A question of balance (1959)

[Music] in Britain the Wild bar is a thing of the past today it is most likely to be seen as a wall decoration a trophy from a hunt of former days or perhaps a quiet stroll in the country will provide another example of what the animal once looked like over the years domestication and breeding have changed it into the bore we are familiar with today like this full brother to the Supreme champion at Smithfield in 1958 cattle too have evolved by selective breeding from these wild white cattle of yesterday the change has been brought about by skillful breeding to produce the solid blocky beef animal now seen on the modern farm the type of animal which best meets the requirements of the up-to-date stock breeder he is helped in his task by the growing improvements in methods of animal husbandry for example veterinary science makes full use of the latest discoveries to keep an animal in good health the installation of modern specialized buildings and the use of up-to-date equipment which minimize is the labor required for feeding watering and cleaning out does much to encourage the keeping of adequate records of livestock performance not only on the farm but also at centers like the pig progeny testing stations throughout the country to these advances there must be added feeding breeding and good husbandry methods alone are of little Avail without adequate Supply supplies of good food whatever the Enterprise the cost of the food is a large item efficient management can do much to prevent feed being wasted convenient forms such as pellets reduce losses during handling before the ration is eaten by the animal individual feeding makes certain that all all animals get enough food instead of some too much and others too little but even so first class animals cannot be produced on poor quality feed grass provides a large proportion of a cow's diet improvements in the use of grazing and the conservation of grass as silage and hay are the well-known results of research into feeding problems the application of the nutritionists and Engineers knowledge can be seen in practically any grass field at the right time of year but behind the scenes detailed research has been unobtrusively devoted to the problem of feeding livestock with concentrated feeds in this the animal food industry is helped by the specialist's laboratory as well as its own through this combined research the animal food industry is continually trying to improve further the quality of its products some farmers are also making use of the new knowledge now available to them to mix feeds for their own stock just as they have always appreciated the need for water as a nutritional Factor and have always taken care to provide a good clean supply high quality well-balanced feeds have to contain a large number of nutritional factors these are energy in the form of carbohydrates and fats proteins minerals and vitamins and sometimes drugs the carbohydrates are selected from several feeding stuffs which may have the required nutritional value although grain feeding is common however every farmer knows that no single feeding stuff is a complete ration cereals have to be balanced with other feeds particularly those containing more protein fish provide an excellent source of animal protein when processed and made available as fish meal much of this fish meal is produced in this country but vegetable protein feeding stuffs have to be brought into this country from abroad vegetable proteins come from all over the world such as ground nuts from India coconut from Africa and linseed from South America some such as soy bean are already processed into meals and cakes in other words the oil has been removed from the seed or fruit before shipping but large quantities are shipped intact and the oil is extracted or expelled in this country then there is the addition of minerals including Trace elements such as manganese these are often added to a feed to increase the levels which are present naturally finally a well balanced feed has to contain the ingredients which are essential for the health and growth of a thriving animal vitamins although vitamins weigh only a tiny fraction of the whole feed their inclusion is of vital importance what are vitamins put quite simply they are nutrients which are essential to life in fact they are truly vital the number of vitamins appears to be never ending but fortunately the feeding stuffs used in most rations Supply the majority of them and apart from a few very specialized feeds the only vitamins which require further consideration are vitamin A vitamin d and vitamin B2 which is often called riboflavin but some farm animals in particular the ruminants are not entirely dependent upon the mixed or concentrate ration for all their vitamin requirements the ruminant digestive system has been devised to make use of the whole plant not only the seeds or fruits and succulent or roughed Foods form a large part of the daily feed cows for example eat grass which like all green foods can contains carotene and this is converted into Vitamin A within the animal body unfortunately animals vary in their ability to carry out this conversion but cattle and sheep eat so much green food that additional vitamin A is not usually required chewing the cud is associated with what is called rumination and this is another characteristic of ruminants when which affects their vitamin requirements in the punch ruminants have their own Factory for making the vitamin B group and these hardly ever have to be added to their ration but even early weaned carves cannot safely be classified as ruminants until they are several months old and until then their diet must contain a plentiful supply of vitamin A vitamin d and vitamin B2 in this respect carves are more nearly like pigs and poultry which always require the addition of vitamin supplements to their food supply because vitamin supplements are an accepted part of the livestock ration nowadays serious vitamin deficiencies are unusual even in stock reared intensively these birds are 6 weeks old but they're obviously in poor condition accidentally vitamin A was omitted from their ration a deficiency of any vitamin reduces the growth rate and when the shortage is prolonged as it was here the difference between a normal and a deficient bird of the same age becomes apparent even without weighing growth to produce meat is one form of production eggs are another profitability in egg production is not just a matter of how many eggs are laid eggs are handled many times they have to be collected and carried to the packing room where they are allowed to cool before being placed into crates the crates then have to be loaded onto a lry and all this happens even before they start their Journey to the packing station a normal well-formed eggshell is a good container some hens however have their own ideas on shape and size and oddments like these are found everywhere some of the abnormalities may be due to disease but among this collection several of the eggs are broken breakages are often due to flaws in the Shell which as long as ADD adequate minerals are also provided could well indicate the need for the inclusion of more vitamin D in the feed it is these thin areas in the Shell which render eggs liable to breakage and they represent one source of loss to the poultry farmer wherever livestock are kept food bills always account for a large proportion of the cost a bird or animal is not a very efficient Factory for converting animal food into human food and anything that will help to improve the efficiency will add to the profitability even in the worst climates animals kept out of doors will be exposed to some sunlight as a result vitamin D is formed on the skin to be absorbed into the animal's body if we can find a space the beach is a good place for us to acquire vitamin D from the Sun and so it's a Pity that vitamin D can easily be washed off when bathing few pigs go bathing so they should get more benefit from the sunlight but even those kept outside until weaning have afterwards improved their food conversion when vitamin D was added to the rarer ration riboflavin also has a considerable effect on food conversion especially in fattening pigs the optimum level depends upon the temperature and this is affected by the structure of the house where the pigs are kept the better the insulation the less riboflavin required but even so the addition of riboflavin to practical diet has improved the food conversion if all the necessary vitamins are provided the profitability of livestock can be improved how can this provision be guaranteed simply by making the best use of the available facilities in choosing the correct vitamin supplements vitamins are required in such small amounts that it is not possible just to add the vitamins themselves to the ration and be certain that they are efficiently disposed it is a skilled job to blend them into a bulk which will make their final inclusion into the compound feed less difficult the development of vitamin products requires painstaking and extensive research which has to be followed up by a rigid control of the materials in the laboratory at the factory even though it may involve a complicated analysis to ensure that each bag of supplement contains the guaranteed amount of vitamin all these efforts however would be wasted if the supplement is not used at the correct rate and if the best possible use is to be made of the supplement it is necessary to compose the ration with the most suitable mixture of feeding stuffs it is a skilled job to formulate compounds one demanding calculation as well as practical knowledge this knowledge is available to those who seek advice as to what a balanced ration should contain and what additives are necessary especially vitamins it is as simple and as difficult as that in the rearing of livestock there are three lines of approach and they are all interdependent breeding for the shape of animal that provides the type of product the consumer requires housing in the best possible way including the use of up-to-date equipment to minimize labor problem and to encourage the keeping of adequate records of livestock performance not only by giving livestock enough to eat but also by providing them with food of the highest quality food which contains all the ingredients for maximum animal production at the lowest possible cost these are the factors which make animal production a profitable ENT priz on any [Music] Farm