level of animal productivity is possible only with rational and biologically complete feeding, i.e. diets must be such as to fully satisfy the animals’ needs both for energy and a certain ratio of various nutrients - complete protein, carbohydrates, fats, macro- and microelements, vitamins. Growing young animals are especially sensitive to the completeness of diets, since only with adequate feeding is the development of all organs and tissues ensured according to age dynamics, the manifestation of all its physiological functions and the formation of sustainable health.

Poor-quality feed and, as a result, inadequate feeding are the fate of many non-communicable diseases, a decrease in the resistance and immunological reactivity of the animal body is a direct path to infectious diseases. It is a generally accepted fact that the main economic damage to livestock production is caused by diseases of feed origin associated with inadequate diets and low quality feed included in them.

All metabolic disorders in the animal's body caused by imbalance, insufficiency or excess of feeding lead to so-called feeding stress. In this case, a distinction is made between partial, incomplete and complete fasting.

In case of incomplete starvation, which is observed with underfeeding, all the necessary components of the feed enter the animal’s body, but in quantities that do not replenish their consumption. During the initial period of incomplete fasting, the secretion of digestive juices increases, but intestinal motility slows down and constipation often occurs. Constant incomplete fasting leads to the extinction of gastric secretion and, as a result, carbohydrates, fats and proteins partially pass through in transit, and partially are not completely broken down. Products formed during incomplete breakdown of proteins and carbohydrates cannot be absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract, which leads to the creation favorable conditions for the propagation of various microflora, incl. and putrid. At the same time, such undesirable processes are observed in the animal’s body as a decrease in digestibility and absorption of nutrients, diarrhea and general exhaustion of the body. Incomplete fasting negatively affects the cardiovascular system, liver function and, as a result, the body's resistance decreases.

Highly productive and pregnant animals and young animals especially suffer from incomplete fasting. Incomplete fasting disrupts the process of puberty in replacement animals, reduces ovulation and fertility in breeding stock, the quality of sperm production in producers, and the service period in queens is extended to 2-3 months, and sometimes more. Externally, incomplete fasting manifests itself in the loss of shine in the hair, its tousling, and folding of the skin.

Complete starvation occurs when the animal does not receive any food at all. long time. The reason for this may be diseases of the pharynx, oral cavity, stomach, or the animal being in extreme conditions - an abyss, a gorge, etc. In this case, the animal’s body must consume the substances of its own body - carbohydrates, fats, proteins. First of all, the supply of glycogen, reserve fat, which covers the energy needs of the body, is consumed. The proteins found in the muscles of the trunk and limbs are the last to be consumed. It should be noted that during fasting, the plastic substances of the lungs, blood vessels, nervous system and gastrointestinal tract.

Effect of deficiency or excess of protein and amino acids in animal diets

Proteins - essential component cells and tissues of a living organism. To build their bodies, restore cells and produce products (wool, eggs, milk, meat), animals need feed proteins. Immune bodies, hormones, enzymes are made of proteins. The biological value of protein largely depends on the amino acid composition of the feed. All amino acids are divided into replaceable and essential. The former can be synthesized in the animal’s body, but the latter cannot and must be supplied with food. Essential amino acids include lysine, tryptophan, methionine, cystine, valine, histidine, phenylalanine, leucine, isoleucine, and trionine. Feed, as a rule, lacks critical, essential amino acids - methionine, cystine, lysine and tryptophan. Polygastric animals are able to cover up to 60% of their amino acid needs through microbial synthesis in the forestomach, and the missing amount is obtained with food. The body of pigs and poultry is especially sensitive to a lack of critical amino acids in feed. They are replenished with synthetic amino acids. Complete proteins are found in animal feeds (meat and bone, fish, meat flour, milk, etc.). The absence or deficiency of essential amino acids in the diet causes in animals a negative nitrogen balance, loss of appetite, changes in blood composition, and disorders in the nervous, endocrine and enzymatic systems. Squirrels plant origin do not contain or contain in small quantities the most important amino acids. Cereals are poor in lysine, methionine, tryptophan, and legumes are much richer in amino acid composition.

With a lack of complete protein in the diet, animals experience a decrease in protein fractions in the blood serum, and their protective properties and resistance to contagious and non-contagious diseases are reduced.

A constant lack of complete protein leads to infections of the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory system. This is typical for pigs and birds. Excess protein in the diet does not go unnoticed for the animal. Occurs in in this case strengthening the processes of destruction of amino acids, increasing the synthesis of urea and removing protein breakdown products from the body. Growth energy in young animals decreases, and in adult animals productivity and reproductive functions decrease, the phenomenon of fatty liver is observed, the excitability of the nervous system decreases, the functioning of the endocrine glands is disrupted, the blood volume decreases, and the amount of interstitial fluid increases, leading to edematous phenomena.

Diets containing large amounts of protein or lack of protein and carbohydrates contribute to the development of acetonemia in dairy cows and bulls, ketosis in sows and ketonuria in sheep. The occurrence of this disease is largely contributed to by lack of exercise, insufficient lighting of premises and rapid milking of cows. In this case, animals experience loss or distortion of appetite, rumen and intestinal digestion, as the mucous membrane becomes inflamed, which disrupts absorption processes.

Prevention of protein starvation is ensured through proper detailed protein and amino acid feeding - enrichment of feed mixtures with synthetic, essential amino acids. The lack of protein in ruminant diets can be partially compensated for by urea (up to 25%), while introducing easily fermentable carbohydrate feed into the diet. Many advanced farms, using a variety of feed crops, achieve the amount of necessary amino acids. The balance of diets in terms of protein and amino acids is controlled by their content in daily ration or per one feed unit and in dry matter (in %).

Carbohydrate deficiency

Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for animals; they are the main part of the dry matter of plant feed. They are represented by two groups - dry fiber and nitrogen-free extractives.

Carbohydrates enter the rumen of ruminants in the form of sugar, starch, hemicellulose, cellulose and other compounds. Microorganisms inhabiting the rumen are capable of breaking down complex sugars to simple sugars, which are fermented to acetic, butyric, propionic and other acids.

During carbohydrate starvation, the body can partially compensate for them due to the breakdown of proteins and fats. Increasing the fat content in the diet and the absence or lack of carbohydrates has virtually no effect on the increase in blood glucose and glycogen in the organs. In this case, increased decay is observed fatty acids in the liver with the formation of excess acetoacetic acid (ketone bodies), which leads to the development of ketosis. An insufficient amount of carotene in feed also contributes to the development of ketosis. The sugar-protein ratio in diets must also be controlled. So, for dairy cows, it is advisable to keep the sugar-protein ratio within the range of 0.8-1.4, i.e. 80-140 g of sugar should be per 100 g of digestible protein. For stud bulls, this ratio should be 1.25-1.50 in winter and 0.7-1.1 in summer. Rich in easily digestible sugars are turnips, rutabaga, sugar beets, carrots, molasses, beet pulp, young corn, and cereal hay. Carbohydrate starvation is promoted by diseases of the thyroid gland, pancreas and adrenal glands, which are the result of a disorder of nervous regulation.

Fiber, as a carbohydrate, is a necessary component of the diet. It creates volume, physical structure and looseness of the forage mass. It promotes intestinal peristalsis, the formation of feces, and adsorbs gases. It is also one of the important sources of volatile fatty acids (acetic and propionic). It is desirable that the amount of fiber to the total carbohydrate content in the diet is approximately 1:3.

Changing this ratio in one direction or another leads to digestive disorders and decreased productivity.

Overfeeding of animals and its consequences

Animals respond adequately to both hunger and excess feeding. Overfeeding stress negatively affects the rate of evacuation of feed mass and utilization of nutrients in the gastrointestinal tract, while reducing their digestibility. In ruminants, lactic acidosis, tympany, stomach and liver abscesses, flatulence, and nephritis are recorded. Excess protein in the diet not only causes stress, but also leads to a decrease in the absorption of vitamin A, which affects the secretion of cortecosteroids (the amount decreases). The breakdown of excess protein in the feed increases the formation of uric, sulfuric and other acids. All this contributes to the development of acidosis and ultimately reduces the body's resistance to various diseases, a sharp weakening of the bactericidal properties of body fluids. Acids formed in excess combine with calcium and phosphorus salts, which depletes the skeleton of these salts and leads to the progression of rickets. An increased protein content in the diet requires an increase in the animal's need for vitamins A and B1. High fat intake and lack of protein disrupt the functions of the adrenal glands, significantly changing their structure.

Fat starvation and its consequences

Fats contain significantly more carbon and hydrogen, but less oxygen, and therefore, when oxidized, they release 2.25 times more energy than carbohydrates. Fats as a structural material are part of the protoplasm of the cell, and fatty acids such as arachidonic and linolenic acids are very important for active metabolism, as well as the growth and development of animal organs and tissues, and therefore their intake with feed into the animal’s body is extremely undesirable. Adequate fat intake from feed helps maintain good appetite and digestion and nutrient conversion in the digestive tract. The lack of fat intake from feed leads to the fact that fat-soluble vitamins, although present in feed, are not absorbed sufficiently, which leads to hypovitaminosis. It has been established that individual components of fat go to nourish the brain and form cell membranes. Skin dermatoses, poor permeability and elasticity of capillaries, hemorrhages and bleeding, disturbances in the formation of germ cells - all this occurs due to a lack of fat. With prolonged fat deficiency, the content of unsaturated fatty acids in the blood plasma drops sharply, and the activity of enzymes that activate tissue respiration decreases. All this reduces the body’s resistance and leads to the death of animals from various diseases. Lack of fat in the diet leads to a decrease in milk, egg and meat productivity, and causes a decrease in fertility, ovulation and fertility.

6. The role of minerals and the consequences of their deficiency for the animal body

Minerals take an active part in metabolism, in the formation of buffer systems, and are also necessary for the production of milk, meat, eggs, and wool by animals, although they have no energy value. Insufficient intake of minerals into the body of young animals is fraught with a delay in their growth and development, reducing resistance to diseases and development various pathologies. Adult animals are also sensitive to mineral deficiencies. At the same time, live weight, milk yield, and fertility decrease, infertility increases, the birth of non-viable young animals, and often stillbirths.

With a long-term lack of minerals, the phenomenon of perversion of appetite is observed (eating one's offspring, swallowing wool, drinking urine and slurry). All this leads to gastrointestinal and other diseases.

When organizing standardized feeding, it is necessary to take into account the content of calcium, phosphorus, sodium, chlorine, sulfur, iron, potassium, magnesium, zinc, cobalt, iodine, fluorine, selenium, and molybdenum in the diet.

The organization of standardized feeding of animals involves taking into account the complex relationships between minerals, vitamins, enzymes and other factors.

We must remember that the lack of one mineral substance or their complex can cause stress and, as a consequence, metabolic disorders.

It is believed that the amount of microelements in an animal’s body is approximately 0.4% of its mass and they are found in different organs and tissues in different quantities and ratios. The bulk of minerals are localized in muscles, liver, blood, brain, and endocrine glands.

The digestibility and assimilation of microelements in the body depends on their interaction with other substances found in the gastrointestinal tract, the possibility of complex formation, as well as the stability and solubility of their compounds.

In livestock farms located near metal-working enterprises, microelementosis in animals can occur due to the intake of excess microelements into their bodies through inhalation of aerosols of air pollutants, and often through drinking water and vegetation.

All minerals are divided into macro- and microelements.

Iron is of great importance to the animal body. It is necessary for a living organism, as it is part of hemoglobin, myoglobin, peroxidase, catalase, oxidase and cytochrome enzymes involved in tissue respiration, biological oxidation and protective functions. Iron deficiency causes anemia. It can occur in the body of an adult animal due to insufficient intake from food, decreased absorption of iron into the blood due to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, increased consumption during pregnancy, intensive lactation and large blood losses. In young animals, iron deficiency occurs as a result of a low level in the secretions of the mammary glands, an increased need due to the rapid growth of animals, as well as a violation of the absorption process due to gastrointestinal disorders. The development of anemia is facilitated by a lack of copper, cobalt, manganese, vitamins B12, C and E, Bc, amino acids lysine, methionine and histidine in the diet, as well as unsatisfactory living conditions.

Insufficient intake of manganese into the body of animals causes hypomanganese microelementosis, which is characterized by delayed growth and development, as well as a disorder of ossification in diseased animals. Manganese is necessary for normal nervous and endocrine system, hematopoiesis, blood circulation, respiration, normal functioning of the gonads and mammary glands. One of the factors contributing to the occurrence of this disease may be significant difficulty and slowdown in absorption due to excess amounts of calcium and phosphorus.

With a lack of zinc in the body, protein, fat and carbohydrate metabolism, the synthesis of pancreatic insulin are disrupted, infertility and parokeratosis of the skin, mucous membrane of the esophagus and proventriculus occur.

Insufficient supply of cobalt with feed leads to hypocobaltosis, which occurs chronically in cattle, sheep, and, less commonly, pigs. The soils of Belarus are poor in cobalt. It is part of vitamin B12, enhances the synthesis of muscle proteins and nucleic acids, affects the body's resistance, heart function, and prevents the occurrence of pernicious anemia.

The biogenic value of copper is great. It influences work and supports in good condition liver, kidneys, myocardium, lungs, bone tissue, endocrine and nervous systems. The deficiency leads to retarded growth and development in young animals, impaired coordination of movements, hemoglobin synthesis and the development of hypochromic anemia, decreased productivity and body weight.

Lick. Iodine is one of the important elements in animal nutrition. It regulates the functioning and condition of the thyroid gland. Signs of its deficiency are dry and thickening of the skin, delayed hair shedding and baldness, slow development and formation of bone tissue, swelling of the subcutaneous tissue in the neck and groin area. Abortions in females, stillbirths.

The soils of Belarus are poor in selenium, but it plays a significant role in the body of animals. Its deficiency leads to heart failure, depression, decreased appetite, liver dystrophy, ovarian degeneration, mastitis, and hemolysis of red blood cells.

Selenium deficiency causes a disease called white fly disease. Selenium has an antioxidant effect, supports the body's immune reactivity, regulates water and mineral metabolism, as well as carbohydrate and fat metabolism.

Fluorine is involved in the formation of teeth and bones, where it is deposited. Its disadvantage is loss of appetite, deformation of the skeleton and teeth. But its excess in the body, which causes the disease endemic fluorosis, is more dangerous. Livestock farms located near industrial facilities that emit toxic fluoride compounds, penetrate into the body of animals when eating grass, drinking water, as well as when inhaling aerosols and cause fluorosis. Fluoride toxicosis can occur when phosphates are fed with high content fluorine

Recent studies indicate that there are practically no trace elements that are incidental to the body.

So titanium is necessary for the formation of hair; Arsenic deficiency leads to a decrease in the reproductive abilities of animals, and silicon deficiency leads to the formation of supporting tissues.

Lead, along with some other minerals, is a heavy metal. It can accumulate in large quantities in the body of animals. It is especially abundant in feed produced near highways, since lead is used as an anti-knock material in gasoline. Excess lead in the body in large doses leads to complete sterility of the breeding stock, the development of anemia, liver and kidney disease.

Lithium is attracting increasing attention because it affects DNA synthesis and is used as a tranquilizer.

Calcium and phosphorus are very important for normal life, which make up 60-70% of all minerals in the body. Their meaning is very, very diverse. The building of bone tissue, the functioning of the heart and the functioning of the nervous system, and blood clotting depend on them. The chemistry of muscle function and the absorption of fats and carbohydrates in the digestive tract are provided by phosphorus. A sufficient amount of phosphorus and calcium in the body, together with vitamin D, protects a young body from rickets, and an adult from osteoporosis and osteomalacia. Osteomalacia can occur in pregnant and lactating animals when a positive balance of calcium and phosphorus in the body is not ensured. Prolonged calcium-phosphorus starvation in animals leads to impaired sexual activity, loss of weight and appetite, and licking appears. For weaned piglets and gilts, a lack of calcium is fraught with the onset of hypocalcic tetinia. An increased ratio of phosphorus in diets and a lack of calcium lead to nutritional hyperphosphoremia in pigs and other animals, a sign of which is the development of acidosis, metabolic disorders, decreased and perverted appetite.

In-depth studies have shown that disorders of mineral metabolism are directly dependent on the lack of calcium and phosphorus in the diet, but also to no less extent on the correct ratio between them.

It has been experimentally established, and practice has confirmed, that the ratio between calcium and phosphorus in diets for animals of different species and production groups should be in the range from 1.2:1 to 2:1. It is advisable to provide animals with vitamin D, which will lead to an improvement in the processes of bone formation both with a lack of absolute amounts of calcium and phosphorus, and with a wide ratio between these elements.

Antagonism between calcium, on the one hand, and phosphorus, magnesium and iron, on the other, with high level calcium in the diet manifests itself in the process of their absorption in the digestive tract, when the salts of some elements form insoluble compounds that are inaccessible to the body, which naturally creates their deficiency in the diet of animals.

With an excess of calcium and phosphorus, magnesium deficiency increases. It is characteristic that with an excess of magnesium in a diet insufficient in phosphorus, the excretion of calcium from the body increases.

In the summer, there is an excess of calcium salts in the diet, which negatively affects the balance of calcium and magnesium and leads to a decrease in magnesium content in the body, and this affects neuromuscular excitability, the electrolyte composition of the blood and ultimately leads to metabolic disorders. In winter, farms in the northern and central zones of Belarus lack phosphorus while there is sufficient calcium in the diet. Often during the grazing period, cattle diets lack not only phosphorus, but also calcium.

