AGRICULTURAL
An important part of trough
management is to ensure that
the right feed is fed to the right
animal, since the formulation
is different for every phase.
routine and any activity which does not fit into
the habit or routine creates stress. Animals
develop an eating pattern, which involves
a specific time per day when they eat and
which gives the next animal a chance to eat
at a different time. For this reason animals
have to be fed at the same time every day.
Should a typical 07:00 to 18:00 work-
ing day be followed for a pen, the period
between the feeds would be 7 and 17 hours
respectively. The daily feed mass must also
represent these feeding times and 30% of
the daily feed is provided in the morning and
70% in the afternoon.
Stimulation and determination
of feed-intake
The maximum feed-intake is necessary to
obtain the best production performance in
the feedlot. As soon as a lower than expect-
ed feed-intake is observed, irrespective of
genetic potential, it is a prelude to poor meat
production. Lower feed-intake is the first sign
of stress, caused by a health problem such as
metabolic disturbance (acidosis, infection) or
the environment (wind, rain, atmospheric pres-
sure, social pressure). It provides important
information on the welfare and behaviour of
animals, in respect of which adjustments have
to be made.
The feeding process where fresh feed is
provided at a certain time of the day, with
sounds, display, smell, etcetera, stimulates
animals to move to the trough to eat - the
more times the better. In practice feeding
takes place two to three times a day. It is not
a good idea to keep the troughs filled all the
time, the reasons being that it will then not be
possible to accurately determine daily intake
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SENWES SCENARIO | AUTUMN 20 18
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