Unit LIVESTOCK FEEDING AND NUTRITION

Course
Animal science
Study-unit Code
85004809
Curriculum
In all curricula
Teacher
Gabriele Acuti
Teachers
  • Gabriele Acuti
Hours
  • 81 ore - Gabriele Acuti
CFU
9
Course Regulation
Coorte 2021
Offered
2022/23
Learning activities
Caratterizzante
Area
Discipline delle produzioni animali
Academic discipline
AGR/18
Type of study-unit
Obbligatorio (Required)
Type of learning activities
Attività formativa monodisciplinare
Language of instruction
Italian
Contents
Chemical and nutritional values of feeds and feedstuffs. Effects of mechanical and heat treatments. Digestion, metabolism and digestibility of nutrients. Energy and feed intake. Nutritional requirements of animals. Feed formulation with electronic spreadsheets and dedicated software. Relationship between diet and animal welfare and health status, quality of animal products, and environmental sustainability.
Reference texts
Sandrucci, Trevisi (2022). Produzioni Animali. Ed. Edises Università

Educational objectives
The course offer the knowledge to understand relationship between diet and animal welfare, and quality of animal production.
Knowledge for understanding the relationship between diet, well-being and productivity of animals: 1) chemical and nutritional value of feeds; 2) digestion, dietary principles and the metabolism nutrients; 3) classification and description of feeds; 4) nutritional requirements of animals; 5) feed treatments, animal welfare and environmental sustainability.
Main competence (i.e. the ability to apply the acquired knowledge) will be: formulate feed or rations to mainly categories of domestic animal species with electronic spreadsheet program to improve digestive efficiency, quality of animal production with respect of animal welfare and environmental sustainability.
Prerequisites
In order to be able to understand and apply the topics described within the course it is important to have knowledge of anatomy (especially digestive tract), biochemistry and physiology (especially digestive tract) of livestock animals (poultry, swine, ruminants). Moreover, it is required to know how to use an electronic spreadsheet program to formulate feed or rations to mainly categories of livestock animal species. These prerequisite / precondition are valid for both attending and non attending students.
PROPEDEUTICITY: to take the final oral exam it is necessary to have passed the "PHYSIOLOGY OF ANIMALS OF ZOOTECHNICAL INTEREST" exam (II year, I semester).
Teaching methods
The course is organized as follow:

- face-to-face theoretical lessons on the topics discussed during the course;

FRONTAL THEORETICAL LESSONS: in the classroom on the topics of the course in order to assimilate the information useful for facing the study of the subject and learning the topics of the course;

PRACTICAL LESSONS: in the classroom to know how to apply the knowledge acquired in the field of classification and recognition of raw materials and therefore the formulation of diets for monogastric (poultry and pigs) and ruminants through the use of an electronic spreadsheet. The practical lessons will also be organized with "cooperative learning" and "flipped lesson" methods. VISIT TO ZOOTECHNICAL COMPANIES.
On a weekly basis, a self-check will be administered to be carried out at home. The method of carrying out the assessment is subjective and decided independently by the students. The answers will then be discussed in the classroom (also in "peer-review" by the students) to allow them to evaluate their level of learning. Carrying out these self-checks and participating in the discussion is strongly recommended. No marks are assigned to the self-test and it is not evaluated in the final exam. The verification can be carried out individually or in pairs.
Other information
Visit the UNIPG “Unistudium” website (https://unistudium.unipg.it/unistudium/login/index.php ) to download the digital files used by the teacher during lessons.
Non-mandatory attendance but strongly recommend.
Learning verification modality
1. number of tests: 2;

2. goal of the tests: to assess the understanding of the relationships between diet, animal welfare and quality of animal production with particular attention to: 1) chemical and nutritional value of feeds; 2) digestion, dietary principles and the metabolism nutrients; 3) classification and description of feeds; 4) nutritional requirements of livestock animals; 5) feed treatments, nutritional strategies to improve digestive efficiency, animal welfare and environmental sustainability;