In the diets of pigs and poultry, calcium deficiency and, less often, phosphorus deficiency are usually noted. The ratio of calcium to phosphorus is controlled, as a rule, according to the requirements and the actual presence of these elements in the feed.

Detailed standards for the need for calcium and phosphorus of different species and age and sex groups of animals per 1 feed unit are as follows:

Calcium and phosphorus requirements of different animal species

Type and age and sex groups of animals Per 1 feed unit, gcalcium phosphorus Pregnant dry cows 8-105-6 Lactating cows 6-84-5 Young cattle 5-104-8 Dry sheep 4-62.5-3.0 Sucking ewes 5-83-4 Pregnant sows 6-7.54.5- 5.0Suction sows75-6Growing young pigs6-84-6

In poultry farming, rationing is per 100 g of feed. In the diet of egg-laying chicken breeds, 100 g of feed should contain 2.5 g of calcium and 1.16 g of phosphorus; young animals 1-6 months - 1.64-2.32 g of calcium and 0.9-1.2 g of phosphorus. If there is a lack of calcium and phosphorus in the diet, they can be replenished with such mineral feeds as mono-, di- and tricalcium phosphate, defluorinated phosphate, bone ash or bone meal. The missing amount of calcium in the diet can be replenished by adding limestone, chalk and trivertines to the feed.

It is not possible to eliminate excess calcium in the diet of ruminants. However, supplements such as monoammonium phosphate and disodium phosphate can help balance the calcium to phosphorus ratio. Currently, various methods of feed preparation have been developed, tested and widely used, which make it possible to use a whole range of chemical preservatives containing minerals and various mineral additives. Existing methods of improving soil fertility, such as reclamation, liming, applying mineral fertilizers directly into the soil or foliar fertilizing, make it possible to enrich the resulting feed with minerals.

When compiling diets, it is necessary to use zonal data on the content of microelements in feed. One of the sources of replenishing minerals in diets is the production of briquetted mineral supplements, the filler of which is table salt. Norms (%) in compound feed for cattle 1%, fattening pigs - 0.8%, others - 0.5%

For normal digestion in animals, sodium and chlorine are necessary. They are not only included in digestive juices, but what is equally important is that they stimulate the appetite, and also improve the taste of the feed and increase the palatability of the feed mass. A lack of sodium and chlorine in the animal body is fraught with a decrease in the absorption of fats, feed proteins, live weight, milk yield and osmotic pressure, and the onset of depression of the central nervous system. Large amounts of sodium and chlorine are excreted in milk and sweat in dairy cows, working horses and sport horses.

It should be remembered that sodium and potassium are antagonists, not synergists, and almost all plant foods contain a lot of potassium and are low in sodium. The right thing to do is where table salt is introduced into the diets of herbivores all year round, the norms of which are different for different types of livestock, taking into account their physiological state. In addition to introducing table salt into feed and feed mixtures, cattle, sheep, and horses must be given in the form of lick briquettes, which should be kept both on the pasture in the summer and in feeders in the winter.

Pigs and poultry should receive table salt with concentrates or mixed feed in a well-ground form.

You should always remember that table salt is not a harmless component and can lead to undesirable consequences, incl. and with fatal outcome. Pigs and poultry deserve special attention in this regard.

One of the cheap sources of macro and microelements is sapropel (lake silt), deposits of which are found at the bottom of lakes, ponds and other bodies of water. Lake sapropel can be given to all animals in pure form. The dry matter of sapropel contains 1.6% calcium and 0.2% phosphorus. Of microelements - cobalt - up to 12.8, manganese - up to 910, copper - 26, molybdenum - up to 47, boron - up to 37, zinc - up to 60, iodine - up to 6.3 and bromine - up to 58 mg per 1 kg of dry substances. Belarus has significant reserves of halite. This is a waste product obtained during the production of potassium chloride. Halites contain up to 90-96% sodium chloride. They can be used in their pure form as feed table salt for cows, young animals for growing and fattening, as well as stud bulls. Local minerals have proven themselves well as mineral supplements for animals: Picumin (expanded clay production waste), tripolite (natural mineral (etc.

Zoohygienic value of feed vitamins

Important In organizing adequate nutrition for animals, it is necessary to provide them with vitamins. The latter play a large role in metabolism, many of them are included in enzyme systems, performing the role of coenzymes. Being present in the body in extremely small quantities compared to basic nutrients, they have a significant effect on protein, carbohydrate, lipid and mineral metabolism, improve the use of all nutrients, the health of animals and help increase their productivity. Over a hundred-year period, about 30 different vitamins have been discovered and studied.

The development of nutritional or primary hypo- and avitaminosis is facilitated by unhygienic conditions of keeping animals (dampness, drafts, overcrowding, low light, physical inactivity), feeding of poor-quality feed, monotonous protein and carbohydrate nutrition. Vitamin deficiencies are very difficult in the body and occur in the absence of vitamins in the body. The lack of certain vitamins is fraught with hypovitaminosis for the body.

Young animals, growing animals, pregnant and lactating queens, sick and recovering animals most often suffer from a lack of vitamins. Avitaminosis and hypovitaminosis appear in animals most often in the second half of winter and in early spring. It is during this period that there is no food that could well provide the animal’s body with vitamins. It often happens that, according to analysis, there are vitamins in the feed, but they are not absorbed due to the presence of metabolic products and microorganism toxins caused by the animal’s disease. The phenomenon of avitaminosis and hypovitaminosis increases slowly, since when there is an excess intake of vitamins from food, vitamins are stored in reserve in the body and consumed as needed. The reserves of vitamins accumulated in the summer are not large and last for 2-3 months, and therefore their consumption must be replenished in the winter. Excess vitamins are also dangerous for animals, leading to hypervitaminosis.

Green plants contain a yellow-colored pigment - carotene or provitamin A. Various isomers of carotenes are found in nature, of which beta-alpha and gamma-carotenes are of greatest interest. In plants, beta-carotene predominates over other isomers and in the total content of active carotenoids is approximately: in grass - 75%, in red carrots - 85%. In yellow corn, vegetables and potatoes, the proportion of beta-carotene is relatively small - only 50% of the total carotene. Carotene in the feed is absorbed into the blood in the gastrointestinal tract and in the liver, under the action of the enzyme carotinase, vitamin A is formed from it. The synthesis of vitamin A from carotene can also occur in the walls of the small intestine. A diet deficient in vitamin A causes visual impairment, atrophy and degeneration of the visual (mucosal) surfaces and damage to the central nervous system in animals. As a result, " night blindness", pneumonia, dyspepsia, paralysis. The activity of a number of enzymes and the metabolism of proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and minerals are disrupted. It has been established that vitamin A deficiency disrupts the formation of bone tissue, the normal functioning of enterocyte membranes in the intestinal mucosa and the membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum of the kidneys and erythrocyte membranes. Externally, a lack of vitamin A in animals manifests itself in coarsening of the coat, general weakness, diarrhea, drooling, tearfulness, and inflammation of the cornea.

Vitamin A activity is measured in international units (IU). 1 IU is equal to 0.3 mcg of vitamin A.

An important indicator of vitamin A availability is its concentration in the blood and liver of animals. For calves, a vitamin A level in the blood plasma of 0.1 mcg/ml is considered sufficient. In adult animals, in summer the amount of vitamin A in the blood can increase to 0.6 μg/ml or more, and in winter decrease to 0.15 μg/ml.

To assess the A-vitamin status of poultry, its concentration in the liver and eggs is most often used. A biologically complete hatching egg of chickens contains at least 6-8 mcg/g of vitamin A, in the liver - from 300 mcg/g in pullets to 790 mcg/g in adults.

The daily requirement of heifers and cows weighing 450-500 kg during the dry period is 400-440 mg of carotene; for lactating cows, depending on the milk yield of 10-20-30 kg, 440-680 and 930 mg, respectively.

Heifers of dairy breeds, depending on age, should receive 0.5-0.7 mg of carotene per 1 kg of live weight. When raising breeding bulls, the requirement is 0.7 mg up to 6 months of age and 0.5 mg at 12 months of age per 1 kg of live weight. When fattening - 0.16-0.17 mg of carotene per 1 kg of live weight.

Sheep are pregnant females with a live weight of 40-80 kg; the first period is 10-15 mg/head per day, the second period is 15-25 mg/head per day. Suckling queens 12-15 mg/head per day for 1 lamb and 15-25 for 2 lambs. When fattening - 4-9 mg per head per day for lambs and 6-10 mg for adults.

Horses - for young animals before weaning per 100 kg of live weight - 50-55 mg, after weaning - 40-50 mg, pregnant and suckling mares 35-40 mg, stallions - breeding period 60-70 mg, during the rest of the period 20- 25 mg, working horses 15-40 mg.

Pigs - suckling piglets and weanlings per 1 feed unit - 5 mg; replacement young stock - 4 mg; fattening - 3.5; Pregnant uteruses - 6, suckling uteruses - 8, boars - 10 mg.

Poultry: chickens and broilers 7-10 thousand IU per 1 kg of vitamin A feed, young chickens and laying hens - 7.0, breeding flock - 10, turkey poults - 15.0, young turkeys - 7, breeding flock - 15. Ducklings and ducks - 7-10; goslings and geese - 5-10 thousand IE.

Fur-bearing animals - 250 IU of vitamin A per 1 kg of live weight for minks and foxes.

In addition to green feed, grass meal, pine and spruce needles, hay prepared on hangers after artificial drying, and pumpkin are also rich in carotene.

Vitamin D promotes the transfer of iron salts through the intestinal wall into the blood, but also from the blood into the intestine, which is facilitated by a specific protein called calcium-binding protein. In addition, it regulates the exchange of phosphorus and carbohydrates, participates in the synthesis of carboxylase, which plays a large role in the reactions of conversion of pyruvic acid into citric acid.

There are several forms of vitamin D in nature - D2 and D3. D2 is called calciferol, which is formed from ergosterol under the influence of ultraviolet rays. In animal tissues there is 7-dehydrocholesterol, from which vitamin D3 is formed. It should be noted that vitamin D3 is more economically profitable to use in poultry farming than vitamin D2. This is due to the fact that vitamin D3 is 10-30 times more active for poultry than vitamin D2. Rich in vitamin D are hay dried in sunny weather, grass silage prepared in sunny weather, irradiated feed and baker's yeast, fish meal, fish oil. The need for vitamin D is largely determined by the level of calcium and phosphorus in the diet and their ratio, as well as the degree of digestibility of minerals. Currently, it is recommended for fattening calves and young animals 20-30 IU, for cows (dry and lactating) and bulls - 20-40 IU; ewes and lambs - 10-15 IU of vitamin D per 1 kg of live weight. For horses in winter - 10 IE per 1 kg of live weight.

For weaned piglets 225 IU of vitamin D per feed. units, for growing and fattening gilts 225-300, for breeding animals and pregnant queens 300-400IE at a rate of 0.5% calcium and 0.4% phosphorus in the dry diet for pregnant queens and 0.7% calcium and 0. 5% phosphorus for fattening young animals. For poultry: chickens and young animals - 1000; laying hens - 1000-1500; ducklings - 1000, ducks - 1500; turkey poults and turkeys - 1500; goslings and geese - 1500; quail - 450 IU per 1 kg of feed. 0.025 mcg of irradiated 7-dehydrocholesterol is taken as 1 international unit of vitamin D activity.

Vitamin E plays a big role in increasing the activity of metabolic enzymes, prolonging the life of red blood cells, and preventing dysfunction of reproduction. A lack of vitamin E causes in males degenerative changes in the epithelium of the seminiferous tubules, impaired spermatogenesis, attenuation of sexual reflexes, in females infertility occurs due to delayed development of the fetus, its death, resorption and abortion, as well as damage to the nervous system and striated muscles. It plays the role of an antioxidant, prevents necrotic processes in the liver, enhances the synthesis of vitamin C in the liver, and normalizes protein biosynthesis.

It should be noted that the soils of the Republic of Belarus are poor in selenium, which can largely replace the missing amount of vitamin E, and therefore diets need to be monitored for their supply of vitamin E. The biological activity of 1 mg of a-iocopherol acetate is taken as 1 IU of vitamin E. The need for vitamin E for young ruminants is determined to be 20-30 mg, the need for young pigs is 15-30 mg per 1 kg of dry feed, for sows - 35-40, for dairy cows - 20-50 mg. Chickens and ducklings 10 g, turkey poults - 20 g, adult poultry - chickens - 10 g, ducks and geese - 5 g, turkeys - 20 g per 1 ton of feed.

Feeds high in vitamin E are: dried chlorella (18 mg%), rice bran (6 mg%), sun-dried alfalfa and clover (4-8 mg%), barley (3.6 mg%), brewery waste and distillery industry (2.7-3.0 mg%), ground oats (2.4 mg%), yellow corn (2.0 mg%), fish meal (1.7 mg%), wheat bran (1. 7 mg%), millet and wheat (1.1-1.2 mg%).

Vitamin K. There are several forms of vitamin K - K1 - K2, - K3. Of all the forms of vitamin K, vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) is the most interesting. Plants are a rich natural source of vitamin K. Thus, cabbage and nettle contain 32 mg of vitamin K per 1 kg, grain contains from 0.5 to 1.0 mg/kg, the green mass of various herbs contains from 60 to 90 mcg/g of vitamin K. Herbal meal from alfalfa contains up to 100 µg/g.

A lack of vitamin K in the body leads to decreased blood clotting, stunted growth, and hemorrhagic diathesis. Adult ruminants do not feel the need for vitamin K. Pigs of all ages require 2-3 mg per 1 kg of feed, chickens - 1-2 mg, adult poultry - 2-2.5 mg, minks and rabbits - 1 mg, horses - 6-10 mg.

B vitamins represent the largest variety of all vitamins available. This includes such complex biochemical compounds as vitamins B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, biotin (H), folic acid (Bc) and B12. It has been established that ruminants are not sensitive to a lack of B vitamins, since microbial synthesis of these vitamins occurs in their body, in the gastrointestinal tract. Through this process, ruminants meet their need for them. The exception is the young of these animals, which at an early stage of life do not have the ability to synthesize these vitamins. Pigs, poultry, rabbits, horses, and fur-bearing animals are sensitive to a lack of these vitamins.

Vitamin B1 (thiamine). Its deficiency leads to loss of appetite, impaired coordination of movements, paralysis of the limbs, disruption of the processes of decarboxylation and carboxylation, and disruption of the sexual cycle. Grains are rich in thiamine content, 1 kg of which contains an average of 3 to 5 mg of thiamine, yeast - 20-30 mg/kg, egg yolks- 2.79 mg.

For young pigs (suckling piglets, weanlings and growing up) 1.5-2.0 mg per 1 feed. units, sows and boars - 1.8 mg. For poultry of all ages, 2 g per tonne is recommended. For minks and foxes, their young animals - 1.2 mg per 1 kg of dry matter, horses and foals - 10-20 mg.

Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) is involved in carbohydrate metabolism, prevents fatty degeneration of the liver, kidneys, bronchopneumonia, and lacrimation. Riboflavin is found in large quantities in baker's and feed yeast up to 30 mg, legume grass flour up to 12 mg, fish meal - 6-7 mg, corn silage - 3 mg. As a standard for adding riboflavin to poultry feed, it is recommended: chickens and broilers - 3 g, turkey poults - 4 g, ducklings, goslings - 2 g, adult chickens - 4 g, turkeys - 5 g, geese, ducks - 3 g per 1 ton.

For suckling piglets and weanlings - 1.5-2.0 mg per 1 kg of feed, breeding pigs, pregnant pigs and boars - 1 mg, fattening - 3 mg.

Vitamin B3 ( pantothenic acid) plays an important role in cellular metabolism. In combination with specific proteins, it forms numerous enzymes that accelerate metabolic reactions, the breakdown and synthesis of fats, the synthesis of glucose and acetylcholine.

Vitamin B3 deficiency causes symptoms common to animals and poultry: cessation of growth, weight loss, dermatitis, diarrhea, vomiting, formation of ulcers in the intestines, hypertrophy of the adrenal glands and their hyperfunction, and decreased fertility.

Rich sources of vitamin B3 are yeast (50-120 mg/kg), grass flour (20-20 mg/kg), wheat bran (29 mg/kg), milk powder (33 mg/kg), wheat grain (10-16 mg/kg), soybean (18 mg/kg), sunflower meal (35-40 mg/kg). The requirement of pigs for vitamin B3 is as follows: replacement young animals and fattening young animals - 10 mg, suckling piglets, suckling queens and pregnant ones in the 2nd period - 15 mg, weaned piglets, pregnant queens in the 1st period - 12 mg per 1 feed . units

For poultry - breeding chickens and turkeys - 20 g, ducks and geese - 10, chickens, turkey poults - 10-15, replacement goslings and ducklings - 10 g per 1 ton of feed.

For minks and foxes - 12 mg per 1 kg of dry matter. Horses - 60 mg, foals - 30 mg per head per day.

Vitamin B4 (choline) is a component of phospholipids (lecithin and fingamielin). Lack of choline leads to fatty liver, impaired fat metabolism, degenerative changes in the kidneys, decreased growth, movement disorders, and muscular dystrophy.

For pigs, the following standards are established per 1 feed. units: suckling piglets - 1250 mg, weaned piglets - 1000 mg, pregnant queens and boars - 700-850 mg, fattening young animals - 750 mg.

