Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ir. Asmah Hidayati, MP., IPM
Providing of feed is one that fulfills the nutrition of livestock. This feeding must meet the basic living needs of livestock so that livestock can survive. Nutrition must also meet the development and growth of livestock, and also when the livestock on productive age or adulthood, nutrition must also be able to meet reproductive growth. This was explained by Animal Science Lecturer at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM) Dr. Ir. Asmah Hidayati, MP., IPM.
“Nutritional needs will also be different when livestock are pregnant. Fulfillment of nutrition for livestock varies depending on the condition of the livestock itself. "To provide feed to livestock, there are two things that must be considered, namely quantity and quality," she explained.
Furthermore, the quantity is related to the volume of feed which is adjusted to the stomach volume of livestock. Cattle can accommodate 3.5% dry matter volume of feed from their total body weight. Forage, grass and other fresh plants are added to a total concentrate of 10% of body weight. On the other hand, the quantity must be able to meet the quality of the feed so that the nutritional content can be met. Apart from daily feeding, it is important to also provide vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, minerals and other things for livestock's living needs if the food given is not enough.
This Animal Science lecturer also explained that do not give grass directly to livestock because the water content in the grass can make the livestock bloat, so before grass is given to livestock, it is better to aerate the grass first to reduce the water content and eliminate pests. In livestock, giving water is usually done by providing unlimited water to the livestock so that they can regulate their own condition. If there is a shortage, they will drink so that their body condition is in balance with the environment and does not become dehydrated.
She stated that there are certain tricks that farmers use to increase the body weight of beef cattle so that the selling price increases, namely by adding water or barking water to livestock. Usually 6 hours before being slaughtered, livestock are forced to drink lots of water.
“When livestock are forced to drink a lot it will cause bad conditions for the livestock and can cause the livestock to faint. And this is also unethical from a bio-ethical perspective because livestock are also living creatures so they must be treated well. "Forcibly giving water to livestock makes livestock uncomfortable and injures livestock," she stated.
However, in animal husbandry there is a name, a fattening system. The fattening system is how to produce livestock at a certain age when harvested has met the breeder's expectations. For example, a breeder buys 150 kg feed and plans to market it at a weight of 300 kg and the breeder has five months to increase body weight, so he must add one kg per day. So the nutritional needs also have a calculation so that there is a different calculation for each feeding. In order to meet the farmer's targets, fulfilling good nutrition will create healthy livestock conditions and good meat quality.
“ The rearing system will have an impact on the quality of livestock, livestock also need to be happy so they can live comfortably. Abroad, the livestock fattening system is carried out by allowing livestock to live freely, although it remains restricted. And this will make the quality of livestock better. "If livestock are comfortable, production will also be good and this will also affect the quality of the meat," he concluded. (nov)
