Local mineral feed additives in the rations of steers of Hereford breed

Animals imported to Yakutia from other regions fall into feeding and housing conditions that differ from their usual agro-climatic conditions, which causes the problem of their adaptation. Yakutia is one of the areas where the feed of its own production has a lack of basic minerals, which affects the health and productivity of animals, which has an additional negative influence on the adaptation process of imported cattle. In order to replenish macro- and microelements in the body, it is necessary to introduce various local mineral feed additives, premixes, and use mineral salts into the ration. Under the conditions of Central Yakutia the influence of local mineral feed additives (zeolite of the Khonguruu Deposit in the Suntar district and sapropels of local lakes) containing macro- and microelements that increase the meat productivity of steers has been studied. As a result of the research the influence of local mineral feed additives on meat productivity and physiological condition of Hereford steers has been established. Influence of zeolite and sapropel in a complex with mineral salts on digestibility of nutrients of the ration and use of nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus by experimental animals has been defined. The influence of feed additives on the quality of meat products has been studied. The results have shown that the use of local mineral feed additives in the composition of ration of steers during the fattening period at a dose of 0,7 g zeolite per 1 kg of live weight of the animal and 200 g of sapropel in combination with 10 g of mineral salts contributed to the gain in live weight, carcass weight, carcass yield, yield of edible parts, and economic efficiency of fattening. For the entire period of the experiment the gain in live weight in groups was: in control group 2222,9 kg, in the 1st experimental group 2396,2 kg, in the 2nd experimental group 2471,1 kg. The total economic effect for the 1st experimental group for the period of experiment amounted to 44,3 thousand Rubles, for the 2nd experimental group 78,0 thousand Rubles or per 1 head/day 14,06 and 24,76 Rubles, respectively.