Vitamin B5 (nicotinic acid, vitamin PP). Its deficiency leads to loss of appetite, decreased secretion of gastric juice, cessation of growth, and scaly dermatitis. Good source vitamin B5 - baker's and brewer's yeast (300-400 mg/kg), wheat bran (150-200 mg/kg), sunflower meal (150-200 mg/kg), fish juice (200 mg/kg). According to the norms, sows require 70-80, piglets 60-70, adult poultry and young animals - 20-30 mg per 1 kg of feed.

Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine, adermin). Its deficiency causes growth retardation, changes in skin, fur, plumage, epileptic seizures, decreased egg production and hatchability of chickens. The richest in this vitamin are yeast (15-40 mg/kg), alfalfa flour (6-11 mg/kg), and wheat bran (9-16 mg/kg).

The poultry body's need for vitamin B6 is satisfied if the following amount is contained in a ton of feed: chickens, turkeys - 4 g, ducks - 3 g, geese - 2 g, young poultry - 3-4 g.

Adult pigs satisfy their needs for this vitamin through internal synthesis, while young pigs require 0.75-1.00 mg per 1 kg of feed.

Vitamin BC (folic acid). Insufficient intake of this vitamin in the body leads to a decrease in the content of leukocytes in the blood, pneumonia, diarrhea, decreased excretion, and growth inhibition.

Contains a lot folic acid in yeast (11-35 mg/kg), alfalfa flour (4 mg/kg), soybean meal (4.2 mg/kg).

Young birds are given up to 0.5 g per 1 ton of feed, adult birds and breeding birds 1.5 g per ton.

Vitamin H (biotin) is needed to prevent dermatitis not only of the feet and fingers, but also of the skin of the eyelids, head, beak, perosis, and growth inhibition cartilage tissue. Young pigs require 50-400 mg/kg of feed, young poultry 90 mg/kg of feed, adult birds 150-200 mg.

Fodder yeast is rich in biotin up to 2.4 mg/kg, grain contains up to 0.15 mg/kg.

Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) plays important role in a variety of physiological and biochemical processes occurring in the body of animals. The only source of vitamin B12 in nature is its biosynthesis by microorganisms - bacteria, actinomycetes and some unicellular algae. Plants and animals are unable to synthesize vitamin B12. Ruminants are provided with this vitamin due to the activity of the rumen microflora, while animals with a single-chamber stomach (pigs, poultry) need it to be delivered ready-made with food.

It has been established that vitamin B12 entering the body of animals and humans will begin to work if the body is able to metabolize the introduced vitamin B12 to coenzyme forms, otherwise cyanocobalamin is not able to exhibit its biological activity. In the animal body, vitamin B12 is converted into adenosylcobalamin and methylcobalamin. In the body, adenosylcobalamin (coenzyme B12) is formed up to 70% of the total amount of cobalamins and 3% is methylcobalamin. The rest is hydroxycobalamins. The coenzyme remains in tissues longer and is deposited in higher quantities in the liver and kidneys. Only 4.9% of absorbed coenzyme B12 is excreted in the urine, while vitamin B12 is 15%. Coenzyme plays an important role in the metabolism of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, participating in the deamination of amino acids. It plays a special role in the transfer of methyl groups leading to the formation of methionine. Coenzyme B12 is involved in the reduction of ribonucleides into deoxyribonucleides, the deficiency of which causes disruption of the hematopoiesis process and the development of anemia. Enriching the diets of young fattening pigs with it, instead of vitamin B12 at a dose of 45 mcg per head per day, increases weight gain by 8-13% compared to vitamin B12. The picture is similar in poultry farming. The use of coenzyme B12 instead of vitamin B12 in the diets of breeding stock allows increasing the safety of young animals by 7-8% and fertility by 10-15%. The production of coenzyme B12 has been established using microbiological processes and has already been successfully used in animal husbandry.

A new generation vitamin has been synthesized relatively recently - vitamin U. There is a lot of it in young greens. Due to the presence of a huge number of methyl groups, it takes part in all those methylation reactions in which another one usually participates activated form methionine S-adenosylmethionine. Vitamin U promotes wound healing, increases red blood cells and hemoglobin in the body, and reduces cholesterol. Gives a good effect in the treatment of eczema, psoriasis, neurodermatitis.

Enriching the diets of poultry and young fattening pigs in doses of 8-10 g and 25 g per ton of feed, respectively, significantly increases weight gain and the quality of meat products. Its production has been established synthetically.

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) has a positive effect on the body’s immunobiological reactions, sexual function, and hematopoiesis. Pigs, poultry, and rabbits are especially sensitive to it.

There is a lot of vitamin C in greens, good hay, potatoes, root vegetables, silage, and pine needles. Cooking feed destroys it.

The norms of vitamin C per 1 kg of feed in mg are established: suckling piglets - 150-80, breeding pigs - 200-70, chickens - 60, adult poultry - 70, calves - 200, horses, foals - 600-300 mg. Vitamin C is used as an anti-stress agent.

A cheap and accessible source of vitamin C, carotene and B vitamins is spruce and pine needles and pine flour prepared from them.

Assessing the quality of feed and monitoring the completeness of feeding

The completeness of animal feeding involves not only meeting the energy needs, but also the content of all nutrients in accordance with the standards for individual species and production groups of animals per 1 kg of dry matter of feed. One should strive to ensure that diets are as diverse as possible in terms of the range of feeds, so that it is possible to ensure that animals are provided with the necessary set of nutrients and biologically active substances.

The completeness of animal feeding rations must be monitored by analyzing feed for its nutrient content and comparing how well they comply with feeding standards. It is advisable to examine the selected feed samples quarterly. If this fails, then it is mandatory at the beginning of the stall housing and in its second half. Local agrochemical laboratories examine feed for the presence of protein, carotene, calcium, phosphorus and microelements.

More full picture information about the nutritional status of animals can be obtained by conducting a blood test in selected animals for maintenance total protein, calcium and phosphorus, carotene, reserve alkalinity, red blood cells, hemoglobin.

Data from hematological studies provide a more complete picture of the condition of animals, which fully depends on the adequacy of feeding.

It is necessary to strictly ensure that animals receive high-quality feed, since eating low-quality feed is a direct path to the occurrence of many diseases, including both invasive and infectious ones. Bad feed can cause feed injuries, gastrointestinal disorders, and feed poisoning. The latter can occur due to the ingestion of mineral, organic, synthetic and plant poisons into the body.

The results of the study of feed and blood allow specialists to competently make decisions to correct errors and inaccuracies that have arisen in the organization of adequate nutrition for animals and thereby increase their productivity and carry out preventive measures to prevent metabolic diseases.

Feed injuries and their prevention

In almost all food, foreign objects are often found, such as broken glass, pebbles and thorns of greenery, pieces of wire, and nails. The presence of such items reduces the quality of feed, and sometimes leads to batches of feed being unsuitable for feeding, causing irritation of the digestive tract and death of animals. Especially in this regard, ruminants suffer, less often poultry and animals with a single-chamber stomach. In this case, the proventriculus, the heart wall and heart, and the diaphragm are injured. This type of injury is recorded not only on ordinary farms, but also on industrial complexes where more modern technology is used. Feeding in unprepared form such plant feeds and their residues as chaff of barley and spinous wheat, rye, wheatgrass, wild oats and others can cause mechanical damage to the oral cavity, where they penetrate to a considerable depth, forming ulcers, opening the gates for various infections. Lesions also involve the ducts of the salivary glands, cheeks, and mucous membranes. Animals, as a rule, with such injuries quickly lose weight and have to be culled, which causes great economic damage.

Feed contaminated with soil and silt loses its quality and may be unsuitable for feeding. Such feeds cause gastrointestinal diseases, loss of appetite, rumen swelling, blockage of the book, and all this leads to a decrease in productivity and sometimes death of animals.

Feeding horses with feed containing soil impurities leads to the accumulation of the latter in the cecum and colon, and sometimes in the stomach and duodenum, which causes colic, constipation, necrosis of the mucous membrane, decreased performance and, in some cases, death of animals.

Hot food is also dangerous for animals when its temperature reaches 60°C. In this regard, pigs and animals suffer the most after starvation. Stomatitis, inflammation and desquamation of the mucous membranes of the esophagus and stomach occur. The optimal temperature for boiled and steamed feed is 14-16°C.

Feeding large volumes of coarse, finely ground feed (grass meal, briquetted feed) leads to digestive disorders, since such feed is quickly evacuated from the gastrointestinal tract, disrupting the cellulolytic activity of microflora and ciliates, which leads to a significant decrease in the fat content of milk from for a sharp decrease in the level of formation of volatile fatty acids.

Giving frozen and cold food to animals also negatively affects the body, changing the motility of the digestive tract and the uterus in particular. All this leads to abortions and other consequences.

To a large extent, the fineness of grinding grain feed also affects the animal’s body. It is better for horses to feed crushed grain feeds, as they are more digestible than whole grains. Mealy feed can get into Airways, and also clump into dough-like lumps in the gastrointestinal tract, which makes it difficult to digest substances and can cause digestive upset.

Young pigs especially suffer from the use of finely ground grain feeds, since finely ground concentrates poorly absorb digestive juices and linger in the stomach for a long time, which leads to ulcers, gastritis, and enteritis. The degree of grinding should be medium.

For ruminants, it is advisable to provide concentrated feed in yeast form, which improves their palatability, digestibility and absorption of nutrients. It is better to give the daily dose of concentrates to animals not in one dose, but two or three.

To ensure that there are no various mechanical impurities in the feed, you should not throw away glass containers from used veterinary drugs, as well as needles and glass syringes unsuitable for further work, and allow animals to graze near mechanical workshops, landfills, woodworking sites, and construction sites. When baling straw and hay, use viscose twine rather than wire as a knitting material. Hay and straw contaminated for any reason with earth and sand must be thoroughly shaken; When crushing grain, cakes and meal, pass them through crushers with magnetic catchers. It is advisable to chop the straw of barley, spinous wheat, rye and their chaff and steam it before distribution. These feed products can be used when laying silos, where not only the breakdown of the lignin complex occurs, but also the softening of the awns.

Root tuber crops must be cleaned of dirt and soil before feeding, either by washing or mechanically. They must be crushed before distribution, which will ensure rational functioning of the masticatory apparatus and reduce salivation.

It is best to chop root tuber crops before distribution, since the crushed mass, which is not distributed, turns black, becomes dirty and loses juice.

For pigs, it is better to use granulated feed, since their production requires the use of thermal media, and this helps to destroy both mold and microorganisms. When training suckling piglets to eat feed using grain, it is best to fry it, which achieves disinfection and improves the taste of the feed. In sunflower cake and meal, the content of husks and husks is allowed to be no more than 10 and 16.5%, respectively.

GOST allows the presence of a certain amount of metallomagnetic impurities in all feed. Impurities should not exceed 2 mm (no more): in the grain mixture after grain processing - up to 30 mg/kg; bran and flour - up to 5; herbal flour - up to 30; pine flour - up to 10 mg/kg; in the feed, the amount of particles up to 0.5 mm in size should not exceed 0.01%. To reduce metal impurities in compound feeds, magnetic traps are used at factories that produce combined feeds.

Poisoning of animals by poisonous plants and their prevention

The toxicity of feedstuffs may be due to the presence of poisonous and harmful plants.

As a rule, they grow in wastelands, long-exploited pastures, acidic soils, and lowland meadows. Animals distinguish poisonous plants from edible ones. However, the scarcity of grass forces the animals to eat along with harmless ones. In spring, the greatest danger comes from the families of Ranunculaceae and Umbellaceae; in summer, during droughts, the families of Euphorbiaceae, Cutraaceae and others pose the greatest danger. In winter, along with the prepared roughage, animals also eat dry plants, which do not lose their toxic properties.

Plants that remain on the pasture after it is grazed must be mowed down. An abundance of anemone, scilla, snowdrops, and crow's eye appear in forest areas in early spring. These are also poisonous plants, and therefore animals need to limit access to such places. On acidic soils where a lot of horsetail grows, livestock cannot be grazed.

The dynamics of accumulation of toxic substances in different plants depends on the growing season. So, in some, toxic substances accumulate during the flowering period, in others, either before or after flowering. In some plants, harmful substances accumulate in the roots and rhizomes, in others - in the seeds. However, some toxic substances are destroyed when dried.

All botanical composition poisonous plants Belarus can be divided into 9 groups according to their effect on the vital systems of the body.

1. Plants that act on the respiratory system and digestive tract - rapeseed, rapeseed, field mustard.
2. Plants that have a negative effect on the gastrointestinal tract are nightshade, velvet, euphorbia, scilla, and swamp butterfly.
3. Plants that cause cramps and negatively affect the functioning of the heart, kidneys and digestive tract - tansy, buttercups, marsh thornweed, anemone.
4. Plants that affect the central nervous system - belladonna, datura, celandine, horsetail, intoxicating chaff, white hellebore, hemlock.
5. Plants that disrupt salt metabolism - wood sorrel, small sorrel.
6. Plants that act on the heart - crow's eye, adonis, lily of the valley.
7. Plants that act on the liver - perennial lupine, meadow cross.
8. Plants that cause signs of hemorrhagic diathesis are sweet clover.
9. Plants that sensitize animals to sunlight - St. John's wort, buckwheat, wild clover, alfalfa (causes skin damage in strong sunlight).

To prevent poisoning by poisonous plants, animals must be fed before being put out to pasture. Monitor the grass stand on the pasture and its botanical composition and, as necessary, carry out surface or fundamental improvements. Destroy harmful plants before harvesting food, either mechanically or using herbicides. Grind grain in such a way as to destroy the seeds of poisonous plants, which, having passed through the digestive tract of animals, will not be able to germinate.

A certain percentage of seeds of poisonous and weed plants is allowed in mixed feed: henbane, hemlock, cornflower, rattle - 0.01; intoxicating chaff - 1.0; cockle - 0.25. Thus, the main importance in the prevention of animal poisoning by poisonous plants is control over the quality of feed, its preparation, storage and use.

11. Hygiene and prevention of diseases associated with toxic substances in feed

The harm caused to livestock as a result of feed diseases, poisoning and toxicosis, which is the result of poor quality feed, is enormous.

Potatoes are a traditional crop for Belarus and are the “second bread”. It can be used in feeding almost all types of animals and poultry. However, under certain conditions, the glucoalkoloid solanine accumulates in the peel and sprouts. The solanine content in green potato tops before flowering reaches from 0.855 to 0.144%, in tubers during germination and exposed to light up to 4.76%. This glucoside-alkaloid is also found in unripe tubers. When feeding a large mass of tubers and their waste to pigs, and they are most sensitive to solanine, vomiting, salivation, inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, and diarrhea are observed. Then, after some time, a depressed state is observed, paralysis of the limbs, weakening of cardiac activity, with normal temperature. In case of severe poisoning, death occurs.

A certain danger is posed by potato stillage (a waste product from the alcohol industry) obtained from the use of sprouted and rotten potatoes. In the stillage, along with solanine, organic acids and fusel oils accumulate. The use of such stillage in cattle leads to liver damage, dermatitis of the limbs, nervous phenomena, persistent rumen atony and abortion.

Prolonged feeding of such stillage can lead to skin ulceration, gangrene of certain areas, exhaustion of the body, sepsis and death. To prevent the harmful effects of solanine on the body of animals, potatoes must be steamed, having first freed them from sprouts. Boiling is continued for at least 1 hour. The water in which the potatoes were boiled is not used and is poured into the sewer. Potato tops do not ensile well, and therefore easily silaged plants are used to prepare silage. Green and dried tops are used in quantities of no more than 3 kg per head per day. In their raw form, potatoes can be fed to animals in limited quantities and gradually introduced into the diet. If potatoes are affected by wireworms, rodents, cutworms, and ring rot, then they should be used exclusively in boiled form. Frozen tubers are fed only after cooking and in quantities not exceeding 25-30 kg by weight of the root crops.

Animals' bodies require easily digestible carbohydrates for normal functioning. Easily digestible carbohydrates are especially needed for ruminants, and more precisely for the activity of the rumen microflora. In this regard, sugar beets deserve attention. Introducing it into the diet of animals where silage feed is used prevents the phenomenon of acidosis, while increasing the use of organic acids. Moderate feeding (up to 15 kg per day for dairy cows, sheep up to 2 kg) ensures the normal course of fermentation processes in the rumen, preservation of the composition of the microflora, as well as the content of lactic acid. With large amounts of sugar beet consumption, ruminant animals may experience thirst, lack of appetite, atony of the proventriculus, decreased milk production, convulsions, abortions and death of animals.

Sugar beets are not rationed for pigs and horses.

Beetroot of fodder and table varieties best effect It is given in steamed or boiled form. Feeding it raw to pigs is not effective. Beets prepared in this way must be immediately cooled and fed, since denitrifying bacteria intensively develop in them, which convert nitric acid salts into nitrogenous salts. After 6 hours, such beets are poisonous. Salts of nitrous acid are capable of converting oxyhemoglobin in the blood into metahemoglobin, resulting in oxygen starvation and the animals die. With such poisoning, a depressed state, drooling, blue spots, and convulsions are observed. It is unacceptable to feed animals fermented or moldy beet tops. Dairy herds are fed fodder beet at a rate of 20-30 kg, sheep up to 4-5 kg ​​and pigs 4-6 kg per 100 kg of live weight.

Crops such as flax and vetch are widely cultivated in Belarus. Technical processing of flax seeds supplies cake and meal for feed purposes. However, flaxseed cake contains a cyanogenic glucoside - linamarin, and vetch - vicianin. In the presence of water and temperatures below 60°C, cyanogenic glucosides are hydrolyzed under the action of enzymes and acids to form hydrocyanic acid. This is a powerful poison that affects not only the tissues of the body but also interstitial respiration. Temperatures above 60°C destroy the lipase enzyme, and hydrocyanic acid is not formed from linomarin.

