Animal food additive and animal food containing said additive

The invention has resulted in problems arising from the feeding of pregnant sows.

Today, the husbandry of pregnant sows is largely based on labor-intensive and cost reasons in single-animal systems. In the future, due to new regulations, animal husbandry farming methods and feeding systems will be established in pig farming. The grouping of pregnant sows has many challenges in terms of feeding technology.

During pregnancy, the energy intake of the animal must be limited in order to avoid excessive fat accumulation. In the past, this was ensured by fiber-rich and low-energy grass and juice feeds such as grass, turnips, hay, etc. However, the use of these feedstuffs is hardly feasible due to today's farming systems and automated feeding systems under economic conditions. For this reason, the energy consumption of the animal is currently limited for the most part via a rationed feeding template. The majority of the pregnant sows are therefore kept in cages with rationed feeding. This system is not particularly suited to the animal species and causes behavioral abnormalities of the animals.

The saturation of the animals is less important by keeping the pregnant sows in cages with rationed feeding. It is, however, expected that, in the future, the feeding and feeding of feedstuffs as feeding systems will in practice be carried out in practice. Even today, the new buildings of sow management systems are designed without the feeding problems - above all the choice of a suitable raw fiber carrier - solved.

Against this backdrop, an EU Directive (EU Directive 91/630 / EEC on the minimum requirements for the protection of pigs) for the keeping of pigs was adopted in 2000, which must be implemented by 2006. According to this directive, sows must be constantly given access to employment and the animals must be free to move around in a stable area. The "employment material" is, above all, the constant access to feed - the "saturated feed" or "ad libitum feeding". When feeding the animals, the feed libitum is presented to the animals in feed machines. In this case, the goal must be to limit the weight gain of the sow via the energy content of the feedrate taken up. As is the case with all feeding systems,

However, in order to prevent unwanted fat accumulation of the animals (and associated poorer births) during the self-determined feeding, the energy concentration in the ration taken by the animal must be lowered. At present, this is achieved with higher doses of raw fibers, which should bring as little energy into the feed as possible.

The invention is based on the object of effecting rapid saturation without negative side effects in the case of pregnant livestock and the use of feeding systems such as saturated feeding.

This object is achieved by means of the feed additive reproduced in claim 1 or by the feeding agent containing the feed additive set forth in claim 4.

The manufacture of cellulose fibrils and their use also in feedstuffs is described in the <patcit id="pcit0001" dnum="EP0819787A2"><text>EP 0 819 787 A2</text></patcit> In feedstuffs with an addition of pure finely divided cellulose in the feedstock <patcit id="pcit0002" dnum="WO0239827A1"><text>WO 02/39 827 A1</text></patcit>. The effect of the invention is based on the high and rapid swelling capacity of fibrillated lignocellulose. The feed intake can be influenced by the swelling, ie the water absorption capacity of the feed components and their swelling speed. The feed is absorbed, swells already in the stomach and ensures a feeling of saturation in the animals, whereby the nutrient intake remains limited despite the free access to the feed and the animal is not too fat.

In order to be particularly suitable for the invention, the crude fiber concentrate should have a water retention capacity of 500-800%, ie, a water quantity of 500-800% of its own weight.

A material which is considered as crude fiber concentrate with this property is the product "ARBOCEL" (registered trademark of the company Rettenmaier &amp; Söhne GmbH + Co. KG) of Rettenmaier &amp; Söhne GmbH + Co. KG. ARBOCEL lignocellulose has by far the highest water absorption capacity compared to other raw fiber carriers (eg wheat bran approx. 200%, sugar beet chips approx. 400%) with its 500-800%

A further important property of the feed additive according to the invention is the high swelling speed. The swelling must in any case be carried out to an essential extent as long as the feed is still in the stomach, because only then the saturation sensation caused by the swelling is effected. As a rule, the swelling is completed after about one minute.

The high crude fiber content of the feed additive makes it possible to achieve the necessary raw fiber content in the feed for the desired effect by adding relatively small amounts of feed additive.