3. mode of administration: 1) practical test (evaluation - without grade - of suitability for admission to the oral exam) which consists in the formulation of feeds for monogastric animals or rations for ruminants using an electronic spreadsheet in order to assess the ability to correctly apply the theoretical knowledge relating to the rationing of livestock and 2) oral exam ams at assuring the level of knowledge to verifing the understanding capability on theoretical contents as indicated on the program and also test the communication skills of the student and his autonomy in the organization and exposure with appropriate Language;

4. timing of execution: both at the end of the course;

5. timing: 45 minutes for practical diet formulation of livestock animals with electronic spreadsheet program; 40-45 minutes for oral exam;

6. tipology: diet formulation with electronic spreadsheet program and oral exam on the topics discussed during the course and examinated in-depht through a recommended text;

7. measurements: assuring the level of knowledge and understanding with particular reference to the connection capacity (multidisciplinary level) of the topics discussed.
Extended program
FACE-TO-FACE THEORETICAL LESSONS AND PRACTICAL TRAINING

Presentation of the course program. Introduction to the subject: theoretical and professional aspects. Goals of teaching. Explanation of the teaching method and final assessment. Recommended textbook and suggested books. Current situation and problems of livestock farms in Italy and in Europe.
Classification of raw materials for zootechnical use based on use, origin and contributions. EC Reg. 68/2013.
Weende method (type or tag analysis). Amino acids, non-protein nitrogenous substances, proteins and their biological value. Fatty acids and their biological importance, PUFA and CLA. Carbohydrates. Reserve and structural carbohydrates. Fractions of the fiber according to van Soest. Chemical analysis of raw materials and feed. Gross energy of a food.
Raw materials for zootechnical use: cereals and their use in livestock species.
Raw materials for animal nutrition use: cereal co-products and their use in zootechnics.
Raw materials for zootechnical use: protein and oil seeds and their co-products. Extracted flours.
Raw materials for zootechnical use: meat and fish meal, insect, algae, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO): their use in animal husbandry and community legislation.
The pastures. Silage techniques. Silage foods: nutritional characteristics and their use in animal husbandry.
Hay-making techniques. Nutritional characteristics and use of hay fodder in animal husbandry. Dehydrated alfalfa. Hay-silo. Hay.
Notes on the structure, organization and production capacity of feed mills. Flow chart of the feed mill. Notes on mechanical and hydro-thermal treatments. Effect of heat treatments on raw materials. Recognition and evaluation of raw materials subjected to hydro-thermo-mechanical treatments and compound feeds.
Placing on the market of raw materials and feed. Outline of EC Regulation 767/2009.
Curves of ingestion, milk production and live weight in dairy cows. Peak lactation. Energy balance. Survey of the nutritional status through Body Condition Score (BCS, Penn State University technique). Fertility.
Rumen fermentations and rumen degradability of nutrients. Food digestibility concept. Estimation of digestibility: digestibility coefficient, sieving of the Unifeed ration with Penn State Particle Separator (PSPS), evaluation of feces. Transit speed of food. Forage ratio: concentrated.
Concept of gross, digestible, metabolizable and net energy of food: estimate of the value and use by animals.
Dry matter concept. The ingestion capacity of animals: variability factors related to the animal, the food and the environment. Direct assessment and estimation of ingestion capacity. The Unifeed technique: the chopping-mixing wagon.
Micro and macro elements. Hydro and lipo-soluble vitamins. Importance and use in animal husbandry.
Calculation of the nutritional requirements of monogastric animals: evaluation systems, variability factors and methods of calculation. Feed rationing systems for monogastrics: method of manual calculation and with the aid of computer systems. Relationship between diet administered, quality and healthiness of products of animal origin with particular reference to the state of health and animal welfare.
Rationing techniques for broilers and turkey; rationing techniques for laying hens. rationing techniques for the various categories of pigs.
Calculation of the nutritional requirements of polygastric animals: evaluation systems, variability factors and methods of calculation. Rumen degradability of nutritional components. Rationing systems for polygastrics: method of calculating the ration manually and with the aid of computer systems. Relationship between diet administered, quality and healthiness of products of animal origin with particular reference to the state of health and animal welfare.
Rationing techniques for dairy cows (in production, dry and in the transition period).
Evaluation of the Body Condition Score (BCS) using the Penn State University technique. Estimation of the digestibility of the Unifeed ration by sieve (Penn State Particle Separator). Stool evaluation.
Condividi su