When introducing flaxseed cake into pig diets as a protein supplement, the content of hydrocyanic acid should not exceed 180-200 mg/kg. Flaxseed cakes must be steamed and should not be left for a long time. It is better to use them dry.

One of the ways to solve the problem of feed protein is to grow and process rapeseed. However, rapeseed seeds and their processed products contain glucosinolates and erucic acid, which limit the use of these feeds. The dry fat-free matter of low-glucosinolate varieties contains 1-2% glucosinolates, medium-glucosinolate varieties contain 4% and higher. Depending on the variety, the content of erucic acid in rapeseed oil varies from 0 to 5%. In rapeseed feeds, at appropriate temperature, humidity and the hydrolytic action of the enzyme myrosinase contained in the rapeseed cake, meal or flour itself, decomposes into substances that negatively affect the functional state of the thyroid gland, liver, causing inflammation intestines. Erucic acid entering the animal’s body in excess amounts can adversely affect the activity of of cardio-vascular system.

Ruminant animals are less sensitive than others to the adverse effects of rapeseed feed.

The maximum permissible concentration of glucosinolates in the diets of farm animals is no more than 5 mg per 1 kg of live weight for pigs and poultry, and no more than 10 mg for ruminants.

The green mass of rapeseed is administered to animals before flowering. Accustoming to eating it occurs gradually.

Continuous feeding is continued for 10-12 days in a row, and then a break is taken. It is strictly forbidden to feed green mass to all types of young animals up to 4 months of age. For cows, the daily norm cannot be higher than 20-30 kg, for young animals - 15-20, for pigs - 3 kg. Rapeseed silage is suitable for feeding, but it is advisable to feed it at the beginning of wintering.

Feeding crops such as sorghum, millet, clover, alfalfa, buckwheat, and St. John's wort on sunny days leads to skin disease eczema. The disease usually affects light-colored animals. The coloring substances contained in these plants are furocoumarins, which, under the influence of solar insolation in the body, form hydrogen peroxide, which damages the capillaries and skin in the area of ​​the front of the head, neck, and ears. Animals of dark colors do not suffer from this disease.

This disease can be prevented by not grazing light-colored animals on the tracts of these crops, leaving them overnight. Hay made from these crops does not cause this disease.

The lack of protein in the diets of ruminant animals can be compensated by introducing urea. 1 g of urea is equivalent to 2.6 g of digestible protein. In the rumen of ruminants, under the influence of the enzyme urease secreted by microorganisms, urea is broken down into ammonia and carbon dioxide. Ammonia, along with other feed nutrients, is absorbed by rumen microorganisms. The latter, together with the feed mass, come from the rumen to the abomasum and intestines, are digested and their protein is absorbed by animals. Urea can be considered harmless provided that the diet is balanced in terms of feed units, insufficient in digestible protein and provided with easily digestible carbohydrates. Urea is fed to animals after 6 months of age, starting with small doses over 7-10 days. The daily urea rate is determined by live weight and level of productivity. But it is not recommended to fill more than 25-30% of animals’ needs for digestible protein. Urea can be used as part of complete mixtures. If roughage predominates in the mixture, urea is added in the form of an aqueous or water-molasses solution; if succulent feed predominates, it is added in a mixture with concentrates. In beet-growing areas, urea can be used as part of aminomineral and liquid feed additives prepared in sugar factories based on dry pulp or beet molasses. In recent years, the technology of amido-concentrated additives using the extrusion method has become widespread.

To prevent urea poisoning, it is necessary to strictly observe the norms of its feeding: for pregnant and lactating cows no more than 80-100 g, replacement young animals over 6 months old - up to 50 g, fattening young animals over 6 months old - 50-70 g; sheep 12-15 g, young animals over 6 months up to 8-12 g. Urea should not be given when feeding animals with legume hay, and the concentrated type of feeding, as well as in its pure form with liquid food and drinking water. Animals with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and malnourished animals should not receive it.

Currently, one of the important problems that has arisen as a result of increasing anthropogenic pressure on ecosystems is the problem of nitrates. Along with the traditional solution to the problems of using nitrate nitrogen as a source of nitrogen nutrition for plants and optimizing environmental and agrochemical conditions affecting the formation of the crop and its quality, questions arose about the environmental consequences of nitrate accumulation in soil, water, plants, atmosphere, their impact on animal and human health .

Nitrates are an integral part of all terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, since the process of nitrification, leading to the formation of an oxidized inorganic form of nitrogen, is a fundamental mechanism of global nature. At the same time, with the increasing intensification of production in general and nitrogen fertilizers in particular, the flow of inorganic nitrogen compounds into natural waters, plants, and therefore living organisms, is increasing.

It is known that ammonium and nitrate forms of nitrogen are equivalent, but their ratio may be determined by species specificity, as well as environmental factors. So, against the background of potassium, plants use nitrates better, and against the background of calcium, ammonium. Nitrates are better absorbed in an acidic environment, while ammonium is better absorbed in an alkaline environment. But since both amide and ammonium forms of nitrogen in the soil undergo nitrification, turning into nitrate, within 10-15 days, the predominant form of mineral nitrogen entering plants is nitrates.

The nitrogen cycle of plants consists of the processes of the entry of mineral nitrogen compounds through the roots, their transport to the above-ground part, and assimilation into high-molecular compounds - proteins.

The path from nitrate to protein goes through a series of successive stages: nitrates are reduced to nitrites, then to ammonia, which, interacting with organic acids, forms proteins. Each is associated with the activity of a specific enzyme. The reduction of nitrate to nitrite is induced by nitrate reductase, the activity of which depends on the external concentration of NO3 ions. It is believed that there are several ways of formation and accumulation of nitrates in plants: nitrates accumulate in plants from excessive consumption of nitrogen by the plant, when their intake prevails over assimilation; with nitrogen nutrition unbalanced with other macro- and microelements; with a decrease in the activity of the enzyme nitrate reductase.

Increased accumulation of nitrites in forage crops is facilitated by drought, weak insolation, a sharp drop in temperature, and the application of large quantities of organic fertilizers. In such cases, there is a sharp decrease in the activity of enzymes regulating nitrogen metabolism - nitrate reductase and nitroreductase. Excess nitrogen reduces the synthesis of amino acids and carotene, non-protein nitrogen accumulates in stems and foliage, and highly toxic nitrosamines are formed in soil and plants. In the large intestine of ruminants, endogenous nitrosamines are formed through the interaction of nitrates and nitrogen oxides. Feed can become toxic due to the accumulation of nitrates, nitrites, nitrogen oxides and ammonia and lead to animal poisoning.

This happens if: you feed corn silage with a high content of nitrogen oxides; use steamed beets and the water in which they were boiled after more than 12 hours, then nitrates will turn into nitrites; excessive application of organic and mineral fertilizers containing nitrogen of more than 150 kg/ha for forage crops was allowed; include beets and their tops that have become moldy and rotting in the diet.

It has been established that different parts of plants accumulate different amounts of nitrates. Nitrates are practically absent in cereal grains and are mainly concentrated in vegetative organs (leaf, stem). Among representatives of higher plants, there is a group of families that accumulate significant amounts of nitrates. These include the families of Amaranthaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Umbellaceae, Asteraceae, Cabbage, and Solanaceae.

Maximum permissible concentrations of nitrates in the diet and drinking water can be no more than g/kg body weight: pigs - 0.6; horses, sheep - 0.4; cattle - 0.2; chickens - 1.0.

12. Prevention of contamination of feed with pesticides and fertilizers

Modern agriculture is characterized by the use of a wide range of pesticides, current and various mineral fertilizers.

To combat mites - acaricides, to destroy harmful insects - insecticides, to combat fungal, bacterial and viral plant diseases - fungicides, weeds and poisonous plants are destroyed with herbicides, rodent control is carried out with rodenticides.

Pesticides are most common in the external environment. They can be found in air, water, soil, and plants. Careless storage and improper use leads to contamination of feed, water and air. Pesticides are quite persistent and therefore degrade very slowly and can accumulate in both plants and living objects. All this is dangerous for humans and animals, since toxic substances enter the body with food and feed. Poisoning can also occur from eating feed contaminated with various chemicals.

Grain treated for sowing and accidentally included in the feed can cause poisoning. Plants treated with dissicants (pre-harvest drying) and baits prepared to kill rodents pose a danger.

The clinical picture of poisoning can be very diverse and depends on the composition of pesticides. Characteristic signs are loss of appetite, vomiting, drooling, convulsions, paralysis. Death of animals is often observed. Special premises should be equipped for storing pesticides; the distance to the nearest livestock facility should be at least 300 m. Store pesticides in special containers. It is not allowed to transport pesticides and feed on the same transport, and especially at the same time. Preventative work is limited to ensuring that animals do not have access to chemicals. When treating plants with solutions of chemicals, in areas near pastures and livestock runs, use must be temporarily limited. Feed obtained from fields treated with pesticides must be checked for the presence of residual amounts of pesticides.

Mineral poisons such as fluorine, arsenic, lead, copper, mineral fertilizers, acids, alkalis and cyanides not only reduce the quality of feed, but also become dangerous to the health and life of animals.

The remaining treated grain that was not used for sowing must be capitalized again and returned to the warehouse.

Hygiene of feed affected by barn pests

Barn pests are also dangerous because they convert the available nutrients in feed in most cases into toxic products of their vital activity and contribute to the spread of various microorganisms.

The damage caused by mites infesting grain processing products is significant. These mites, unlike other known ones, have a longer development cycle due to additional stages of transformation. All this leads to the fact that excrement secreted by both adult individuals and their larvae, nymphs and hypopuses gives flour and mixed feed a bitter taste and bad smell. Excrement, among other things, contains poisons that have a detrimental effect on young farm animals and poultry. Adult animals also suffer. In addition, ticks are suppliers of bacilli and bacteria excreted in excrement.

The barn weevil is an insect with hard, chitinous wings. When abundantly multiplied in grains, cereals can enter the digestive tract and cause disruption of the integrity of the mucous membrane, which leads to infection and, as a consequence, to the development of various pathologies. In addition, the weevil secretes a toxic substance - contharidin, which is harmful to the health of not only young animals, but also adult animals.

Rodents have always been and are pests not only of cereals, but of rough and succulent food. Mice and rats are also dangerous because they are capable of spreading a huge variety of infectious and invasive diseases characteristic of animals and humans.

To prevent contamination of feed by barn pests, it is necessary to carry out such measures as washing warehouses and storage facilities with aqueous solutions of acaricides and insecticides when they are freed from grain and its processed products at least once a year. Regularly carry out deratization measures in warehouses.

Other pests of plant food include cabbage and turnip caterpillars. They not only attack the above-ground parts of these plants, but can also be eaten by animals. Once in the digestive tract, the caterpillars, with their hard hairy pubescence, damage the mucous membranes of the mouth and gastrointestinal tract, and the toxic secretions of the hairs irritate the digestive tract. One of the measures to combat caterpillars is spraying plantations of fodder and table cabbage, turnips with a saturated salt solution (800 g of salt is taken per 10 liters of water), which, without any harm to the plants, completely leads to the death of the caterpillars.

Grass aphids most often infect legume crops, feeding on their juices. When pets eat affected food, inflammation, blistering rashes, and conjunctivitis occur. A week before harvesting, the affected areas of aphids are treated with recommended chemicals.

Hygiene of feed contaminated with various bacteria

Plant objects are a permanent habitat for fungi, yeasts, bacteria, and actinomycetes. Freshly harvested grain contains rod-shaped and coccoid forms of bacteria. Non-spore-forming bacteria are also found. They do not affect the quality of the grain. If freshly harvested grain is contaminated with soil, the number of bacilli in it increases. Self-heating of the grain also contributes to their growth. Soil bacteria do not have a noticeable effect on grain stored in proper conditions, however, with their intensive development, its quality decreases, which leads to a loss of feed value.

In grain you can find not only benign bacteria, but also pathogens of dangerous diseases: anthrax, salmonellosis, brucellosis, etc. Such feed is dangerous for animals. Meat and bone, fish, bone, cakes and meals are good targets for salmonella. Enrichment of feed with such protein additives at high humidity and temperature leads to the rapid proliferation of salmonella. It is very dangerous to feed such feed and protein supplements contaminated with salmonella to livestock, since the disease can progress or the animals will become their carriers.

The spread of infectious diseases is facilitated by improper disposal of carcasses of dead animals.

Many infections of diseases such as anthrax and swine erysipelas can survive in the soil. Growing food located in such burial places makes them dangerous, and therefore the troupes are best destroyed in crematoria ovens.

After deratization measures, the corpses of rats and mice can be a source of diseases such as tularemia, leptospirosis, Aujeszky, since rodents can often get into food.

Feed grown on soils infected with various pathogens can also become a source of serious illnesses.

Feed mycotoxicoses

Helminth eggs can persist for a long time on unwashed root and tuber crops, and Adolescaria fasciolae can survive in hay from low, marshy areas for up to 5 months. Therefore, hay from low grasses is fed during the second period of winter maintenance. Feed prepared in violation of technology requirements can cause serious animal diseases. High humidity and improper storage contribute to this. All this makes it possible for fungal flora and bacteria to develop.

Toxic fungi that enter the body of animals with food germinate and multiply in organs and tissues and lead to mechanical and toxic disorders of local significance. The diseases that arise in this case are called mycoses.

Animals are most sensitive to two genera of smut fungi - Ustillago and Tilletia. The first includes loose smut, which affects oats, barley and corn. There have been cases of poisoning of young pigs and cattle that eat these feeds. The second genus Tilletia includes stinking smut of wheat and durum smut of rye. There is evidence that allcoloid-like toxic substances contained in wheat smut cause uterine contractions, which leads to abortion. Other sex and age groups of animals, with the exception of breeding stock, are not affected by toxins of smut fungi.

The reason for the spread of smut is poor cleaning and lack of grain treatment with granosan, violation of crop rotation, when the same crops are sown on the same area for two or more years in a row, lack of disinfection of seed warehouses and harvesting units.

Ergot or uterine horns. The rye ovary is especially susceptible to attack by this fungus. The uterine horns contain methylamine, histamine, as well as alkaloids - ergotoxin and ergometrine.

Poultry and farm animals become seriously poisoned after feeding husks and waste from grain processing. In this case, the central nervous system, arteries, and involuntary contractions of the uterus are affected. Signs of poisoning are increased trembling, diarrhea, an excited state, and then a depressed state, convulsions, drooling. This is how acute poisoning occurs. At chronic poisoning- necrosis of hooves, ears, tail, comb, beak, snout.

In order to prevent ergot poisoning, grain products can be fed with an ergot content of no more than 0.2%, in limited quantities and to non-breeding stock. If the grain is severely damaged, it is disposed of. To prevent ergot contamination of crops, seeds must be treated and the placement of crops in crop rotation must be observed.

Significant harm to animals is caused by feed contaminated with rust fungi (Uredinaceae family). These fungi begin their development on the roots of young plants, and then infect leaves and stems, forming spots of different colors: brown, brown, yellow and black.

Fusariotoxicoses are caused by eating feed contaminated with fungi of the genus Fusarium. Rye, wheat, oats, barley, etc., as well as their green plants and straw during the growing season are affected. Wet, rainy years contribute to this. In this case, the resulting grain is small, puny, without shine, with a pink or brown coating of fungal mycelium on the surface.

The toxicity of fusarium grain is due to the presence of cycosides and amines, as well as cholines and an alkaloid - fusareon. Farm animals and poultry are suffering. Their digestive tract and nervous system are affected. The onset of the disease is marked by agitation, lack of coordination of movements, which are replaced by a state of depression, weakness and trembling. You can observe in case of poisoning in pigs - vomiting, horses - diarrhea, thirst, in cattle - atony of the proventriculus, slowdown of intestinal motility. Cereals that have overwintered under the snow are affected by the fungus F.Сporotriduella. When animals eat such feed, leukonemia occurs, the hemoglobin content drops, hemorrhages, dermatitis, and ulcerative necrotizing stomatitis occur. Early plowing of plowed land, treatment of seed, stubble peeling, hay and straw with high humidity should not be stacked. Harvesting the ears separately also promotes the appearance of these fungi. Feed grain is examined in a veterinary laboratory for the presence of this fungus. Fusarium grain is not allowed to be fed. To do this, it is soaked in water and drained four times a day. Then the grain fodder is boiled for an hour and, after cooling, fed in the form of swill. Grain fodder of the first degree of toxicity by skin test is introduced into cattle rations up to 30-40% of all concentrated feed. When processing such grain with alcohol, the resulting stillage is fed up to 30-40 liters per day.

There are a lot of spores of mold fungi on the feed, which inhabit them through the soil, water, and air. With the onset of favorable conditions (at a temperature of 5-15°C) and humidity (18% and above), the spores germinate, forming filamentous, cobweb-like, mucous deposits of various colors. Feed affected by fungi takes on a darker color and an unpleasant odor. Fungi from the genus Aspergillus, Mucor, Fusarium, Penicilium, Alternaria, Rhisopus, etc. most often infect feed. Neighboring the fungi are acid-resistant bacteria and cocci, which decompose the feed.

It has been established that most fungi that attack grain are toxic to animals. These are representatives of the genera Fusarium, Penicillinium, Aspergillus, etc. They infect both cereal and legume grains. These mushrooms are present in almost all types of feed. Mushrooms that secrete toxic poisons are also found in animal feed. Thus, the waste product of the fungus Aspergillus flavis is aflatoxins, which can be detected on different types of grains, in feed of protein origin, in hay, and meat products.

