Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store

What is the difference between roughage and concentrates in cattle feed? Name one source of each for dairy animals.

seo-qna
SearchIcon
Answer
VerifiedVerified
420.3k+ views
Hint: Animal feed is food given to domestic animals, especially livestock. They provide a well-balanced nutrition to the cattle. They provide essential energy as well as help to give good quality meat and milk.

Complete answer:
Roughage is an animal feed which is mainly fibre. They do not provide any nutrient to the cattle. It plays an important role in digestion and adds bulk to the diet. It also helps in more uptake of water. As plants grow older, it becomes less leafy and more fibrous. It is the indigestible part of the plant. They include dry roughages, silages and pastures. Dry roughages include hay, straw. They contain 90% of dry matter. Silages are formed from the green forages such as grass, alfalfa, sorghum and corn. They contain 20% - 50% of dry matter. Pastures have a high water content. They contain 20% - 30% of dry matter.
Concentrate is an animal feed which contains 70% - 80% of TDN (total digestive nutrients) including 10% of digestible protein. They are low in fibre. They provide essential nutrients to the cattle and compensate for any other deficiencies. They are generally given before slaughtering to flatten up cattle. Wheat bran, rice bran and rice polish are by-product feeds from the grain milling industry. The brand is somewhat laxative and bulky and usually contains about 65% of TDN of which 8% - 14% is digestible protein. They are good source of B vitamins mostly thiamine and niacin. Corn is the richest in TDN and the lowest in protein, fibre, calcium and phosphorus. Oats are somewhat higher in protein, than corn, much higher in fibre and much more bulky, and about 15% lower in energy. Barley may cause colic if fed alone, it should be mixed with at least 15% bran or 25% oats. Milo, like barley, should be crushed or ground and fed with bran or oats. It then has TDN and protein values in between barley and corn. Molasses is a concentrated appetizer and dust settler. It is sticky, sweet, and smells good. It contains 54% of TDN, very little minerals, no fibre, and no digestible protein.

Note: Modern feeds are carefully produced by selecting and mixing different ingredients to provide highly nutritional diets to maintain the health of the animals and increase the quality of such end products as meat, milk, or eggs. This is possible due to proper research, experimentation and chemical analysis.