advertorial | meadow feeds
I
t is strangehowgamefarmers
often pay impressive prices for
superior animals but then seem
reluctant to spend money on
feeding them properly. It is true that
game should get their nourishment
from the veldt, as they have done
for ages. However, we have
‘industrialised’ them and are now
obliged to provide additional feed to
fill the gap between what the veldt
supplies and what modern game
farming systems require.
Modern livestock nutrition is based
on a solid foundation of scientific
data. Game feeding on the other
hand is relatively poorly researched
and relies heavily on extrapolation
from comparative domestic
species, experience and tradition.
Unfortunately, and understandably,
some of the data that does exist
is shrouded in secrecy; such data
should be viewed sceptically since
it was not subjected to the same
stringent peer-review process as is
the case for traditional livestock.Successfulgamefarmingdepends
on a good understanding of genetics
and breeding. The same is true
for feeding. Proper application of
scientifically sound feeding practices
will ensure healthy, fertile animals
that grow to their full potential from
generation to generation. It will also
promote conservation of precious
veldt, without which there is no future
for the game industry.In spite of huge, often obvious,
differences between the various
game species and livestock they do
have a lot in common when it comes
to nutritional principles. They share
the basic life functions of:
• survival,
• maintenance,
• growth,- reproduction,and
• lactation.
gAMe Feeding
- MORETHANJUST PUTTINGOUTPELLETS
by Dr Pieter Henning
Divisional Technical Manager:
Ruminants at Meadow FeedsSable antelope (Hippotragus niger) breeding bull, ‘Blue 302 Namwanga’.
Photo courtesy BONA BONA Game Breeders.