Basic Test for Animal Feed at Feed Analysis lab
Animal feed is one of the most significant aspects of rearing cattle If you give the right food to your cattle, the life and production value by the cattle increase many folds in long run. Thus, testing feed before giving them to cattle is important and will help you stay in business in the long run. Different types of hay are exported in the different region according to topography. Not all feed is suitable for all animals, they depend on location and type of animal feed is being given to. Ensuring that feed meets the high-quality standard is extremely important these days with an increasing number of large scale cattle farms.
Various tests are carried out to know the feed quality. All of them can be summarized into a physical test, moisture contents, nutrients test to determine proteins, fats and organic and inorganic material.
Moisture Content
The moisture content of any feed is measured to know at what point of time will the feed be consumable easily. There are mainly two ways to measure feed moisture. First one is a gravimetric method which is done through measuring weight after two days of drying at 105 degrees. The difference in weight gives the moisture content. Now, through halogen moisture method the high-quality feed analysis lab can be confirmed in a few minutes. The device is pretty advanced and automatically calculates the moisture content.
Ash content
This is done by burning sample in the furnace at 500 degrees. The test will allow you to have a basic idea of organic to inorganic content in the soil. Due to the presence of some volatile material in feed the test is not always accurate. Thus, more advanced methods are preferred when testing for minerals.
Nutrient composition
The important part of feed testing is nutrient quantity. The first test measures the quantity of nitrogen in the sample. The samples are tested with sulphuric acid to know the content of nitrogen. Fat content is also measured by a different test. The test is done by boiling the sample with hexane. The fibred is also calculated by digesting the sample with sulphuric acid.