Feed affected by fungi has lower nutritional value, chemical composition and quality.

Currently, about 300 species of fungi have been studied, which, under certain conditions, cause various animal diseases. The above fungi account for 60% of diseases.

Fungal and bacterial flora change not only the physical state of the feed, but also the biochemical state, affecting proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and fiber. Some mushrooms, having entered the body with food, release their toxins into the blood - aflatoxins, glucosides, etc. Toxins in mushrooms are formed during the fruiting period, when enzymatic decay occurs in the mycelium. At this time, mushrooms are especially dangerous.

Signs of disease in animals affected by mycotoxins are drooling, constipation or diarrhea, tympany, loss of appetite, difficulty swallowing, feces covered with mucus or blood, kidney and liver damage.

External signs are the most noticeable: paralysis of the limbs, unsteady gait, trembling, depression, severe sweating, abortions in females. Horses, pigs and poultry get sick. They are the most sensitive. Very often, diseases occur with inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, bronchopneumonia and nervous system disorders.

The following methods of combating mycotoxins are effective: proper drying of feed, storing hay and straw under sheds, wrapping bales and rolls of hay with film, storing grain feed in warehouses protected from external moisture and well ventilated. It must be remembered that moldy feed is unsuitable for feeding animals. In case of mild damage, such feed is used after additional drying, airing, grinding, and winnowing. To destroy fungi on hay and straw, use a 3% solution of freshly slaked lime. Grain with significant damage is treated with high temperature in special grain drying units.

You can often find microorganisms on feed. Botulinus. Microorganisms produce toxins that cause the disease botulism. The causative agent of this disease is found almost everywhere. It is a spore-forming soil aerobe, the waste products of which are very persistent and strong neurotropic toxins.

Cereal waste such as chaff and chaff, wet grain, under-dried and stacked straw, hay, silage and haylage with soil impurities create favorable soil for the habitat of this microbe.

Horses and minks are very susceptible to this disease, but there are isolated cases of the disease in poultry, pigs and even cattle. Symptoms of this disease are loss of voice, paralysis of the tongue, lower jaw, pharynx, intestines, and dilated pupils. Accompanying this disease are constipation, colic, urinary retention, and unsteadiness. The disease can occur both acutely and subacutely.

17. Control over the sanitary quality of feed and ways to improve it

Animal productivity and reproductive abilities depend on the state of health of the body, which is designed to ensure good nutrition and high sanitary quality of feed. Feed can become of poor quality for many reasons - storage, transportation, non-compliance with production, procurement and processing technologies, as well as contamination with toxic and mechanical substances. Such feeds have a negative effect on the animal’s body, causing feed diseases.

For sanitary assessment of the quality of feed, it is examined on site organoleptically (smell, color, humidity, uniformity, the presence of mechanical impurities, mold, rotting, etc. are determined).

For more careful control of the sanitary quality of the feed, an average sample is taken by commission and sent to a veterinary laboratory, where a thorough analysis is carried out. When taking samples, a report is drawn up in 2 copies, indicating the farm, the place of sampling, the type of feed, the mass of the batch, the type of packaging and the date of sampling. To obtain an average sample reflecting the composition of the feed, sampling is done in different places and mix thoroughly. From this mixture, samples of cake and meal, feed, meat and bone and fish meal, grain, bran of at least 1 kg are taken, and silage, haylage, hay - at least 0.5 kg. In case of poisoning of animals, samples are also taken from feeders.

Good-quality hay and straw should have a moisture content of up to 17%.

If metal impurities and broken glass are found in them, and if more than 1% of poisonous plants are found in the hay, such animal feed is not used.

The color of hay depends on the presence of carotene in it, methods of harvesting, and storage. Straw and hay of good quality have a pleasant smell, but spoiled ones are musty, moldy and putrid.

There are several ways to harvest good-quality hay: harvesting loose and pressed hay (in bales and rolls), drying the hay by active ventilation with or without heated air, as well as harvesting chopped hay with its subsequent drying by ventilation in tower-type storage facilities.

It is possible to obtain high-quality hay only with timely mowing of grass, when the greatest amount of nutrients is retained with the maximum yield of green mass. The optimal timing for harvesting grasses for hay is: for legumes - the budding phase, for cereals - heading, the beginning of flowering. The nutritional value of hay and the yield of feed units decrease with each day that passes after the optimal harvest time, by an average of 1%.

Straw will be used in animal feeding for a long time, as one of the components of the diet. It is characteristic that straw contains 36-42% fiber and 3-4% protein. In this regard, the straw of spring crops is close in nutritional value to low-quality hay.

The use of straw as a feed requires appropriate technology for preparing it for feeding. Methods for preparing straw for feeding can be divided into physical, chemical, biological and combined (physico-chemical, physico-biological).

Physical methods - grinding, which increases palatability; mixing - cutting straw is mixed with silage, root crops, pulp; steaming - chopped straw is moistened and treated with steam in boxes or mixers in a steamer.

Chemical. Treating straw with lime. Lime is taken without sand, small stones, with a calcium oxide content of at least 90%. Treatment is carried out with both slaked and quicklime. Prepare a working solution by taking 45 kg of lime paste, 5 kg of table salt and 5 kg of urea (if necessary) per 950 liters of water. The crushed straw is fed into a mixer for mixing with the working solution (800 liters of solution per 400 kg of dry straw) and treated with steam for 1.5-2 hours. A sign of the end of the process is the appearance of a bready smell, an intense yellow color, and the fibers are easily torn. You can feed one such straw, but it is better in a mixture with other feeds. Cows and heifers 10-15 kg, young animals for fattening at the age of 9-12 months 10-12 kg, sheep 2-3, horses 8-10 kg.

Treating straw with soda ash is based on the fact that when sodium carbonate decomposes when the temperature rises, it forms carbon dioxide and alkali (NaOH). The decomposition of sodium carbonate begins at a temperature of 40°C. For processing, anhydrous soda is used at a dose of 50 kg per 1 ton of straw. After spraying with a soda solution, the straw is steamed in the same way as treated with lime.

Treatment of straw with liquefied ammonia. Acting on straw like other alkalis, ammonia partially replenishes protein in the ruminant diet. The effectiveness of straw processing largely depends on its moisture content. At humidity levels below 15%, the process of ammonia binding slows down greatly. Liquefied ammonia is added by injection in an amount of 30 kg per 1 ton of straw. With proper processing, after aeration, about 0.7% nitrogen by weight of dry straw remains. A more effective method is to treat straw with ammonia directly in the feed mill. In this case, the enrichment of straw with nitrogen is combined with its steaming.

Biological. Methods for preparing straw include the use of enzymes that break down fiber (celloviridine and pectofoetidin). The process is as follows: well-chopped straw is loaded into a mixer and moistened with water at the rate of 1 ton of water per 1 ton of straw, an enrichment additive is added, including flour, macro- and microelements, and urea. The mixture is kept at a temperature of 90-100°C for 30-60 minutes, then the temperature is reduced to 50°C and enzymes are introduced. The fermentation process lasts 2 hours, after which the temperature is reduced to 30-40°C.

The quality of silage is determined organoleptically. Benign silage yellowish-green and yellow color, acidity - pH 3.9-4.2, taste moderately sour, smell fruity. The silage is of average quality - brownish in color, with a vinegary, bready smell. Bright green and dark green color characteristic of poor edible silage, which also has a vinegary herring smell, pH - 5.6-6.0. In good-quality silage there is no butyric acid, in poor-quality silage it has the smell of butyric acid, acetic acid is 60%, and in good-quality silage no more than 25%. There is also little lactic acid - 25-40%, while in benign - 50% or more.

Haylage has a smell depending on the quality: fruity - excellent and good quality, bready - satisfactory, burnt sugar - bad, but limitedly edible and putrefactive - inedible.

The waste product of beet production is pulp. The benign pulp is light gray in color, odorless, contains 0.1-0.2% organic acids, butyric acid is absent. Poor quality pulp is sour, with the smell of butyric acid, and dirty gray in color. If the production of dry pulp is established, then the presence of toxic fungi in it must be determined. The quality of stillage and pulp is assessed using the same indicators.

Before processing any feed to detoxify mycotoxins, you need to choose the most effective one. Detoxification of grains, compound feeds and mealy feeds is no exception.

Processing grain with soda ash is done in this way. This soda is gradually added to warm water until completely dissolved, the concentration is adjusted to 4%. Then the grain is moistened with this solution and kept on platforms or in containers for 24 hours. The main thing is to prevent freezing. Then the grain is dried in drying units at a temperature of 180-200°C. For 1 ton of grain, 80 liters of 4% soda ash solution are consumed.

Treatment of grain with a solution of sodium (potassium) pyrosulfite. For 1 ton of grain, take 80 liters of a 10% solution of sodium pyrosulfite and moisten the grain, which is kept for 2 days at a temperature that does not cause freezing. Then the grain is dried in dryers at a temperature of 180-200°C.

Processing grain at high temperatures. Slightly toxic grain fodder is disinfected on drying units such as AVM, SB at a temperature of 300 ° C and an exposure time of 10-12 minutes.

Micronization of grain is carried out using infrared clouds. In this case, not only many fungal spores are killed, but also nutrients are better absorbed.

Grain embedding is the process of exposing grain to high temperatures. Fungal spores and microorganisms are killed, and grain loosening (swelling) also occurs. Carbohydrates are converted into a more digestible form.

Grain for fodder and mixed feed has a normal moisture content of 12-15%, flour - up to 14%, bran - up to 12%. The acidity of flour and grain is up to 5o, mixed feed - up to 8o, bran - no higher than 4o. No more than 1% harmful impurities, and 8% weeds. The presence of glass and mineral fertilizers is completely unacceptable, and mineral impurities should not exceed 0.1-0.2%, in feed, flour, bran 0.8%. Grain and its processed products should be free of impurities and highly toxic fungi. If pests such as mites, weevils, and grain moths are found in grain in large quantities, then such grain cannot be considered benign. Any grain that has undergone pre-sowing treatment with chemicals should not be used as animal feed.

Cake and meal are protein fillers for diets. In Belarus, the most commonly used cakes and meals are flaxseed, sunflower, rapeseed, and less commonly soybean. For cakes and meals, a moisture content of no more than 8.5-11% is allowed. They are necessarily examined for freshness, the content of mineral and metal impurities, the density of the tiles, taste, and smell. During long-term storage, molding and decomposition of fat are possible, which gives the cakes and meals a bitter taste. The presence of an anti-nutrient substance, which is linomarin, is determined in flaxseed cakes.

Slaughterhouse waste and canteen waste should be used as feed for pigs and poultry only after thorough boiling, or better yet, autoclaving.

Fish, blood and meat and bone meal should not have a musty or putrefactive odor. If microbial contamination is more than 500 thousand per 1 kg or salmonella is detected, coli, Protea flour is used only after boiling for 1 hour at a temperature not lower than 100°C. Detection of anaerobic microorganisms and their toxins in these feeds requires mandatory heat treatment at a temperature of 120-130°C for 2 hours.

In order to prevent spongiform encephalomyelitis, cattle are prohibited from feeding meat and bone meal obtained from dead animals.

Autoclaving of feed is carried out in preparation for feeding dead non-infectious carcasses of pigs and cattle to fur-bearing animals. To do this, load meat, bones into the autoclave and add water in a 1:1 ratio. In this case, the pressure is brought to 1.5-2 atmospheres. Treatment continues for 1 hour.

18. Hygiene requirements for feeding and watering farm animals

Farm animals can very quickly get used to a certain regime. It is advisable to strictly observe the watering and feeding regime if there is no free access to water and feed.

Failures in violation of the routine during these operations lead to anxiety in animals, a decrease in the digestibility of feed, and therefore the use of nutrients, and ultimately a lack of milk and weight gain. Food given at the wrong time forces animals to quickly swallow it, chew it weakly, insufficiently wet it with saliva and sharply fill the stomach or rumen, form excessive pressure of feed masses on them and, as a result, a transient process of fermentation of the feed begins, the secretion of digestive juices in the stomach and intestines increases, leading to to bloating and colic, indigestion.

Hungry or hungry animals can often eat foreign objects and various harmful impurities.

With frequent distribution of food, the animals' appetite decreases, the food is not completely eaten and a significant amount of it remains in the feeders or is thrown out of them. It must be remembered that ruminants, in the process of evolution, have developed a certain rhythm in digestion and this can be confirmed by timing. With satisfactory grass cover, ruminants collect food for 8 hours, chew it for 8 hours, and spend 8 hours resting the animal. All this suggests that it is necessary to correctly distribute the daily feed supply, while providing for precise rest hours.

Taking into account the type of animal, age, physiological state and economic use, it is necessary to establish both the feeding regime and its level. For growing young animals, it is advisable to receive food more often than for adult animals, which are fed 2-3 times a day. Newborn young calves, when in the maternity ward, are able to suckle their mother up to 8-9 times, sucking out 1.5-2 liters of milk. Suckling piglets, if the temperature in the nesting nests reaches 30-32 ° C, are able to suckle the sow up to 12-15 times a day in the first 5 days of life.

Particular attention should be paid to watering animals. If water is supplied centrally, when the animal is able to drink it as needed and in small portions, then this does not cause alarm. If there is no centralized water supply, then in winter the animals need to be given water at least 2 times a day and with heated water to a temperature of 11-16 ° C. It is advisable to give the animals water before feeding and during feeding. Thirst forces you to eat less food and reduce the secretion of digestive juices, and this leads in the first case to a weakening of the body, and in the second to a decrease in the digestibility of food. You cannot give water to animals immediately after long journeys or hard work. When giving cold water to a hot horse, it develops an acute disease - rheumatic inflammation of the hooves. Watering is indicated in this case after at least a short rest, for 1 hour. The need for water in animals after birth is especially great, which must be taken into account.

The introduction of new types of feed into animals’ diets is not carried out immediately, but gradually, over 7-10 days, reducing the feed already used, and introducing new ones in their place.

It is necessary to avoid sudden changes in the set of feeds for pregnant and lactating animals, as this can lead to digestive tract upset, constipation, and changes in the amount and composition of milk. Such manipulations with diet are also fraught with abortions, diseases of young animals and their death.

When weaning piglets, and both queens and young animals are prepared for this operation, the number of sucklings on the uterus is reduced over the course of a week, and not immediately. For weaned piglets, protein feed in the diet is reduced by half within 5-8 days, since without this, as a result of stress, the secretion of digestive juices is reduced, proteins will decompose and poison the body. At the same time, it is necessary to increase the supply of such feeds as grass flour, which in the digestive tract will play the role of an adsorbent of gases, of which a lot is formed during this period, and suppress the feeling of hunger. It is advisable to feed foods rich in carbohydrates. After 5-8 days after weaning, the daily feed supply is gradually brought to normal.

The influence of microclimate parameters on the process of animal feeding

Scientific research and practice has proven that the process of feeding animals proceeds optimally if both temperature and humidity parameters are observed.

It has been established that the optimal air exchange in a room for fattening pigs per 1 centner of pig weight is 36-40 m3/hour and a humidity of 78%. With such air exchange and humidity, animals willingly eat food and ensure weight gain of up to 600 g per day. Reducing air exchange to 15 m3/hour and increasing humidity to 86% allows an increase of only 380 g per day, with reluctant consumption of the same feed as in the first case. The optimal temperature for fattening pigs is considered to be 19°C in the first period, and 16°C in the second. An increase in temperature to 25°C reduces the motility of the gastrointestinal tract, the digestibility of feed and its absorption decreases, and as a result, low weight gains are observed.

A decrease in room temperature below the critical temperature by 1°C leads to an increase in metabolism by approximately 4%, an unproductive increase in feed consumption and a decrease in body weight gain by 2% in fattening pigs and 3.3% in fattening cattle.

Low indoor air exchange leads to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the air, which reduces metabolism and feed consumption. Animals become lethargic and their appetite decreases.

An increase in ammonia in the air of a pigsty (more than 10-20 mg/m3) reduces metabolism and leads to a drop in average daily weight gain due to low feed consumption.

Sows with suckling piglets eat feed well if the temperature in the queen cell is 18-22°C (in the nest of piglets 30°C). An increase in temperature, as well as a decrease in temperature, negatively affects feed intake.

Dustiness and fairly high contamination of the air with microorganisms directly and indirectly lead to a decrease in productivity and, consequently, a decrease in the use of dietary nutrients. Dust containing toxins, infections, etc. is especially dangerous. This can cause various diseases, and therefore disruption of digestion and other processes.

Stress that occurs as a result of exposure to negative microclimate parameters on the body is fraught not only with a decrease in metabolism, but also with an impact on the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

20. Sanitary and hygienic requirements for feed preparation equipment and the workshops where it is operated

Well-organized feed preparation is the key to efficient feed utilization. For this purpose, special premises for feed preparation are built on farms and complexes. These premises are equipped with special equipment capable of preparing feed for feeding. Such premises are equipped with equipment taking into account the feed that will be processed, as well as the type of feeding. In this case, there is a need to have devices and mechanisms both for transporting feed in the workshop and at distribution points.

The premises must meet all sanitary standards and rules for personnel serving this workshop.

The feed shop and area should not be cluttered with leftover feed and unnecessary machinery. Entry into the territory of the transport workshop must be carried out only through disinfection barriers. The workshop area is fenced and landscaped. Outsiders are not allowed there.