When the feed additive is compacted according to claim 3, its handling is facilitated. No dust is produced during the addition and the uniform intermixing into the feed is facilitated. Compaction in this context is intended to mean a compaction of finely divided material into coherent, larger aggregates, for example a compaction in a roller nip to form a sheet, which is subsequently broken into small pieces.

The invention is also realized in the feed provided with the feed additive according to claim 4.

The proportions of the feed additive in the total weight of the feed can, according to claim 5, be 0.5 to 8.0%. In most cases, however, amounts in the range from 1.0 to 3.0 percent by weight are sufficient.

It may also be advantageous to pellet the feed provided with the feed additive (claim 6).

An important factor in feedstuffs of the type in question is the content of unwanted substances in the raw fiber carriers. For example, conventional raw fiber carriers, such as wheat bran, straw grass, greens, etc., frequently contain unwanted substances such as mycotoxins and high germ loadings. Furthermore, higher contents of fermentable, soluble fibers are contained in conventional crude fiber carriers.

The lignocellulose to be used according to the invention is, on the other hand, free of mycotoxins, has a very low germ load, and contains largely insoluble raw fibers. Soluble fibers bind nutrients and reduce their availability. This has two disadvantages: the availability of microintegration (minerals, trace elements, vitamins) is difficult to calculate reliably and the higher addition of these substances is quite costly.

The advantage of solubilizing soluble insoluble fibers is, above all, the long-lasting saturation feeling, since no fractions of the raw fibers are dissolved and these are retained in their effect. Also, no nutrients, such as minerals, are bound.

Furthermore, soluble fibers are strongly fermented in the digestive tract and thus lead to further problems such as gas formation and negatively influenced fecal consistency.

Furthermore, conventional raw fiber carriers (in this case mainly sugar beet chips) contain very unfavorable ratios of calcium and magnesium, which greatly reduces the animal performance of the sows. The lignocellulose to be used according to the invention does not influence the Ca-Mg equilibrium.

The faeces consistency is a very important parameter both in breeding breeding breeds, as well as in fattening pigs and other farm animals (calves). Due to the high swelling capacity, the fibrillated lignocellulose is able to bind excess, unbound or non-thickened liquid in the intestine, thus buffering diarrhea. On the other hand, the lignocellulose contains almost exclusively insoluble constituents. No gel formation occurs and the typical greasy feces - as observed at higher doses of sugar beet chips - are reliably prevented.

The consistency of the faeces is also important in terms of hygiene in the barn. If, due to high contents of fermentable, soluble fibers, the typical greasy faeces (especially in beet chips) occur, the faeces do not easily pass through the clefts of the stables, but build up on their surface. There are considerable risks for two reasons: on the one hand, the sows or fattening pigs can slip on the slippery soils and suffer bone fractures. On the other hand, this results in considerable colorectal damage in the piglets after the farrowing record, tape.

Furthermore it is of elementary importance to prevent constipation (constipation) shortly before the farrowing. The intestine of the sow is supposed to empty itself before the birth of the piglets, to make a faster and easier birth possible. The addition of fibrillated lignocellulosic as an insoluble crude fiber results in an acceleration of the intestinal transiteity and a corresponding improvement in the intestinal discharge.

The high water absorption capacity of the lignocellulose to be used according to the invention results from the fibrillation, ie by the special production process of this lignocellulose, in particular in the case of the product ARBOCEL. In this case, the material is processed by means of a mill-like device so that the individual fibers are largely dissolved or separated from one another and a particularly loose, capillary-intensive, absorbent structure is formed.

Due to the strong swelling of the feed in the stomach, the animal quickly reaches a long-lasting saturation feeling and then adjusts the further feed intake due to this saturation feeling. As a result, an excessive feed consumption in the saturation feed is severely limited and feed costs are saved. This effect also occurs in animals other than pigs. The invention is therefore not limited to pigs, although they are the starting point.

