Jun 11
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In ostrich farming, forage ingredients are an important component of ostrich rations as discussed in Feed Ingredient Types in a Balanced Ostrich Ration.
All too often one hears people refer to roughage with the thought process that this is in an addition to the main ration. The forage ingredient is provided only for the “roughage” element. The definition of ‘roughage’: “Fibrous, indigestible material…….” in a nutritional sense, roughages have no place in ostrich rations – ostrich need feed ingredients of high digestibility in order to adequate nutrients. Therefore it is more suitable to use the word fibre rather than roughage. The fibre portion of a ration should always be from a quality source and highly digestible.
The Role of Nutrition in Ostrich Farming Establishing the “Productive Value of Ostrich Rations illustrated the variations in nutrient contents of different forage ingredients, including straw. The table listed only the main nutrients, but there will be vitamins and minerals in the different quality, with those with greater digestibility providing gram for gram consumption far more nutrients than those containing high fibre content. The grains and protein ingredients also contain some fibre, but this fibre low and a different quality.
The illustration demonstrates the increasing proportion of stem to leaf as the lucerne/alfalfa crop matures. Notice how rapidly the digestibility drops as the proportion of stem increases. The best nutrients are in the leaf, the stem contains not only a higher proportion of fibre but also, as can be seen, increasing loss in the digestibility. In order to obtain a balance between yield and quality, Lucerne is best harvested around first flower.
According to the NRC United States and Canadian Tables of Feed Composition, forages produced in cooler climates have improved digestibility to those produced in warmer regions.
While on the subject of fibre there are two common beliefs in ostrich documentation that have subsequently been proven incorrect.
The first: that bran may be used as a substitute for lucerne when lucerne is in short supply. Lucerne is a quality forage crop, highly digestible providing many nutrients, not only fibre. In contrast wheat bran is a by-product of wheat and has very different characteristics both in nutrient profile and digestibility.
The second: that baby chicks require very little fibre in the early weeks. The ostrich nutritionist promoting this advice subsequently corrected this advice. Baby chicks require a certain amount of quality fibre in their diets from day one. Impaction was commonly thought to be a cause of death as a result. Chicks hatched with poor livers, yolk sacs or other internal organ problems as discussed here are unable to digest food well. Whilst the food looks undigested (see here), the cause is poor breeder rations and often followed by poor chick feed as well.
As a result of the connotations with roughage being a poor quality fibre source, the word has little room when discussing nutrition in commercial ostrich farming or any other livestock agriculture.
To avoid the mistakes of many past ostrich farmers, and to save you time and money, check out “How to Start A Successful Ostrich Farm“.