Areas for receiving food waste, sorting it, and feed must be hard-surfaced and equipped with a sewer system for water drainage. It is advisable to cover the walls in the feed preparation room with tiles up to a height of 2 m, which creates convenience when carrying out sanitary measures (washing, disinfection). Technological processes in a feed shop involve the use of hot steam and water, chemicals, and therefore it is advisable to exclude equipment with zinc and copper coating and paints that can cause toxicosis in animals.

Premises, equipment and containers used in the feed preparation process must be periodically washed with water and disinfected.

When distributing feed through pipelines by gravity or under pressure, a small amount of feed remains in it and can turn sour, which can adversely affect the health of animals during further distribution of feed. For this purpose, it is necessary to ensure that feed conveyors and pipelines are cleaned, washed and disinfected. Conduct a constant fight against rodents, insects, birds and stray pets.

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Animal watering hygiene.

Animals are watered in groups from common troughs, gutters, or individually from drinking bowls. From a hygienic point of view, it is advisable to give animals plenty of water, which is achieved by drinking from automatic drinkers. Transferring animals to automatic watering allows you to increase the milk yield of cows, the growth of young animals, and the shearing of wool from sheep under the same conditions.

For watering cattle when kept tethered, automatic drinkers of the PA-1A, AP-1A brands are used; for loose housing, in pastures and in camps, group drinking bowls API-4A, AGK-12, etc. are used. When organizing watering for animals, drinking bowls are installed in walking areas AGK-4 with a device for heating water in winter. Drinking bowls are regularly cleaned of food residues, washed and, if necessary, disinfected.

The desired water temperature for watering cows is 10 - 12°C. When consumed more than cold water the body spends a large amount of heat to warm it, and this causes additional consumption of feed. Often, drinking cold water leads to diseases of the digestive system.

Pigs are fed ad libitum from automatic drinkers, which are placed depending on the feeding location. Individual (valve and nipple type) and group drinking bowls are used. The latter are usually installed in summer camps. Regular and uninterrupted supply of water to suckling sows is especially important, as this has a great impact on their milk production, and, consequently, the growth, development and health of piglets.

Group automatic drinkers are used to water sheep in sheepfolds and bases. In winter, automatic drinking bowls with a device for heating water are used. If there is no running water, you can water the sheep 1-2 times a day from troughs installed near the wells. Their number must be sufficient to avoid crowding of animals, which can cause abortions.

Horses are watered at least 3 times a day before feeding them grain feed and after giving them hay. You cannot water horses that are hot after work, after giving concentrates. Their greedy consumption of water, especially cold water, leads to colic and rheumatic inflammation of the hooves. Horses can also be watered while working or riding, if after watering the work continues for about 30 minutes and the movement lasts for a distance of 4 - 5 km. It is permissible to water horses from automatic drinking bowls, but they must have a device for temporarily shutting off the water supply.

Calves and piglets are given water in the first two weeks of life boiled water temperature 15 - 16°C.

For watering chickens and turkeys kept on the floor, automatic group drinkers with a float regulator, as well as cup or mounted drinkers, are used.

When chickens are kept in cages, tap water flows through special gutters running along the front of each tier of cages. Young animals are fed from special ceramic or metal drinkers.

When watering ducks and geese, the drinkers are placed on a platform with an iron tray underneath, as they splash a large amount of water.

Properly organized watering in the summer on pastures and in camps is of great importance for protecting the health of animals and increasing their productivity. By the beginning of the grazing season, all watering places must be brought into proper sanitary order and equipped accordingly. Safe access is provided near open natural reservoirs; swampy places on the sloping banks of rivers, lakes and ponds are filled up and compacted, and gentle slopes are made on steep banks.

Feeding hygiene.

Among the environmental factors that determine the normal development and functioning of the animal body, feeding ranks high. Correct and rational, biologically complete feeding ensures the health of animals, their high productivity and reproductive ability, as well as the successful growth and development of young animals. Nutritious feeding plays an exceptional role in the prevention of various animal diseases, as well as in the successful treatment of sick animals. The good quality of feed is of great importance for obtaining complete food products.

Imbalance of diets in terms of nutrients and elements, as well as low or excessively abundant feeding levels are the main causes of metabolic disorders in animals.

The good quality of feed and its suitability for feeding are determined at the place of use by external signs (organoleptically). This assessment is the responsibility of zootechnicians and veterinarians. In some cases, the quality of feed is assessed in agrochemical and veterinary laboratories. In large livestock farms and poultry farms, special laboratories are created for these purposes.

Good quality hay- green in various shades. Hay from acidic marsh plants (sedge, etc.) is bright green. Hay that has been exposed to rain is less valuable; it is usually gray and yellowish-gray in color. Old hay that has lain for a long time, matte, grey-green color. Hay that was subjected to strong self-heating in haystacks and stacks is dark in color. Roughage is considered benign if it does not contain or has an insignificant admixture of poisonous plants (no more than 1% by weight).

Benign straw should have a color characteristic of the straw of the corresponding crop, and a special shine of the stems. Straw that was collected untimely and in the rain, without shine, its color is grayish or dark gray. Straw, hay and chaff of good quality have a unique, characteristic odor. When spoiled, these feeds acquire a burnt, musty, putrid, moldy or “mousy” smell.

Feed with excessive moisture is more likely to spoil and become unsuitable for feeding. Moldy fungi develop on wet food, some of which are quite poisonous. Hay with a moisture content of no more than 15% is considered dry - when rolled, it gives a peculiar crackling sound and seems tough. When rolled into a rope, raw hay (humidity 20 - 30%) releases moisture onto the surface of the stems. Straw with a moisture content of no higher than 14% is considered dry, and wet - 16 - 20%. The moisture content of the chaff should not exceed 16%.

Feeding feed with a large admixture of dust and mineral particles (sand, earth) causes diseases of the digestive organs, eyes, and clogged hair in animals. Hay and straw should not contain metal impurities (pieces of wire, nails, etc.), which, if they enter the stomach, can cause traumatic damage to the proventriculus and heart, often ending in fatal. To prevent these diseases, a special magnetic probe is periodically used.

The cause of feed injuries may be the consumption by animals of straw or chaff containing whole ears of barley, wheat, rye, and cocksfoot. The awns of the ears damage the oral mucosa and can penetrate into deeper tissues, causing stomatitis and other diseases of the oral cavity.

Benign, healthy forage has a color characteristic of each crop. Fresh, unstayed grain has a peculiar shine; its absence indicates a decrease in the quality of the grain, sogginess, and darkening of the ends of the grain indicates the development of microorganisms in them. Soaked grains of oats and barley acquire a grayish and brown tint. High-quality grain feed has a unique, normal odor. If, as a result of the activity of bacteria, decomposition has begun inside the grain, it acquires a musty and putrid odor that lingers for a long time.

The taste of the grain is determined by chewing. Fresh grain has a sweetish milky taste and sticks together in the mouth into a dough. Rotten and moldy things have an unpleasant, pungent, acrid and rotten taste; grain affected by the weevil has a bitter taste, while grain affected by the flour mite has a honey-sweet taste.

Grain with high humidity is quickly affected by molds and bacteria. The botulinus pathogen develops in heaps of such grain. If, when cutting grain in half, the halves bounce off, the grain is dry (humidity 15%). The wet grain is cut in half freely and the halves remain in place. Raw grain (20% moisture) flattens when cut. When biting with your teeth, dry grain easily crumbles, while wet grain squashes.

Benign grains should be full, round, with thin films (oats, barley).

Combined feeds are produced by factories with a guarantee of their quality, which is recorded in the accompanying document - a certificate. However, when transporting them in bulk, they can become contaminated with sand, fertilizers, metal particles, and if stored carelessly, they can deteriorate. Metal particles accumulate in the lower layers of the feed and are captured by a strong magnet. There should be no more than 50 g in 1 ton of grain feed.

The quality of cakes and meals is determined by external signs. Sunflower cake is dark gray in color, flaxseed cake is gray to light brown, cotton cake is light yellow or light brown. A change in the color of the cake indicates poor storage and spoilage. When cakes are stored in damp rooms, they acquire a musty or moldy odor and become unsuitable for use by animals.

The cakes should be fed carefully. Thus, cottonseed cake may contain an increased amount of gossypol, which causes poisoning and even death of animals. Poisoning is more often observed in young animals, and abortions may occur in pregnant mothers. Therefore, animals should be gradually accustomed to cotton meal and fed it along with silage, beets and other feeds. The toxic properties of gossypol disappear when the cake is heated to 100°C for an hour, or when it is boiled or steamed. Calves, piglets, lambs, as well as pregnant and nursing mothers should not be given cotton meal.

When flaxseed cake is wetted with warm water, hydrocyanic acid can form in it. Poisoning with such cake causes digestive disorders (colic, diarrhea), trembling, unsteady gait, anxiety, and muscle cramps. Flaxseed cake is rendered harmless by heating or boiling and then fed chilled. Can also be fed in dry, crushed form.

Root tuber crops should not have any damage (rot, mold). Before feeding, they are washed and crushed in a root cutting machine. Sprouted and frozen potatoes are used as food only in boiled form, and the water in which they were cooked must be drained. This is due to the fact that the sprouts and peel, especially green ones, contain a toxic substance - solanine. Solanine poisoning causes digestive disorders, breathing problems, unsteadiness of gait, depression, and paralysis.

Feeding unchopped root crops can lead to esophageal blockage. There may be cases of animal poisoning from beets cooked long before feeding, therefore boiled beets should be fed immediately after it cools down.

The good quality of ensiled feed is ensured by compliance with the requirements when laying it (high-quality silo structures, chopping of green mass, quick filling of the container, sufficient compaction, dense cover). Under such conditions, normal processes of lactic acid formation occur in the silage mass, which preserves measles. The quality of silage is determined by color and smell. Good silage has a fruity (pickled apples) smell, which quickly disappears when you rub the sample in your hands, and a yellowish-green (olive) color.

Silage is fed immediately after it is removed from the silo. Frozen silage is given only after thawing, and it is better not to feed such silage to young animals and pregnant animals.

The requirements for haylage boil down to the fact that it must be green or light brown, have an aromatic fruity smell, be free-flowing, completely preserve the structure of the original raw material, and have a moisture content of 50 - 55%. Such haylage can be obtained only with strict adherence to the technology of its preparation. As in silage, rotten, moldy haylage should not be fed.

Residues from technical production (pulp, brewer's grain, stillage, licorice sprouts, potato pulp) should be fed raw to animals, especially pregnant and young animals, with caution. Beet pulp is used fresh and sour. Benign fresh pulp is light gray in color, has a fresh odor, does not contain butyric acid, and the total amount of acids does not exceed 0.2%. Sour pulp has a peculiar dirty gray color, spreadable consistency, with the smell of butyric acid (it should be no more than 0.5% with a total amount of acids of 1 - 2%). Fresh stillage is light brown in color, with a bready smell. Of the organic acids, lactic acid accounts for 80%, acetic acid - 20%.

Feeding large quantities of stillage to cattle causes bard mucus, diarrhea, and abortion is possible in pregnant women. Therefore, it is not recommended to give pregnant and nursing mothers potato stillage, and to feed calves a lot of fresh or ensiled pulp. Licorice sprouts and brewer's grains provide a good breeding ground for the development of mold, which in turn can lead to various animal diseases (gastric catarrh, inflammation of the kidneys and bladder, etc.).

When fattening pigs, food waste from canteens, restaurants and other food enterprises is often used. Food waste entering households is boiled in closed boilers for at least 1 hour at a temperature of about 120°C. Without such heat treatment, the use of food waste is strictly prohibited, since it can serve as a carrier of pathogens for a number of diseases. You can store canned wet food waste in the summer for no more than 8 - 10 hours from the moment of collection; and in autumn and winter at an outside temperature of no higher than 6 - 7 ° C for no more than 30 hours.

Meat and bone meal must be a homogeneous mass with a particle size of no more than 3 mm, without putrefactive, musty, moldy or rancid odor, as well as without foreign impurities (sand, glass, etc.). Meat and bone meal is packaged in strong, dry containers (usually in craft bags). Store it in a cool, dry place for no more than 3 - 5 months.

After an overnight break, it is better to feed a small amount of bulky feed first in the morning. Mealy feeds are fed together with bulky and juicy feeds. On large farms

It is preferable to prepare feed mixtures in special feed mixers; they are more readily eaten by animals;

Do not give animals too bulky feeds, as in these cases their digestibility and digestibility deteriorate. A lack of roughage is also undesirable for ruminants, which leads to disruption of the digestive processes in the rumen and, ultimately, to disruption of the entire process of digestion and metabolism;

Do not feed frozen or uncooled boiled or steamed food. The temperature of the fed feed should be close to the air temperature of the animal room;

Transfer animals from one feed to another gradually, for example, from a winter diet to a pasture diet over 10 - 15 days,

When grazing, a significant role is played by the correct choice of pastures, adherence to grazing techniques, proper arrangement of watering places, resting places, etc. To prevent tympania (swelling of the rumen), it is recommended to drive the cattle out in the morning to poorer pastures, and later transfer them to areas with better grass stand . In early spring, before grazing on young, lush grass, animals are fed with hay. You can't give water to animals after generous intake young grass.

Feed and feeding have a significant impact on animal health, productivity and product quality. Through nutrition, the body absorbs substances from the external environment. Feeding animals must be complete and rational.

Diets must fully satisfy the animals’ needs not only for energy, but also for the required quantity and proper ratio of various nutrients - complete protein, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, trace elements and vitamins.

Nutrient energy. Those entering the animal’s body with the diet are divided into energy necessary to maintain life, and energy that is the raw material for production. The level of health, natural and acquired resistance of animals to diseases, productivity and reproductive abilities of animals depend on proper feeding.

The main principles of such feeding:

• providing the body with the necessary volume and energy of feed;
• maintaining a sufficient level of all nutrients used to obtain high productivity and regulate the physiological functions of the body;
• good taste, promoting the secretion of digestive juices;
• correctly chosen feeding technique;
• digestibility of feed nutrients;
• safety and harmlessness of feed, i.e. absence of pathogenic microflora, harmful and toxic substances, etc.

If these principles of feeding are violated, diseases may occur in animals, which are called feed or nutritional. These diseases can be caused by pathogens in the form of biotes (living) and abiotics (non-living).

Biotic pathogens include:

• pathogens of bacterial infections (paratyphoid fever, anthrax, tetanus);
• viral infections (viral hepatitis, foot and mouth disease, etc.);
• mycoses (aspergillosis, ringworm, fusarium);
• causative agents of invasive diseases (fascioliasis, dicticaulosis, etc.).

Abiotic in origin can be:

• physical (feed temperature, radiation pollution, etc.);
• chemical (lack or imbalance of organic, mineral, vitamin substances, the presence of harmful and toxic substances);
• organizational order (violation of feeding regime and rules).

Dietary feeding.

Dietary feeding is used in the treatment and prevention of various diseases. In this case, they are guided by the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease and the condition of the animal, taking into account the species, breed, age, sex and productivity. Therapeutic diets, by their nature, are divided into gentle, irritating, carbohydrate, protein, pasture, concentrate-free, and incomplete.

Gentle diets are used to minimize irritation of the affected organs (postoperative, with increased excitability of the glands of the stomach and intestines).

Annoying diets are prescribed for decreased function of the gastric glands, atony of the gastrointestinal tract and alkaline catarrh of the intestines.

Carbohydrates rations are used in cases of severe condition of the body, refusal to take food (pneumonia, poisoning, intoxication, ketosis).

Pasture The diets are intended for animals suffering from chronic diseases of the lungs, gastrointestinal tract, liver, and kidneys.

Concentrate-free diets are prescribed to animals who have suffered from gastritis and gastroenteritis, which promotes the motor-secretory function of the stomach and intestines.

There are hungry, half-starved, gentle and irritating dietary regimes.

Hungry The regime includes the mandatory provision of drinking water. It is used for acute diseases and cleansing of the gastrointestinal tract. For adult animals, the fasting period is 1-2 days, for young animals - no more than 0.5 days. (12 hours).

Half-starved The regimen is prescribed for 2-3 days when transitioning from fasting to normal dietary feeding. It is recommended for acute and subacute diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, diseases of the liver, kidneys, cardiovascular system, etc.

A gentle regimen is used when creating a special diet, depending on which system or organ has a dysfunction.

Annoying or a stimulating regimen is intended to improve the activity of depressed organs.

In the prevention of diseases and treatment of animals great importance has feeding of specially prepared dietary feeds.

The general principles of dietary feeding of animals are based on the basics of physiology and feeding hygiene.

The diet should include: good-quality food with good taste, which stimulates the animals’ appetite. The most high-calorie and nutritious foods are selected from the available feeds. Dietary feeding must correspond to the species, age and physiological characteristics of the animals. In each individual case, when prescribing a diet, the feeding regime, norms, time of giving food and water are established and they are strictly observed.

Sick animals are transferred from therapeutic diet to a normal diet gradually and no earlier than 7-10 days after the disappearance of clinical signs of the disease. In this case, it is necessary to establish the causes of the disease and take measures to eliminate them.

Feed injuries.

Animal feed may contain sharp metal objects (nails, needles, pieces of wire), sharp particles of glass, plastics, etc., cereal awns, soil, sand, pebbles, silt, plant fibers, wool, etc. Most often, foreign bodies enter the gastrointestinal tract with food. In this case, the mesh, diaphragm, pericardium, book, etc. are injured.

Cereal spines not only injure the oral cavity, but also penetrate to a considerable depth and cause purulent fistulas. The danger also lies in the fact that the causative agent of actinomycosis penetrates into the tissue along with a foreign body, which complicates the course of the disease and requires more complex treatment.

