Enriching the diets of young cattle with a natural biologically active feed additive

Abstract

On the basis of the "Komarova" farm (Magadan, Magadan region), the effect of introducing a new non-traditional component feed additive of plant origin into the diets of young cattle was studied. The research was carried out during the stall period. For the experiment there were taken four groups of animals (14-16 months of age) divided at random in accordance with the genotype into control and experimental groups of ten animals each. The first two groups (control, experiment) included purebred Holstein bulls, the other two – hybrids of the 1st generation (1/2 Holstein × 1/2 Herefords). For the experimental groups, the main diet was supplemented with a component feed additive consisting of cedar elfin (Mountain pine) flour and lichens (alpine cladonia (Cladonia alpestris), Icelandic cetraria (Cetraria islandica)). The results of the experiment has shown that the feed additive, consisting of 120 g of cedar elfin needle flour and 50 g of lichen flour (80% of Cladonia alpestris and 20% of Cetraria islandica), has a positive effect on the intensification of metabolic processes in the animals. The digestibility of crude protein increased by 1.29-4,19 g (1.7-5.6 %); that of the organic matter – by 6.65-8.90 g (11.0-14.3 %); NFE (nitrogen-free extracts) – by 7.80-9.18 g (14.14-15.70 %). An increase in the digestibility of feed nutrients had a positive effect on an increase in live weight gain by 0.60-3.0 g (1.35-5.93 %). An increase in feed conversion was 0.24-6.8 MJ (0.20-6.74 %); feed protein – by 0.02-0.09 g (1.22-6.17 %). Crossbred bulls turned out to be more responsive to changes in the ration of feeding and showed better results in all studied parameters. The effectiveness of using the additive is due to the fact that the raw material for the production is obtained from wild plants growing in nature in sufficiently large volumes. They do not require significant costs for harvesting and preparation for feeding.