Improvement in Food Resources — Science STD 9 — Question

The dairy cattle is given a balanced ration, which contains all nutrients in proportionate amounts. A ration is the amount of food which is given to the animal during a twenty-four hour period.
The animal feed includes two types of substances.

1. Roughage: It largely contains fibres such as green fodder, silage, hay (straw of sereals) and legumes, (e.g., berseem, lucerne, cow pea and agathi)
2. Concentrates: The concentrates used in feed of cattle and bufalloes are a mixture of substances which are rich in one or more of the nutrients, g., cotton seeds, oil seeds, grains of maize, oats, barley jowar, bajra, gram and their byproducts such as wheat bran, rice bran (polish), gram husk, oil seed cakes and molasses.

1. Green fodder and dry grasses (roughage) = 15 to 20kg
2. Grain mixture (concentrates) = 4 to 5kg
3. Water 30 to 35 litres.

Besides above mentioned nutritious food material, dairy animals require certain additive feeds, promote the growth of the animals which contain antibiotic, minerals, and hormones, facilitate good yield of milk and protects them from diseases.