Bone meal is a great way to provide protein for your cattle feed. Its high protein content means that your animals will get a lot of nutrients from it, and it is a very inexpensive commodity. However, there are some important considerations you should know about before using bone meal. Here are some of them:
Contents
Sources
Meat and bone meal is a nutrient-rich protein source for livestock. It contains high levels of phosphorus and calcium. It is also a good source of protein, vitamin B-12, and lysine.
The United States produces millions of tons of animal by-products every year. These by-products are sent to landfills or reused for animal feed. But animal by-products need to be treated before they are used.
Animal by-products include meat trimmings, inedible parts of slaughtered animals, and animal fetuses. Slaughterhouses and abattoirs produce a large volume of by-products. They are sorted by type and then processed. There are two types of processing: dry and wet.
Dry rendering involves reducing the moisture content of the material by heating. Fat is removed through centrifuging and then separated into a fat fraction and a meat and bone fraction. The meat and bone fraction is ground in a screw press, and the fat is dried and added to tankage.
Wet rendering is more economical. Raw materials are sent to approved factories. The process involves crushing, grinding, and heat treatment to remove microorganisms.
Composition requirements
Meat and bone meal (MM) is a protein-rich feed, containing a wide range of nutrients. It is one of the most valuable sources of protein for animals. However, the composition of MM varies significantly depending on its source.
The proximate composition of MM has been extensively characterized. This is particularly true for the soft tissue form, which contains more proteins.
In addition to the protein content, MBM also contains a good amount of calcium. Moreover, it has a good balance of phosphorus, as well.
While the protein quality of MM is useful, it is not a substitute for testing the components of the ingredient. Instead, it is mostly used in ration formulation software programs.
However, the nutrient profile of the ingredients can be varied due to the sources of raw materials and processing methods. Generally, cattle require more than one source of protein.
When a nutrient is not present in a diet, the animal will exhibit deficiency symptoms. This may be manifested as poor performance or general unthriftiness. By adding the nutrient to the diet, the deficiency symptoms can be eliminated.
BSE risk
If you are a livestock owner, you may be worried about your feed. For instance, you might want to know what is a BSE risk in your feed. Meat and bone meal (MBM) is a protein product that comes from a rendered animal carcass. The process of rendering is not effective for the BSE agent, which may remain in the tissue. It is therefore prohibited in all ruminant feeds.
There are three pathways for infectivity to reach cattle. These include: cross-contamination in the primary farm, pasture contamination, and the feed mill.
According to epidemiological studies, contaminated feed is the main source of disease in cattle. Infected feed may be imported from non-EU countries. This is why meat and bone meal is banned across Europe.
Atypical forms of BSE occur at a very low rate in all cattle populations. Although experimental studies have indicated the presence of the BSE agent in the brain and spinal cord, this has not been confirmed.
Preventing prion disease
Preventing prion disease with bone meal for cattle feed is an important issue. Prion diseases include variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), chronic wasting disease (CWD) and scrapie. All these diseases involve accumulation of infectious protein, usually abnormal. These proteins interfere with normal brain function and lead to behavioral changes and eventually death.
BSE is a disease that affects the central nervous system of adult cattle. It is thought to be caused by a viral or prion-like agent. The disease has no known treatments. Cattle become infected by ingesting a feed contaminated with BSE-infective material.
Meat and bone meal has been used in livestock feeds for more than a hundred years. However, ruminants are no longer fed it. This has led to a decrease in the number of endemic cases of classical BSE.
BSE is a prion disease that can be transmitted through blood transfusion or ingestion. It can also be caused by soil from infected dead animals.
