RESEARCH : SEAWEEDS AS ANIMAL FEED RESULTS IN EGGS AND BEEF OF BETTER QUALITY.

RESEARCH : SEAWEEDS AS ANIMAL FEED RESULTS IN EGGS AND BEEF OF BETTER QUALITY. Seaweeds can have a pre biotic effect in pig diets and improve egg quality in laying hens. However, high amounts of seaweed in the diet can have an opposite effect. The inclusion rate is therefore important. A report Published in Animal Feed Science and Technology termed : Seaweeds for livestock diets . The nutritive value of seaweeds for ruminants varies widely. It depends on the species, on the composition of the algae (protein, minerals, polysaccharides, phlorotannins) and also on the adaptation of the animal to this particular feed. RESEARCH : SEAWEEDS AS ANIMAL FEED RESULTS IN EGGS AND BEEF OF BETTER QUALITY. A study in the laboratory with rumen fluid from seaweed-fed sheep showed that organic matter digestibility of brown and red seaweeds was very high for brown algae L. digitata, S. latissima and Alaria esculenta species (94%, 97% and 81% respectively) and red algae P.palmata (81%), but was low for other brown seaweeds such as A. nodosum, Fucus serratus and Fucus vesiculosus (33%, 15% and 26% respectively. RESEARCH : SEAWEEDS AS ANIMAL FEED RESULTS IN EGGS AND BEEF OF BETTER QUALITY. In a comparison of brown algae M. pyrifera and Sargassum species, the in situ DM degradability of the former was found to be low (50%) but higher than that of the latter (29%). Crude protein of these seaweeds was found to be rumen-undegradable in situ, but the in vitro trypsic digestibility of their proteins was high, which could make brown algae a good source of protein for ruminants despite their low protein content. RESEARCH : SEAWEEDS AS ANIMAL FEED RESULTS IN EGGS AND BEEF OF BETTER QUALITY. The brown seaweed A. nodosum meal has been shown to increase growth performance in broilers. It didn't matter in which form it was included in the diet (boiled, raw or autoclaved). In another study with green seaweed Enteromorpha prolifera, it was shown that inclusion rate ranging from 2% to 4% provided the best nutrient availability and high apparent metabolisable energy in broilers. This may be attributed to a high level of amylase in the duodenum. It had a positive effect on feed intake, feed conversion ratio and average daily gain while reducing abdominal and subcutaneous fat thickness, thus improving breast meat. Brown seaweed Sargassum species from the Red Sea shore fed to laying hens during 20–30 weeks at 1–12% dietary level had no deleterious effect on body weight, egg weight, egg production, feed conversion ratio and egg quality. Sargassum dentifolium fed raw, boiled or autoclaved at levels of 3% or 6%, was beneficial to egg quality. Green seaweed E. prolifera included at 1–3% resulted in improved egg production and quality: it increased weight, shell thickness, and yolk colour and reduced cholesterol in yolk. It also resulted in a lower E. coli load in faeces, , suggesting better animal health.

SEAWEEDS A NEW OPTION AS ANIMAL FEED.

Seaweeds include brown algae (Phaeophyceae), red algae (Rhodophyceae) and green algae (Chlorophyceae). Seaweeds are valuable alternative feeds for livestock, mostly as sources of valuable nutrients, notably chelated micro-minerals, the availability of which is higher than that of inorganic ones. Brown algae are of lesser nutritional value than red and green algae, due to their lower protein content and higher mineral content; however brown algae contain a number of bioactive compounds. The use of algae as animal feed is promising, as they are sustainable, contain lots of protein and result in more omega 3 in eggs and milk. There is also evidence that they help young cattle grow better. A research in Netherland shows the benefits of algae in feed; Processing algae in animal feed is probably not the first thing that occurs to producers, but the green stuff seems highly appropriate for this purpose. Studies show that using algae as animal feed ensures better quality eggs, milk and possibly meat, and that it boosts growth in piglets, chickens and lambs, among others. "In addition, algae are rich in protein," says Wageningen UR algae expert Rommie van der Weide. "This makes them an interesting alternative to soy, which often has to be transported across long distances – from South America. Algae are produced in photo bioreactors and open ponds, making as much use as possible of the residue streams from a biogas plant. The algae grown here are used in animal feed, mineral licks and a feed supplement for horses. Source;all about feed.