When feed is contaminated with soil, sand, silt, etc., cattle may experience atony of the proventriculus, obstruction of the book, which is accompanied by loss of appetite, rumination disorder, and a sharp decrease in milk yield. The death of the animal often occurs. And only in birds with a lack of gravel in the muscular part of the stomach is a sharp disruption of digestive activity possible.

The degree of grinding of the feed affects the initial digestion process. When prickly particles or sharp foreign bodies get into the feed, animals develop stomatitis. Root vegetables must be washed, chopped before feeding and used for one dacha.

Cold food must be warmed up before feeding, because... when frozen or cold, they can cause abortions in adults, and diarrhea, dyspepsia, etc. in young animals.

Feeding hot feed to animals (over 50 0 C) is also unacceptable, because possible stomatitis, inflammation of the esophagus and stomach.

To prevent damage to the gastrointestinal tract foreign objects The following rules must be observed:

• do not scatter metal waste in feed storage areas, on pastures and on livestock farms;
• You cannot graze or feed animals on construction sites;
• bales of hay and straw tied with wire should not be cut with an ax;
• Shake contaminated hay and straw thoroughly, and conc. sift the feed through a sieve and then pass it through an electromagnetic installation;
• Check succulent and grain feeds to ensure that foreign objects do not get into them.

Mineral and synthetic poisons.

In agriculture, simple and complex chemicals - pesticides - are used. According to their action and purpose they are divided into groups:

• insecticides - to kill harmful insects;
• acaricides - to kill ticks and other pests;
• herbicides - to destroy weeds and some types of vegetation;
• defoliants – for pre-harvest removal of leaves from industrial crops;
• desiccant – for pre-harvest drying of plants;
• arboricides - for the destruction of bushes and trees;
• fungicides - to combat microscopic fungi;
• disinfectants - for pre-sowing treatment of seeds and some root crops;
• rodenticides - for rodent control;
• bactericides – for the prevention of bacterial diseases of plants and animals;
• molluscicides - for the destruction of slugs and mollusks as carriers of helminthic diseases;
• algaecides - to destroy algae and aquatic plants;
• repellents - to repel insects;
• retardants – plant growth regulators;
• ichthyocides - to destroy predatory and low-value fish.

Ways of poisons getting into feed. Pesticides can be found in water, soil, air, and plants. Pesticides enter the body of animals through contact, aerogenous and nutritional routes (the latter is the most common).

Barn pests.

Barn pests (beetles, butterflies and arachnids) destroy food supplies, incl. nutrients, turning them into dangerous products, and sometimes even poisonous. When excreting excrement, such pests contribute to the development, growth and reproduction of various microorganisms.

Barn weevil. This insect secretes a toxic substance - contharidin. When the pest gets into the stomach and intestines of animals along with food, severe disorders occur. All beetles have durable chitinous wing wings, so they can severely injure the lining of the gastrointestinal tract, as a result of which it quickly becomes infected, which leads to the development of various pathologies.

Ticks. Flour affected by mites acquires a bitter taste and an unpleasant odor. Ticks are also dangerous because their excrement always contains certain types of bacteria and bacilli.

Infestation with mites is associated with increased moisture in mixed feed and other concentrated feeds, which leads to the growth of bacteria and a decrease in the quality of feed.

Butterfly. The following butterflies harm grain and commercial feed: grain cutworm, flour moth, grain moth, etc. In the process of their development, they destroy the nutrients of the feed.

Rodents. Mice and rats destroy food supplies in warehouses, storage facilities, feeding troughs, and spread infectious diseases dangerous to humans and animals (plague, paratyphoid, jaundice, typhus, rabies, etc.). Rat bites are also dangerous for piglets and chickens.

Contamination of feed with bacteria and microflora (fungi).

Plants are affected by bacteria. Fungi, yeasts, actinomycetes, etc. All soil bacteria have little effect on stored grain, but with their intensive development, its quality decreases and its nutritional value is lost.

The grain contains lactic acid bacteria, cocci, micrococci, as well as pathogens of various infectious diseases: tularemia, anthrax, brucellosis, tuberculosis, salmonellosis, foot-and-mouth disease, etc.

Causative agents of soil infections (anthrax, tetanus, malignant edema, etc.) can also get into silage and haylage along with the soil. When animals are given such feed, outbreaks of severe infectious diseases are possible.

The species and quality composition of the microflora of feed depends on specific soil and climatic conditions, agrotechnical practices, methods of harvesting, preparation, storage of feed, etc.

There are field mushrooms and storage molds. Field fungi (Altemaria, Fusarium, etc.) are able to penetrate or develop on grain, even during the growing season of plants. They are demanding on humidity (20-25%).

Storage molds (Aspergillius and Penicilium) are found in the soil and are only occasionally present on vegetative plants. These fungi can develop at lower humidity (13-18%) than the moisture content of the grain during storage.

The influence of mushrooms on feed quality. Microorganisms and, first of all, fungi, with their intensive development, reduce the quality of feed and its nutritional value. Under the influence of mushrooms, fats are oxidized, then carbohydrates and proteins. Various decomposition products accumulate in the feed, and its smell and taste change dramatically.

As a result of the vital activity of microscopic fungi, the parameters of fresh food change (color, smell), processes such as molding, caking, self-heating, accumulation of mycotoxins develop in it, reducing the sanitary quality or making the food unsuitable for feeding to animals.

Mycotoxins (Greek: mushroom and poison) are secondary metabolites of microscopic fungi (molds) that have pronounced toxic properties. About 250 species of various microscopic fungi are known that induce more than 100 toxic metabolites.

Mycotoxicoses, as a rule, do not have pronounced clinical signs, which makes their diagnosis difficult. It is based on detection in feed and much less often in biological fluids and tissues of relevant mycotoxins.

Treatment of animals with mycotoxicosis. Specific therapy has not been developed. Eliminate poor-quality food from the diet and cleanse the gastrointestinal tract of toxic substances ingested with food using laxatives, milk, whey and other enveloping substances. General strengthening agents (glucose) and cardiac tonics are prescribed.

Then a course of diet therapy is carried out: 4-5 times a day, the animals are given small portions of well-moistened hay, as well as hay meal and root vegetables. Wheat bran is introduced into the diet until the diarrhea stops. With this feeding, mucous decoctions of flax seed, marshmallow root, etc. are drunk 2-3 times a day. After stable normalization of the functions of the gastrointestinal tract, they gradually switch to a normal feed ration.

Prevention of mycotoxicosis.

The following activities are carried out:

1. avoiding feeding animals feed contaminated with mycotoxins in concentrations that can cause disease or negatively affect their productivity and health.
2. creating conditions that prevent the development of toxigenic fungi and the formation of mycotoxins by them both during the preparation of feed and during its storage.

To prevent the development of toxic fungi on feed and the formation of mycotoxins by them, the feed is cleaned of dust and lumps of soil during its preparation; dried to a moisture level at which mushrooms do not develop; ventilate the deep layers of the feed mass, especially in the first 2-3 months after harvesting and storing feed, and control their temperature in order to prevent the development of pockets of self-heating.

Hygiene of feed contaminated with various bacteria.

Plants are constantly inhabited by bacteria, fungi, yeasts, actinomycetes, etc. In freshly harvested, benign grain, predominantly coccal, rod-shaped forms of bacteria are found. Among non-spore-forming bacteria, representatives of the genus Pseudomonas herbicola are more common. On freshly harvested benign grain, these bacteria make up 92-95% of the total bacterial flora. During grain storage, Pseudomonas herbicola is gradually replaced by fungi and cocci.

A small amount of bacilli (Bac. Mesentericus, Bac. Subtilis, Bac. Mycoides and Bac. Proteus) can also be found in freshly harvested grain. In grain contaminated with soil and also subjected to self-heating, their number increases.

All soil bacteria (Bac. Mesentericus, Bac. Subtilis, etc.) do not have a noticeable effect on stored grain, however, with their intensive development, its quality decreases and it may lose its feed value.

In grain you can find lactic acid bacteria, cocci, micrococci, as well as pathogens of various infectious diseases: tularemia, anthrax, brucellosis, tuberculosis, salmonellosis, foot-and-mouth disease, etc. Such feed can cause infection in animals.

Compound feeds can contain both saprophytes and pathogenic species of aerobes and anaerobes. Therefore, very often compound feed plays a significant role in the spread of pathogens of various animal diseases, especially the group of paratyphoid diseases.

Salmonella is most often found in protein feeds: meat and bone, bone, fish, meat flour, meals, and cakes. When feed containing protein additives are stored in conditions of high temperature and humidity, salmonella multiply quite quickly. If such food is fed to animals, they may become ill or become hidden carriers of infection.

Contamination of mixed feed with pathogenic microorganisms, especially salmonella, occurs as a result of the use of contaminated components (raw materials) for its preparation.

If animal carcasses are not properly cleaned, stored, transported and disposed of, they can become a factor in the spread of most pathogens of infectious diseases. Of particular danger are the corpses of animals that have died from diseases, the pathogens of which persist for a long time in the external environment (anthrax, enphysematous carbuncle, brads of sheep, erysipelas of pigs). Burying such corpses in the ground for a long time makes it dangerous to use pastures, and therefore the feed obtained from them, located both near cattle burial grounds and at a considerable distance. Transmission factors for some pathogens (Aujeszky's disease, leptospirosis, listeriosis, tularemia) can be the corpses of rodents ingested in food.

Pathogens of soil infections (anthrax, emphysematous carbuncle, tetanus, malignant edema, bradsitis, infectious enterotoxemia) can also get into feed, especially silage and haylage, along with soil.

When animals are given such feed, outbreaks of severe infectious diseases are possible.

Rules for feeding farm animals.

Feeding regimen and level. The feeding regimen of animals should be carried out according to a fixed daily schedule. Violation of this regime causes anxiety in them, decreases milk yield in cows, and reduces growth in young animals. In addition, uneven feeding over time causes unnecessary stress on the stomach. Hungry animals more often eat random and harmful impurities and foreign objects. On the contrary, when feed is given frequently over a short period of time, animals are less willing to eat the food and carefully sort through it.

Uneven distribution of feed should not be allowed, leading to the same consequences as their uneven distribution over time. The feeding regimen and level of feeding depend on the type of animal, breed, age, production orientation, and physiological state. adult animals are usually fed 2-3 times a day. Young animals (depending on the species) from 3-4 times to 20 or more.

Feeding and watering of working animals (including horses) should be done taking into account both the upcoming and previous work.

It is known that using horses at work immediately after feeding, especially grain feed, can lead to colic.

Feeding should alternate with drinking. Drinking before feeding, as well as during it, promotes better softening of feed, uniform saturation with gastric juice, good digestibility and increased appetite. It should be remembered that if animals are accustomed to a certain feeding and watering regime, then it cannot be violated.

The transition to new feeding regimes and new diets should be carried out gradually, reducing the supply of old feeds and including new ones in small doses. Typically this process takes 7-10 days. It is especially necessary to be careful when changing feed for pregnant and suckling animals. A significant danger also arises when feeding piglets and lambs during the period of weaning, and in calves at the end of the dairy period when switching to plant feed.

If the animal's diet consists of several feeds, then they are distributed in a certain order, taking into account the characteristics of feed digestion.

Rough feed is often distributed before succulent feed. It is better to give straw at night, and hay in the morning. Cows are given concentrates during milking, and silage, haylage and hay after milking.

Horses are first given roughage, then succulent feed and finally concentrates. After eating roughage, the horse can be given water. And after watering, grain feed (oats) is fed after 30-45 minutes, and barley, etc. - after 1-1.5 hours.

You cannot feed animals from the floor. This contributes to their infection with helminths and various microorganisms.

Dosed feeding is acceptable for tethered and loose animals, but it is better that the animals are restrained during feeding, which does not allow aggressive animals to drive weak ones away from feeders. With unlimited feeding time, the cow spends 5-6 hours a day eating feed. By limiting the duration of feeding, food consumption accelerates.

One of the most important conditions for proper feeding of animals is compliance with all microclimate parameters and housing technology that affect the physiological state and productivity. The temperature of the given feed should be close to the air temperature in the room. You cannot feed frozen or insufficiently thawed food, as well as boiled and steamed food that has not cooled down. During the feeding process and for some time after it, there should be no noise or gas pollution in the premises.

Sanitary and hygienic requirements for feed mills, equipment and inventory.

Feed preparation workshops are located in separate buildings or extensions to livestock buildings and are equipped with machines and mechanisms for preparing feed for feeding, as well as conveyors for moving them inside the workshop and mechanisms that deliver ready-made mixtures to the place of feeding.

The feed shop must have ventilation, sewerage, good lighting, a bathroom, a locker room, cold and hot water, gowns (or overalls), aprons, mittens and special equipment. footwear for staff.

In the feed shop, sanitation is periodically carried out against rodents and insects (in the summer).

Waste and feed residues are systematically removed. The territory of the feed shop is fenced and landscaped. Vehicles with feed are passed through a disinfection barrier, and after unloading, the body is thoroughly washed with water or a mild disinfectant. solution.

It is prohibited for unauthorized people to enter the feed workshop area.

The floors in all production areas are made durable, non-toxic, and waterproof. To ensure the drainage of liquids, the slope of the floor to the drains should be 2%.

To carry out disinfection and periodic cleaning, the internal walls of production premises are tiled or painted with oil paint to a height of at least 1.8 m.

Technological lines. Those associated with hot feed production, fermentation processes and chemical feed processing must not contain zinc, copper or painted surfaces.

Premises and containers for feed should be kept clean. To distribute feed, conveyors, pneumatic installations, feed lines, feed dispensers, electric vehicles, etc. are used.

After watering the calves, the buckets are rinsed with warm water, then washed with a warm 0.5% solution of detergents and rinsed for 1 minute with a stream hot water(65 0 C).

Nipple drinkers are boiled in a 1% soda solution.

Hay towers, silo trenches, and storage areas are disinfected each time before they are filled with a 2% solution of formaldehyde and chloramine.

Areas for temporary storage of green mass are also disinfected.

Metal bins and feed mixing rooms are washed at least once a month. To do this, use a 0.5% solution of chloramine or a hot solution of desmol of the same concentration. Feeders are washed daily with water and disinfected at scheduled times.

Zoohygienic requirements for pastures.

Summer is a period of hardening and healing of animals, which are influenced by positive environmental factors: air rich in aerons; insolation; changes (within acceptable limits) in temperature, humidity, air speed; fresh, complete green food. In the presence of dampness, harmful gases, lack of solar radiation, physical inactivity, malnutrition and other factors characteristic of stall housing, metabolism, appetite, functions of the cardiovascular system, respiration, etc. decrease and deteriorate, and the body’s natural stability and digestibility decrease feed, barrenness, acidosis, osteodystrophy, pneumonia in young animals and other diseases occur.

Each (especially remote) pasture in early spring should be inspected by specialists and cleared of corpses and bones of wild animals, piles of brushwood, stones, manure, rotting plants, residues of mineral fertilizers, etc.

When pastures are significantly removed from farms, young animals and reproductive herds are driven to special areas (in sheep and horse breeding). The number and design of sheds depend on the size and characteristics of the livestock being housed. Therefore, pastures should be prepared in advance.

A prerequisite for the successful use of pastures is the correct organization of the movement or transportation of animals from the farm to distant pastures.

If mountain pastures are used as transhumance, then preliminary (before climbing a mountain above 3 km) adaptation of animals to lower pastures is necessary. Only experienced shepherds should graze herds and flocks on distant pastures.

Pastures are distinguished by the nature of the soil, terrain, grass stand and its botanical composition, and distance from farms. In this regard, they are unequally suitable for animals of different species and groups.

For cattle, it is better to allocate areas with high grass, in which cereals and legumes predominate. It is very effective to graze livestock on artificial perennial, flood, steppe and even mountain and partially forest pastures. Wet or swampy areas with sour grasses, sedges and horsetails are undesirable. They are poor in microelements. Therefore, when grazing on them, animals can develop osteodystrophy, acobaltosis, and other forest and shrub areas with plants growing on them that contain few nutrients and are suitable for dairy cows. There are many stinging insects, midges and ticks here. Particular care should be taken when grazing on leguminous grasses and during frosts, since animals often experience digestive disorders, abortions, colds etc.

Sheep and goats require mountain and steppe pastures with dense low grass, in which forbs predominate. In forests, only large, well-lit clearings are suitable for sheep, and swampy low-lying meadows are unsuitable (hoof lesions and infections with fasciolosis and dicticauliasis are recorded), and feather grass steppe pastures during earing and ripening of feather grass seeds (in the first half of June). When ripe seeds fall on the fur, they injure the skin. Penetrates into the subcutaneous tissue and internal organs, often causing the death of animals. It is undesirable to use areas overgrown with coarse, thorny plants that clog the wool. On cultivated pastures, where there are no weeds, sheep's wool is several times cleaner than when grazing on natural pastures.

Areas with low and moist soils are suitable for pigs. Forest and park, especially in oak and birch groves. However, it is better for pigs (especially sows with piglets and replacement young animals) to graze on artificial cultivated pastures with young clover. Alfalfa, Jerusalem artichoke.

Dry, elevated pastures with dense soil and dense but low grass stand are most suitable for horses. Low-lying, swampy, damp areas are completely unsuitable for them (the hoof horn deteriorates).

The best areas of grass and those closest to the farm or camp are reserved for young animals early age, deep-pregnant and highly productive cows, pregnant and suckling sows, pregnant and suckling ewes, suckling mares with foals.

