English / Afrikaans
Question: My cows are starting to bring back up that bush feed. It also collects in their teeth, which must be scraped out otherwise they will not drink water.
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Vraag: My koeie begin boskos opbring. Dit versamel ook in hul kieste wat ons moet uitkrap anders drink hulle nie water nie.
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Answer by Dagmar Honsbein, BSc Wood Science, Mphil Chem Ing & Applied Sciences, MA Development Finance:
I'm sorry to see boskos gives you trouble.
From the photos and what we discussed, the following is the problem:
I'm sorry to see boskos gives you trouble.
From the photos and what we discussed, the following is the problem:
- The type of material you use from the bush is more trunk material than branches and twigs.
- The material is more chip-like than fibrous. Chips don't digest easily and can form a mat in the rumen that causes bloat/vomit. Add salt to assist the formation of bacteria in the rumen that will be able to digest more coarse cellulose material.
- Stick to using branches thinner than 25mm, especially in the winter where wood lignifies after the first frost.
- Reduce your sieve size and adjust/lower the rotation speed of the mill to ensure the fibers are well-milled.
- Reduce the wood fiber component in your ration for 2-3 weeks each time you move to a new harvesting area to help your livestock adapt to the new bush types you have in that particular boskos mix.
- Make sure the ration is not too dry when changing it. Moist boskos helps in the adaptation period to build the right bacteria in rumen. If boskos is too dry, the rumen forms a foam that causes bloat. The foam is also visible in the mouth area (almost rabies-like). The animals also struggle to form enough saliva to aid digestion.
Question: A cow of mine died in the feedlot. Belly is cut open and the boskos inside looks undigested. It does not look like digested food or manure like it would in an animal that comes in from the field.
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Vraag: 'n Bees van my het in die voerkraal gevrek. Pens is oopgesny en die boskos lyk soos dit ingeneem is. Lyk nie na verteerder kos nie of mis soos 'n dier wat van die veld a kom nie.
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Answer by Dr Christiaan Lichtenberg, Gobabis Veterninary Clinic:
Remember that cattle and sheep are ruminants. Cattle eat for 8 hours, chew/ruminate for 8 hours, and sleep and do other things for 8 hours. Monitor them! If they chew and mess often and well, then their digestion is right. Teeth are important. The finer they can grind the food, the larger the surface area on which the rumen microbes can work. But if you grind the food too finely with the hammermill, the animal's mixing and digestion stops. Cattle that die of hunger always have food in their bellies, and much of it looks the same as when it was ingested. Bottom line: monitor your animals. |
Antwoord: Dr Christiaan Lichtenberg, Gobabis Vetenary Clinic:
Onthou dat bees en skaap herkouers is. Bees vreet 8 ure, herkou 8 ure, slaap en ander dinge 8 ure. Dws hou hulle dop! Herkou en mis hulle gereeld en mooi dan is hulle spysvertering reg. Tande belangrik, hoe fyner hulle die herkou kan maal hoe groter is die oppervlakte waarop die rumenmikrobes kan werk maar maal jy hom te fyn met die hammermeul hou die rumen op met sy mengaksie en spysvertering staan. Bees wat van honger vrek het nog altyd kos in sy grootpens en baie van dit lyk net soos hy dit ingeneem het. Slotsom: hou jou diere dop. |
Question: I have some old ewes and cows that I feed in the corral. My mix is 300kg thornbush (that I grind with a 10mm sift), 200kg mieliemeel, and 25kg molasses. The cows grow very well, but the ewes are starting to die. I cut one open, and the feed is rockhard inside the stomach, so definitely a digestion problem. Any advice or suggestions about adjustments that I should make?
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Vraag: Ek het n klompie ou ooie en koeie wat ek in die kraal voer. My mengsel is 300kg driedoringbos wat ek met n 10mm sif maal, 200kg mieliemeel en 25kg molasse stroop. Die koeie groei baie mooi, maar die ooie begin nou vrek. Het een oopgesny, die kos is kliphard aan binne die pens, so definitief n verterings probleem. Enige raad, voorstelle van aanpassing wat ek moet maak?
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Answer by Andrew Deacon: I have many incidents where larger animals do well and smaller animals do worse. Also where sheep struggle or die but cattle do well. Smaller animals' stomachs are not as effective as those of larger animals. The bigger the tank, the better. So adjustment is more important with the smaller animals. Then smaller animals have a much higher protein requirement and are not as effective in utilizing urea. Only critique on that mix is that it lacks a protein source for sheep that will help their digestion.
Antwoord: Dagmar Honsbein (supplementary to Andrew): My experience is that PEG / ureum don't work well for small livestock. Also small livestock prefer granules. They can digest it better and so ureum is not needed. My advice: replace half of the bush with alfalfa (lusern) granules or Breker 12 or another source of proten (not ureum!) for the next 3 - 4 weeks. Add 2% salt, otherwise the animals try to pick out just the good parts. Salt also helps "wood" to digest and work out of the system and that the rumen retains enough water to moisten the wood fibers for better digestion. With boskos, make sure that the animals move. The animals must not be only in the corrral especially when the food is loose. Rumen activity is promoted through movement. Especially if the animals habit was to go look for food, the time between taking bites and digestion was slower. And so the rumen was not always full. Now they stand in the corral and just eat, but they don't digest. When the problem is solved, the ration should be worked out for these animals. There can't just be energy/fiber in. |
Antwoord: Andrew Deacon: Ek kry baie gevalle waar groter bees goeddoen en kleiner bees swakker vaar. So ook waar skaap swaar trek of vrek maar bees goeddoen. Kleiner diere se grootpens is nie so effektief soos groter diere. Hoe groter die tenk hoe beter. So aanpassing is meer belangrik by die kleiner diere. Dan het kleiner diere 'n heelwat hoër protein behoefte en is nie so effektief om ureum te benut nie. Enigste kritiek op daai mengsel is dit kort proteinbron vir skaap wat ook vertering sal aanhelp.
