Effects of variable ration formulations on some physical and chemical quality properties in cattle compound feeds

Feed costs take the biggest share in milk and fattening production costs in the livestock sector. Animals with high yield capacity need quality feeds in order to meet their survival and yield share needs. Mixed feeds provide animals with the opportunity to benefit from raw materials with different nutrients at the highest level thanks to their guaranteed structure. Raw materials that are not willingly consumed by animals can be guaranteed to be consumed by making mixed feed with other products. In addition to the theoretical knowledge, the difficulty of procurement of various tools, machinery and materials required for the preparation of feeds by breeders has led to the necessity of establishing the Feed Industry. Quality pellet feeds depend on the interaction of raw materials with each other, the quality of the equipment and the process. In this study, the effects of variable ration formulations on some physical quality characteristics of cattle compound feeds were determined. Cattle fattening and cattle dairy feeds with constant protein and energy content were produced with different ration formulations due to the changes in the variety and amount of raw materials available daily in the warehouses of the selected special compound feed factory. The produced feeds were named as Fattening Development, Fattening Finishing, Fattening Grainmix, Milk 18, Milk 19 and Milk 21 feeds and offered for sale in the market. The effects of mixed feeds on pellet durability index (PDİ), hectolitre and moisture were determined by physical analyses of the produced mixed feeds. In addition, the pellet quality factor (PQF) values of the compound feeds produced in the study were calculated using the values reported by Payne et al. (2001). In addition to the correlation between pellet quality factor and pellet durability, the correlation between nutrient contents and pellet quality and pellet durability was also the subject of this study. According to the data obtained as a result of the study, the averages of the nutrient, pellet durability index and pellet quality factor data of the ration groups and the differences between the groups were found to be statistically significant. The difference in nutrient compositions between these feeds is an expected result in line with the production purposes of the feeds. As a result of the statistical analysis, the highest PDİ value was determined in Milk 18 and Fattening grainmix feeds (89.02 and 89.04). Lignin is one of the nutrients forming crude cellulose and it is thought to have a positive effect on pellet binding. Therefore, in these two feeds where the crude cellulose content showed the highest value, it was reflected in the PDİ values. The difference between the pellet quality factor values of the groups was found to be statistically significant. The highest value was found in Milk 19 feed (6.05) and the lowest value was found in Milk 21 feed. It is thought that this difference occurred due to the different raw material contents of the rations. It was observed that especially the bran in the fattening grain-mixed milk 18 and milk 19 feeds was effective in the high value of this factor. As a result of the experiment, the quality of the pellet feeds prepared with different rations was analysed and it was found that the pellet quality of the rations with high starch and lignin content was higher than the other groups.