Needles and its by-products as valuable animal feed
Needles and its by-products as valuable animal feed.
Needles and its by-products are a valuable feed for animals. They have a positive impact on the physiological condition of animals, increase their productivity and improve the function of reproduction.
Equipment for the separation of needles from branches
Description:
Traditionally at the cutting of tree branches and pine needles are burned. However, needles and products of its processing (flour, crushed/chopped needles, infusions, granules, etc.) are a valuable food for farm animals.
The use of pine needles as feed is not new, but well forgotten old thing.
The needles on the content of nutrients and mineral substances similar to hay of average quality, and the content of carotene than green grass (clover, Timothy) in the budding phase.
1 kg of softwood flour (dry matter of pine needles or spruce) contains:
– 0,37 feed units,
– to 40 g of digestible protein,
– carotene 350-360 mg,
– vitamin B1 8-19 mg,
– vitamin B2 10-11 mg
– vitamin B3 16-28 mg,
– vitamin B6 1.1 to 2 mg,
– vitamin Sun 7-8 mg,
– vitamin C 10 000 – 15 000 mg,
– vitamin E 340-350 mg,
– vitamin H 0,06-0,15 mg,
– vitamin K 12-20 mg,
– vitamin P 2 180 – 3 810 mg,
– vitamin PP 142-229 mg,
– iron 150-180 mg
– cobalt 10 mg,
– manganese 320 mg.
The maximum content of carotene and other vitamins in the needles from October to March.
Needles contain chlorophyll and xanthophylls, which play an important role in metabolism, as well as a large number of phytoncides that protect animals from intestinal diseases. Therefore, the flour obtained their needles, has a bactericidal action. In addition, coniferous flour contains sugar, glucose, fructose, pectin, tannin, cobalt, copper, manganese, zinc, iron. This comprehensive mineral and vitamin nutrition of softwood flour and the presence in its composition of easily fermentable carbohydrates has a positive effect on physiological state of animals, increases their productivity and improves the function of reproduction.
Needles and its by-products can be fed mixed with root crops, silage, the press cake, bard, concentrates and other feeds, as well as in the form of aqueous extracts. We recommend the following daily doses of pine needles feeding farm animals: cows – 3 kg, heifers – 2 kg, pigs – 0.3 kg, sheep – 0.5 kg, poultry – 2 grams.
As food animals are only used needles autumn and winter preparation (October – March), because in it the minimum content of resinous substances (harmful to body) and this time it is rich in valuable biologically active components.
The use of needles collected in the period from April to September, is contraindicated.
Before feeding needles must undergo heat treatment to remove harmful animal essential oils, tannins, and glucosides. This processing occurs in the processing of pine needles into flour or pellets.
Advantages:
– raw materials are branches that do not need to grow – they are waste of the forest industry, which are typically burned,
– during the clear cutting going 1 hectare 15-20 tonnes of raw materials – softwood green, which is equivalent to freshly cut grass with 3-4 hectares of meadows collected a season
– with regular feeding of pine needles, calves are born viable, less sick,
– after 10 days of cows treated with branches of pine needles 4-5 kg per day, milk per day on average 2 kg more than those cows that were not given,
– the introduction of fresh crushed pine needles in the diet of young cattle can reduce feed costs for live weight gain of 5-10%,
– the introduction in the diet of animals for fattening chopped fresh pine needles increases average daily gain of live weight, reduces the cost of feed per unit of gain, increases the economic efficiency of fattening.
Equipment for the separation of needles from branches:
Machine separation of the needles is completely Autonomous, powered by engine combustion. Separates the needles from branches of any coniferous trees: pine, cedar, spruce, fir, etc. Performance on the needles – 500 kg/hour. Able to work on any open area at a temperature of from -30 ° C to +45 OS.