HOW TO FORMULATE FISH FEED WITH WATER HYACINTH.

Water hyacinth: how to use it as fish feed. The need to find alternative protein sources to formulate non-traditional fish diets to overcome the high fish meal prices has resulted in many attempts to replace fish meal partially or completely with various plant protein sources.

 Water hyacinth has been discovered as a viable option according to study carried out by Dr. S. A. Vhanalakar and Dr. D. V. Muley, Department of Zoology, Shivaji University, Kolhapur, India showing the benefits of water hyacinth as fish feed ingredient. 

 Water hyacinth is one of the most highly productive plants filling up a small area within a short time span as is considered the world's worst aquatic weed. It forms dense mats that interfere with navigation, recreation, irrigation and power generation. These mats competitively exclude native submerged and floating-leaved plants. 

 The rising cost and scarcity of fish meal has prompted studies to find alternatives to the fish meal by using locally available and cheaper ingredients of either animal or plant origin. The success of the aquaculture industry depends worldwide on the availability of low cost, high quality feeds to break even. In the past several studies were carried out to look for substitutes for fish meal in the fish feed. 

Fish nutritionists have evaluated alternative sources of plant origin protein in fish diets as partial or total fish meal replacement. Water hyacinth has been found suitable among other options,as it was found to replace the fish meal at various levels of inclusion without any side effects but rather an increase in fish productivity. . 

 The study carried out using the common carp fed for 120 days. : fresh water hyacinth leaves were collected from local water bodies, these were washed thoroughly with water to remove dirt and debris and drained properly before sun drying. 

The dried leaves of water hyacinth were milled , packed in airtight polyethylene bags and kept in the freezer before use. The inclusion of the dried leaves in the feed was at different rates ranging from (0-70%), groundnut cake, rice bran, fish meal, guar gum binder and mineral/vitamin mixture were all added to formulate the feed. 

 Ingredients were mixed until an homogeneous mass was obtained and with the mincer 0.6 mm pellets were prepared, which were immediately sun dried. The dried pellets were broken up by hand into convenient pellet sizes and frozen before feeding the fish. The water hyacinth diet showed the great usefulness as fish feed ingredient and for cost effectiveness. 

The feed with 40% water hyacinth incorporated diet showed best growth performance over all the other inclusion rates, although all the diets containing the water hyacinth leaf powder showed effectiveness as an economic fish feed . 

 Water hyacinth does not have the capacity to replace the traditional fish meal,therefore, it is used as a supplementary fish feed ingredient along with the traditional ingredients; but the incorporation level of traditional ingredients like fish meal, groundnut cake, rice bran etc. was kept at lowest inclusion level. 

 

Water hyacinth can  play an important role in fish feed formulation to overcome high feed prices.

INSECT OIL AS FEED ADDITIVE.

The use of insect oil in the food and feed sector is completely new. Coppens is the first company to use this product, produced by Protix, in animal feed. The use of insect oil in pig and poultry diets is promising and aimed to increase animal health when added as a feed ingredient. The results of the Poultry Research Center showed that chicks profit from insect oil when it comes to growth and feed conversion, compared to soybean oil. In addition, the insect oil is also easy to digest. Insect oil contains a high proportion of lauric acid, which has health-promoting properties. Also, breast milk for example contains a high proportion of lauric acid. Not just the chicken and the pig will benefit from this healthy fatty acid pattern. Insect oil is environmentally friendly because low-grade raw materials are used for a high quality application. Green residual (waste) streams are converted efficiently by insects. source; all about feed.

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