Antwoord: Dagmar Honsbein: Aanvullend by Andrew. My ervaring is dat PEG / ureum nie goed werk vir kleinvee. Ook hou kleinvee meer van korrels. Hulle kan dit beter verteer en dus is browse/ ureum nie nodig. My raad: vervang die 1/2 van bos met lusern korrels of Breker 12 of 'n ander bron van protein (nie ureum!) vir die vlg 3 - 4 weke. Sit 2% sout by, andersins soek die diere net die lekker goed uit. Sout help ook dat ‘hout’ uitwerk/verteer en dat genoeg water in rumen kom om vesel te bevog vir beter vertering. By boskos - maak seker dat die diere beweeg. Diere moet nie net op kraal wees nie wanneer dit veral los kos is nie. Die rumen aktiwiteit word bevorder deur beweging. Veral as diere gewoond was om kos te gaan soek, was die tyd tussen happe vat en vertering langer. En die rumen dus nie altyd vol nie. Nou staan hulle op kraal en vreet net, maar verteer nie . Wanneer die probleem opgelos is, moet die ransoen herdink word vir hierdie diere. Daar kan nie net energie/ vesel in wees nie. |
Question: What does "ash" mean in the feed analysis?
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Vraag: Wat beteken "as" in voerontledings?
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Answer by Dagmar Honsbein, BSc Wood Science, Mphil Chem Ing & Applied Sciences, MA Development Finance:
Ash is ash, like you know it when you've had a nice braai. (As is as, soos jy dit ken wanneer jy lekker gebraai het.)
In analyses of this kind, it means any material that will neither be digested, nor destroyed at a temperature of at least 550 degrees Celsius. These are mostly mineral oxides contained in the wood, such as those from silicium, magnesium, calcium etc. As our bush grows on generally mineral rich soils, ash tends to be higher than 5% on weight basis.
Ash is ash, like you know it when you've had a nice braai. (As is as, soos jy dit ken wanneer jy lekker gebraai het.)
In analyses of this kind, it means any material that will neither be digested, nor destroyed at a temperature of at least 550 degrees Celsius. These are mostly mineral oxides contained in the wood, such as those from silicium, magnesium, calcium etc. As our bush grows on generally mineral rich soils, ash tends to be higher than 5% on weight basis.
Question: What is the difference between charcoal and activated charcoal?
Answer by Dagmar Honsbein, BSc Wood Science, Mphil Chem Ing & Applied Sciences, MA Development Finance:
Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal, is a form of carbon or charcoal processed to have small, low-volume pores that increase the surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions. 1g of active char has a pore surface area of 1/4 soccer field, or at least 500m2. Oxygen, or rather oxidizing atmosphere, is one of the ways to make active charcoal. The processes in general are expensive, though.
It may be useful to add active charcoal / carbon to bush feed because of its very good adsorption properties and its cleanliness at 99.8% fixed carbon content. But its price and availability as supplement to our feeds in a normal farm setting is problematic. Prices are usually more than N$15/kg.
You only buy this in tonnes if you are eg City of Windhoek water works. And they also buy in kg for the filter systems.
Charcoal fines from a well managed retort process (not from the open drum kiln process as mainly used in Namibia) can also be used. Its fixed Carbon content is >75% and it still contains great micro elements like potassium, copper, sulphur, etc. This is already considered as very clean and good for use in animal feed. But limit its addition to 1% of feed mix. You don’t want your animals to get constipated.
Char and ash (not from your water donkey or braai vleis though!!!!!) are great additives to counter effects of tannin or other anti-nutritive factors in feed in general, when chemical agents like PEG and Browse Plus are difficult to get.
Answer by Dagmar Honsbein, BSc Wood Science, Mphil Chem Ing & Applied Sciences, MA Development Finance:
Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal, is a form of carbon or charcoal processed to have small, low-volume pores that increase the surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions. 1g of active char has a pore surface area of 1/4 soccer field, or at least 500m2. Oxygen, or rather oxidizing atmosphere, is one of the ways to make active charcoal. The processes in general are expensive, though.
It may be useful to add active charcoal / carbon to bush feed because of its very good adsorption properties and its cleanliness at 99.8% fixed carbon content. But its price and availability as supplement to our feeds in a normal farm setting is problematic. Prices are usually more than N$15/kg.
You only buy this in tonnes if you are eg City of Windhoek water works. And they also buy in kg for the filter systems.
Charcoal fines from a well managed retort process (not from the open drum kiln process as mainly used in Namibia) can also be used. Its fixed Carbon content is >75% and it still contains great micro elements like potassium, copper, sulphur, etc. This is already considered as very clean and good for use in animal feed. But limit its addition to 1% of feed mix. You don’t want your animals to get constipated.
Char and ash (not from your water donkey or braai vleis though!!!!!) are great additives to counter effects of tannin or other anti-nutritive factors in feed in general, when chemical agents like PEG and Browse Plus are difficult to get.
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