The farm should strictly plan and prepare animals for grazing. Cattle are broken up into the following groups: cows, heifers and heifers over one year old; feeding cattle; calves aged 6-12 months (bulls and heifers separately); calves 2-6 months

On large sheep farms, several flocks of sheep are organized: a broodstock with lambs for beating; lambs after beating; feeding sheep; Valukhov.

Horses are grazed in herds. After weaning, foals are collected in a separate herd.

Edge sizes. Flocks and herds are established depending on the nature of the pastures, grass stand and water availability. When grazing in the forest, the herds should be smaller than on open natural or cultivated pastures. When using them, one herd should have 100-150 cows or 150-250 heads of young cattle.

After the event to prepare animals for grazing, each herd, herd, flock or herd is handed over to a shepherd, operator or shepherd according to the list.

Camp equipment.

The site for the camp or tirlo is chosen in the center of the site (pasture) with a radius of about 3 km. The soil must be hard and permeable. The place is flat, slightly elevated, with a slope to the south, southwest or southeast. The site is located away from swamps, swampy lowlands, roadways, but close to field hayfields, sources of water supply and drinking water. It should be convenient for fitting and transporting feed.

The complex of camp facilities for cattle must provide:

• light pens (bases);
• sheds for milking and feeding, equipped with feeders and a mobile milking unit, as well as a water supply system;
• artificial insemination station for cows;
• milk drainage station with a milk cooling unit and a zootechnical laboratory;
• inventory room with facilities for washing and disinfecting utensils and equipment;
• premises for workers and specialists.

In areas with frequent precipitation and low air temperatures, sheds, especially for keeping pregnant dry cows, laying animals and newborn calves, are closed on one or three sides. For this purpose, use special shields or light sliding walls. If the camp is used constantly, then floors, passages, watering stations and a sewer system are equipped. Cages for calves (individual and group) are installed in sections of the dispensary.

When kept in stalls and camps, the stalls are equipped with an automatic harness. If cows are milked in portable buckets, they should be placed in such a way that a single passage is formed in the center of the shed. Feed is distributed into feeders installed along the longitudinal edges of the canopy. In the northern regions, to protect against cold winds, canopies are U-shaped.

When using natural water sources (rivers, lakes, ponds, wells, etc.) for animals, the following measures are required: sanitary inspection and hygienic analysis of water; checking the flow rate (volume) of water taking into account the need, and, if necessary, purifying the water; strengthening the banks, repairing wells and water-lifting structures; fencing open bodies of water in watering places (especially when watering animals from open bodies of water - deep rivers and lakes); preparation of milking areas, arrangement of watering troughs, taking into account the number of animals, their height, etc.; organizing a strict order of watering for groups of animals; maintaining the cleanliness of troughs, watering places and on the approaches to them.

The runs to the pasture and watering place should be free, 14-25 m wide, and located away from roads.

Proper and rational feeding ensures the health of animals, their high productivity and reproductive ability, as well as the successful growth and development of young animals.

Adequate feeding with good-quality food plays an extremely important role in the prevention of various animal diseases, as well as in the successful treatment of sick animals.

Animal diseases directly or indirectly related to feeding can be roughly divided into the following groups:

1) diseases caused by the ingestion of various pathogens into the body with food;

2) diseases resulting from feeding poor quality feed;

3) diseases caused by inadequate feed and irrational composition of feed rations;

4) diseases, the appearance of which is facilitated by violations of the order and feeding technique.

Prevention of diseases caused by pathogens entering the body with feed

Infectious diseases such as anthrax, emphysematous carbuncle, tuberculosis, paratuberculosis, brucellosis, foot and mouth disease, glanders, myt, infectious anemia of horses, paratyphoid abortion of mares, plague and erysipelas, paratyphoid fever and some others can be transmitted through feed.

In addition, feed plants, if improperly harvested or stored in unsanitary conditions, can be sources of the spread of helminthic diseases.

Various microorganisms not only persist in feed, but can also multiply and even produce toxic substances (toxins) in them (for example, botulinus bacilli in silage, in wet grain, in compacted roughage).

To prevent feed from becoming contaminated with pathogens of various diseases, it is necessary:

1) quickly isolate and carefully isolate sick animals; 2) protect hayfields from animals entering them; 3) do not allow animals to go to feed storage areas; 4) maintain cleanliness and order in feed storage areas; 5) do not transport feed on the same carts as manure, leather, wool, bones; 6) regularly clean and wash the feeders.

Milk and its products obtained from cows suffering from tuberculosis, brucellosis, leptospirosis and mastitis can be fed to animals (young animals, pigs) only after appropriate treatment - pasteurization (heating to 65-80° for 30 minutes, followed by rapid cooling).

Prevention of diseases associated with inadequate feeding

The correct feeding regimen helps to increase the resistance of the animal’s body to various infectious and invasive diseases and prevents metabolic disorders.

In the prevention of diseases, in addition to the completeness of diets and uninterrupted feeding, it is also particularly important to satisfy the full needs of animals for digestible protein, minerals and vitamins.

A lack of protein in animal diets (if they are incorrectly formulated or lack the required amount of hay, especially legumes, and concentrated feed) leads to metabolic disorders, exhaustion, tissue degeneration and, in severe cases, decreased resistance to disease and even death.

If the diet contains an excessive amount of concentrated feed, then this can also be the cause of a profound metabolic disorder; In addition, acetonemia is noted in dairy cows, and ketonuria in sheep; resistance to infectious diseases decreases in animals, the function of the reproductive apparatus is impaired, and barrenness occurs.

Prevention of protein metabolism disorders should be based on proper balancing of feed rations for all animals with the inclusion of digestible protein or protein in accordance with established zootechnical standards.

It is very important to take into account a certain ratio of easily digestible sugars and protein in ruminant diets.

The optimal ratio is considered to be when there are 0.8-1.5 g of sugars per 1 g of digestible protein.

Sugar in the body has a great influence on health, productivity and quality of milk, the use of carotene, mineral salts and protein in the diet. It is especially important to monitor the sugar-protein ratio in the diets of cows with silage or concentrate types of feeding, as well as during the transition from stall housing to pasture.

Quite often, animal diseases occur due to a lack of certain minerals in the diet (and sometimes an excess). The largest number of cases of such diseases is associated with metabolic disorders of calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, magnesium, iron, sulfur, chlorine, as well as some trace elements (iodine, cobalt, zinc, etc.). The course of normal metabolism is also influenced by the ratio of individual elements or their groups in the diet (the ratio of calcium to phosphorus, sodium to potassium, alkaline-reacting elements - cations K, Ca, Mg. Na to acid-reacting anions - P, S and C1).

If the diet contains insufficient phosphorus, calcium, vitamin D, as well as if the animal experiences light starvation, the functions of the nervous system, cardiac activity, absorption of fats and carbohydrates in the intestines are disrupted, bone tissue diseases appear, and blood clotting worsens. In young animals, rickets and tetany are noted, and in adults, osteomalacia, lichen, dysfunction of the genital organs, decreased milk production, and a drop in live weight. Prevention of these diseases is carried out by correct preparation of diets. Calcium and phosphorus are introduced into the diet in the form of mineral supplements (finely ground chalk, bone meal, tricalcium phosphate, dicalcium phosphate, sodium phosphate, ammonium phosphate, travertine, sapropel, shell meal, etc.).

A lack of sodium and chlorine in diets leads to disturbances in osmotic processes in the body, decreased appetite, live weight, milk production, loss of strength, and depression of the nervous system. Since plant foods are always rich in potassium, but poor in sodium, all herbivorous animals must add table salt to their diets in quantities established by zootechnical standards.

Cattle, sheep and horses are given table salt in the form of licks or specially prepared briquettes in feeders for free consumption.

Iron in the body of animals is involved in the synthesis of the hemoglobin molecule, some enzymes and in oxidative processes. Regular animal diets contain sufficient amounts of iron for the body. Its deficiency is experienced only by young, growing animals during the period of milk feeding, especially piglets aged 5 to 25 days. With rapid growth of piglets, about 7 mg of iron is required daily for the formation of hemoglobin in red blood cells. They only get about 1 mg of it in the sow's milk and almost as much comes from destroyed red blood cells. Thus, the piglet lacks approximately 5 mg of iron per day for normal hematopoiesis during this period. In this regard, he develops iron deficiency (nutritional) anemia.

To prevent anemia, piglets are given iron glycerophosphate, which is added to granulated feed, which is readily eaten by piglets. In addition, in recent years, intramuscular injections of liquid iron dextran preparations (ferroglucin, ferrodex, imposil, impferon, ferrodextran, myofer, armidextran) into 2-3-day-old piglets have been used based on the content of 150-200 mg of iron in the administered volume of the preparation. For information on the importance and action of some microelements, see the chapter “Chemical properties of soil”.

Vitamin deficiencies (complete lack of vitamins in the diet) are practically absent in farm animals. However, hypovitaminosis (hypo-low) often occurs, especially when kept in stalls. Hypovitaminosis can be primary, caused by a lack of vitamins in the diet, and secondary, which occurs when their absorption and transformation in the intestines and liver is impaired during diseases, with increased consumption (for example, during fever).

Lack of vitamins leads to the manifestation of a slowly developing painful condition; This is observed more often in young and highly productive animals with improperly formulated diets (overload of carbohydrates, excess proteins, etc.) and under unsatisfactory living conditions (dark, damp and cold rooms, etc.).

Hypovitaminosis occurs when the body receives insufficient vitamins A, D, C and, less commonly, B vitamins.

Vitamin A(retinol) is produced in the body from carotene, which is found in large quantities in green plants. With hypovitaminosis A in animals, vision is impaired in low light, the disease hemeralopia (night blindness) appears, inflammation and softening of the cornea, degeneration of epithelial cells, lacrimation, mucus discharge from the nose, cough, diarrhea, swelling of the joints, decreased resistance to infectious diseases, especially in young animals

In pregnant females, with a long-term lack of carotene in the diet, abortions, the birth of a dead or weakened (hypotrophic) offspring are observed, and in breeding males, a deterioration in the quality of the semen is observed.

In animals, carotene deficiency affects the formation of hoof horns, and in cows and bulls - horns. In this condition, the horn becomes brittle, dry, loses its glaze, and cracks and ring-shaped depressions appear on it. Milk, butter, eggs, if animals are poorly supplied with carotene, are poor in vitamin A and become biologically inferior as food products for the population and especially children.

To prevent hypovitaminosis A, it is of particular importance to feed animals abundantly in the summer with green feed, the carotene of which covers the current needs of the body. In horses and cattle. It accumulates in reserve in fatty deposits and blood serum, as well as in the form of vitamin A in the blood and liver. In sheep and pigs, the summer intake of carotene contributes to the accumulation of vitamin A reserves only.

During the stall period, for sufficient intake of carotene in the diet, it is necessary to include grass meal, haylage, hay (especially legumes that have retained their green color and leaves), good silage, table varieties of carrots, yellow pumpkin, and yellow varieties of corn.

WITH therapeutic purpose for hypovitaminosis A, a concentrated oil solution of vitamin A, its alcohol solution and fish oil are prescribed.

Vitamin D(ergocalciferol) regulates the metabolism of calcium and phosphorus in the body. With a lack of them (especially phosphorus), growth in animals is delayed, rickets, osteomalacia, tetany appear, productivity in breeding stock decreases, complications after childbirth, the birth of weakened offspring, and sometimes abortions are noted.

Vitamin D enters the animal body with feed in the form of plant provitamin ergosterol. It is also formed from dehydrocholesterol, which is found in the skin when animals are irradiated with ultraviolet rays (natural or artificial).

Vitamin D accumulates mainly in spring and summer, during the period of greatest solar activity and an abundance of green food. In winter, vitamin D enters the animal body in limited quantities with sun-dried hay, silage, and yeasted feed. Therefore, in winter, all animals must be provided with walks in the fresh air or irradiated with mercury-quartz lamps PRK-2, PRK-4, PRK-7 and erythema lamps EUV-15, EUV-30, REV-350. Vitamin D is especially necessary for pregnant females and young animals.

Various vitamin D preparations are used to treat animals and are dosed depending on the severity of the clinical manifestations of signs. Use alcohol and oil concentrated solutions of vitamin D 2 and D 3 with a content of 1 ml from 5000 to 500,000 IU (international units), fish oil, vitamin D emulsion, irradiated yeast with activity from 2000 to 20,000 IU per 1 g, and also protein and peptide preparations of vitamins D 2 and D 3, fortified fish oil. When prescribing the vitamin, it is taken into account that its normal requirement is 10-15 IU per 1 kg of weight, but if there are signs of disturbances in the metabolism of calcium and phosphorus, then the dose is increased to 300-450 IU, and in severe conditions (with severe rickets, osteomalacia, etc.) ) - up to 500-750 ME.

For prophylactic purposes, vitamin D preparations are best given orally, and for therapeutic purposes, they are administered subcutaneously or intramuscularly. Excessive doses of vitamin D are harmful.

Vitamin E(tocopherol) is related to the functions of reproduction, regulation of the nervous system and striated muscles. If there is a deficiency of it in the body, males experience degenerative changes in the seminiferous tubules, the formation of sperm is impaired, and the extinction of sexual reflexes; in females during pregnancy, the development of the fetus is delayed, as well as its resorption or abortion. In addition, damage to the central nervous system (encephalitis) and degeneration of striated muscles are noted.

Vitamin E is found in green food, grass meal, sprouted grains, hay and hay meal, oil seeds, grains of oats, rye, barley, and bran.

The introduction of these foods into the diet prevents hypovitaminosis E.

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) takes a large part in carbohydrate and fat metabolism, in the neutralization and removal of harmful and toxic products from the body, in the synthesis of amino acids, hematopoiesis, and in the formation of antibodies. Hypovitaminosis C in animals reduces resistance to infectious diseases.

The most sensitive to vitamin C deficiency are pigs and horses. The vitamin is found in sufficient quantities in green plants and is synthesized by the microflora of the digestive organs in ruminants, rabbits and poultry.

For preventive and therapeutic purposes, feed rich in vitamin C is included in the diet of animals, and supplements from sprouted grains, infusion of pine needles, hydroponic greens are introduced, and in severe cases, when clinical signs of hypovitaminosis appear, solutions of ascorbic acid are given intravenously or orally.

Hypovitaminosis B found in pigs and horses and sometimes in calves and lambs during the period of exclusive milk feeding. The most frequently noted deficiency is thiamine, riboflavin, nicotinamide, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, folic acid, choline, and cyanocobalamin. With a lack of thiamine, piglets have a decreased appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, and disorders of the cardiovascular system. When piglets are fed only root vegetables and grain feeds, they develop signs of riboflavin deficiency: decreased appetite, lacrimation, swelling of the eyelids, baldness, skin lesions. Feeding piglets and gilts predominantly with corn leads to a lack of nicotinamide, which manifests itself in animals as widespread diseases of weeping eczema with lesions of the skin behind the ears, in the groins, on the abdominal wall and on the lower surface of the chest, and debilitating diarrhea.

Constant feeding of piglets with boiled feed, especially with a high content of corn, often causes insufficient intake of pantothenic acid (vitamin B 3) into the body. In piglets, normal growth is disrupted, gastrointestinal diseases occur, lameness, skin lesions, and bristles appear.

If there is a lack of choline in the diet, piglets' growth is stunted, mobility in the joints, especially the glenohumeral joints, is limited, and liver diseases appear.

Long-term diarrhea in piglets due to gastroenteritis, gastroenterocolitis, colitis, as well as constant feeding of them only with boiled feed, and a deficiency in the diet of proteins lead to a lack of folic acid.

At the same time, the piglets become weak, blood formation is impaired, appetite decreases, and stubble falls out.

As a rule, a hypovitamin deficiency condition depends on a deficiency of several B vitamins.

In calves, hypovitaminosis can be observed during the period of milk feeding, when their proventriculi have not yet developed and there is no microbial synthesis of B vitamins. This condition is noted when hay and succulent feed are lately included in the diet. Calves exhibit poor appetite, subfibrile temperature, stagnation, increased excitability, convulsive muscle contractions, rapid breathing, accelerated pulse, cyanosis of the mucous membranes, diarrhea, constipation, bronchitis, bronchopneumonia. Such calves often become ill with paratyphoid, diplococcal infection or pasteurellosis.

In foals with hypovitaminosis B, signs of pronounced weakness, increased heart rate, decreased body temperature, cyanosis of visible mucous membranes, signs of anemia, and lack of coordination of movements appear.

To prevent hypovitaminosis B, it is necessary to introduce feed rich in B vitamins into animal diets.

Cyanocobalamin (vitamin IN 12 ) not found in plants. It is necessary for pigs and ruminants; in the latter, it is synthesized by the rumen microflora in the presence of cobalt, which is part of the vitamin molecule. Young animals (piglets, calves and lambs) receive cyanocobalamin in milk, skim milk, whey, fish and meat meal. Of great importance in the prevention of vitamin B 12 deficiency is feeding a propionic acidophilus broth culture - PABA, Biovita-40 (or Biovita-80), sapropel (lake sludge), and dry residue from water treatment plants.

In areas with sandy, podzolic and peat soils, in which there is a constant lack of cobalt, for preventive purposes this microelement must be given to sheep, goats and cattle in the form of a mineral supplement - cobalt chloride (2-10 mg for each animal every other day ). The presence of cobalt ensures the synthesis of vitamin B 12, which has a multifaceted effect (increased hematopoiesis and hemoglobin formation, improved carbohydrate metabolism, increased nutritional value of plant proteins, etc.).