TUGUEGARAO CITY (September 15)—The Provincial Veterinary Office has started hands-on training on the production of animal feed formulation at the Cagayan Animal Breeding Center and Agri-Tourism Park in Zitanga, Ballesteros town in Cagayan province.
Provincial veterinarian Noli Buen said they have started these past few days the training for government employees to learn how to process feed milling formulation as an alternative food for animals and to make the cost of breeding lower.
“If we can produce a perfect feed formulation with the use of a feed milling machine, we will suggest to Gov. Manuel Mamba to procure more of this for the provincial government,” Buen said.
He said the preparation of local raw materials is also a long process because it is first dried before being mixed with other ingredients.
These include leaves of moringa (malunggay) or horseradish plant, mulberry, indigofera, napier, setaria grass and trichantera, and are mixed with corn grits, soybeans and rice bran.
“The feed formulation for chickens and native pigs differ from that of ruminants such as cows, buffaloes, goats and pelletized feeds for rabbits,” Buen said, explaining the need to produce the right food ingredients for the balanced diet of livestock.
He said they are making experiments and adjustments on the number of ingredients needed in the feed formulation to produce a perfect food product for the animals.
“There are certain limits to observe and follow in terms of ingredients to have a balanced diet of food for our livestock,” Buen said.
“The feed formulation involves a great deal of processing and having a feed mill is a big help to get the right ingredients,” he added.
Buen said the feed formulation they produce will be fed to the animals in the breeding center.
“We will also share how to produce this alternative food for animals to farmers in Cagayan,” he said. LCD