Herbivore sweet feed: One feed for all ruminants

Specialist writer

Natasha Pansegrouw

Most farmers in Zambia today have a combination of livestock on their farms. They have cattle, goats and sheep. A few even have horses and ponies, as well as game.

Now, the question is, how does one manage to feed all these animals and still keep within the constraints of the budget? We all know that rearing animals is no small task and it can weigh heavily on our pockets. Tiger Animal Feeds provides a solution — one feed for all ruminants!

Herbivore Sweet Feed is a ration that is fast becoming the farmer’s best friend. Produced by Tiger Animal Feeds, Herbivore Sweet Feed is a costeffective feed that can be fed to cattle, goats, sheep, horses, ponies, and game. It can be used as a complete feed or as a protein–energy supplement during winter when vegetation is limited. Herbivore Sweet Feed ensures healthy and productive animals during all the seasons of the year. Call it “A bag full of feeding solutions for the ruminant farmer”.

Let us have a look at the recommended intake:

Finishing & complete: Feed ad libitum with free access to roughage/grazing.
Bulls: Feed 15 kg/bull/day or max of 1% of body weight, with free access to roughage/grazing.

Dairy cows

Lactating dairy cows: The quantity to be fed depends on the following;

The quantity and quality of pastures/roughage
The stage of lactation
Milk-butterfat yield Feed a maximum of 10 kg/cow/day to small frame breeds such as Jerseys, and 15 kg/cow/day to large frame breeds such as Holsteins.

Goats and sheep

Finishing and complete: Feed ad libitum with free access to grazing/roughage.

Ewe and lamb: Feed a daily maximum of 1% of the ewe’s body weight as supplementary feed to lactating ewes, or as a flush feed for 3 weeks after mating, together with roughage/grazing.

Horses

Geldings and stallions: Feed 4 to 8 kg/day to horses and half as much to ponies, with free access to roughage/pasture.
Dry mares: Feed 2 to 3 kg/day to horses and half as much to ponies, with free access to roughage/pasture
Pregnant mares: Feed 3 to 4 kg/day to horses and half as much to ponies, with free access to roughage/pasture.
Lactating mares: Feed 6 to 8 kg/day to horses and half as much to ponies, with free access to roughage/pasture
Yearling foals: Feed 4 to 6 kg/day to horses and half as much to ponies, with free access to roughage/pasture.

The quantity of feed for horses and ponies will depend upon body weight and condition, stage of reproduction, work intensity and growth rate.