The already mentioned freedom of the fibrillated lignocellulose from mycotoxins represents a decisive advantage, especially in the feeding of mother pigs. It is known that many of the conventional raw fiber carriers, such as straw meal, bran, etc., pose great risks with regard to mycotoxins. Fusarium toxins (Zeralenon, DON) are a major threat to fertility and the ability to throw pigs.

In the feeding of pregnant maternal pigs, it is also necessary that the energy content in the feed is reduced to 8.0 - 8.5 MJME (MegaJoule metabolisable energy) per kg of feed. This reduction in the energy content while at the same time sufficient supply of proteins and minerals is only very difficult to cope with conventional raw fiber carriers since they also always introduce certain energy concentrations into the feed. Therefore, a very high concentration is required in conventional crude fiber products in order to reduce the energy content of the ration accordingly. These high contents of less tasty products in the ration lead to a selection of the feed ingredients by the animal, ie,

Due to the very high crude fiber content of the lignocellulose to be used according to the invention (for example, 65% according to Weender analysis), this is most suitable as a feed additive in the sense of the invention since practically no energy is introduced into the feed. It is thus already possible to significantly increase the crude fiber content of the feedstuff with relatively low feed quantities and thus significantly reduce the energy concentration in the feedstuff.

However, the fibrillated lignocellulose to be used according to the invention is suitable not only for the feeding of pregnant pigs but also for the rationed feeding of sows. For rationed feeding, approx. 6% of crude fiber is striven for in the total ration. Grain rations (barley), as they are commonly used, contain about 4% crude fiber. By the addition of approx. 3% fibrillated lignocellulose, these rations are upgraded to approx. 6% per fiber. Of the conventional raw fiber carriers (bran, sugar beet chips, green flour, heumehl, soy baskets, etc.), approx. 15-20% of the feed is necessary to upgrade the rations to the 6% crude fiber. The fibrillated lignocellulose thus makes it possible to increase the crude fiber content in feed rations even at low feed rates.

The availability of the fibrillated lignocellulose over a period of a year in constant quality does not lead to hygienic, microbiological or logistical problems, as is the case with the other raw fiber carriers which are available in crop production. These must also be preserved and stored.

A further positive aspect for the use of fibrillated lignocelluloses is the possibility of treating non - infectious diarrheal diseases in most animal species (mainly calves, pigs). The high water binding capacity allows for a stabilization of the water balance in the intestine by a very high water binding capacity Improved consistency.

Practical experience shows that feeding 15% mycotoxin-containing wheat bran could be replaced with the addition of only 1.2% fibrillated lignocellulose in feeding experiments. To compensate for the amount released in the formulation, farmyard barley was added. Thus, the formulation in the crude fiber content remained essentially constant and a slight cost reduction could be achieved.

By the addition of ARBOCEL lignocellulose, a higher water intake was observed in pregnant sows. The sows are better rinsed, the urine pH is positively influenced, and in practice much less MMA (matitis, metritis, agalacty, uterine inflammation and uterine inflammation leading to milk deficiency) are observed.

The swelling and the fibrous capillary effect of the lignocellulose are purely physical effects, which do not require any specific digestive processes. Thus, the described mode of action of lignocellulose (treatment and prevention of diarrheal diseases, influence of fecal consistency, saturation effect, etc.) can also be transferred to other animal species and even to human nutrition.

To test this, feeding experiments were carried out with fur animals. Foxes and minks were fed in the appropriate farms with pasty feed, which consists mostly of slaughtered products and is generally very energetic. Since the parent animals absorb a lot of energy during the intensive mast, they tend to grease. As this leads to poor birth rates, very low-energy feed needs to be administered in the late year. The energy must also be controlled during lactation. For this purpose 2% ARBOCEL were added to the fodder's fur. As a result, a better saturation of the animals as well as a higher water intake could be observed, ie the same results as well as in the area of ​​the breed feeding.

Finally, feeding experiments were also carried out in fattening pigs. These also tend to become fatty in later feeding stages, which has a negative effect on the muscle meat content and thus on the economic success of the mast. With only 1% ARBOCEL the desired reduction of the energy consumption during feeding was achieved.

All of the above percentages are weight percentages.