AU631010B2 - Feed for horses and other ungulates - Google Patents

Description

~TR~1A~ P/oo/o11 Foem PATENTS ACT 1952 0,26 COMPLETE SPECI 6ki I 0

(ORIGINAL)

FOR OFFICE USE Short Title: Int. Cl: Application Number: Lodged: PJ 6365 18.9.89 Complete Specification-Lodged: Accepted: Lapsed: Published: °Priority: o A Related Art: j a;j 0 'Name of Applicant: TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT AUSTRALIAN FEED CO. PTY. LIM- ED RMB 1080 Pacific Highway SOMMERSBY NSW 2250 Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Complete Specification for JOHN RAY BIFFIN JOHN SAMUEL RUTHERFORD PETER ALDRICK PETER MAXWELL ASSOCIATES Blaxland House, Ross Street, NORTH PARRAMATTA NSW 2151 the invention entitled: FEED FOR HORSES AND OTHER UNGULATES The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to US Note: The description is to be typed in double spacing, pica type face, in an area not exceeding 250 mm in depth and 160 mm in width, on tough white paper of good quality and it is to be inserted inside this form.

14599/78-L Printed by C. THOMPsON, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra The present invention relates to a process for preparing a feed for horses and other ungulates and more particularly to a process for preparing a high nutrient feed for such animals that are under stress or that are regularly exercising.

For the sake of brevity, the invention will be described with particular reference to a feed for horses but it is to be understood that the invention also embraces processes for preparing a feed for other ungulates such as 00 0 .0,0 10 cattle, camels and deer.

0000 0oo0 Conventionally, feed for horses, and particularly those o.oo under stress, have contained high levels of energy, protein, 0 40 vitamins, minerals, salts and trace elements that may be efficiently utilised by the horses metabolism to improve health and performance. For instance, a balanced nutritional intake is of critical importance for a mare in foal as it .0 .0 0000 O~ leads to reduced wastage rate or lessened incidence of 0 orthopaedic disorders of new born foals or may otherwise L° impair future performance.

Whereas conventional processes for mixing the various 0 components of a high nutrient feed required the addition of 04 o 0 water (usually as steam), the present process of preparing the high nutrient feed does away with this requirement and thereby avoids the major proble inherent in all such conventional feeds of susceptibility to spoilage by mould or other micro-organisms which can also lead to the death of the horses fed on such contaminated feed.

i "j y"YL'i- -3- The present invention has been devised with a view to alleviating the aforementioned problems as presently experienced, and it has for its principal object the preparation of a feed, and particularly a high nutrient feed, for horses and other ungulates that has minimal water content, thereby ensuring that the feed does not go hard but is of a generally loose consistency.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention resides broadly, in one aspect, in a process for oo 10 preparing a feed for horses and other ungulates comprising mixing selected particulate feed components first with liquid o oo 0 molasses, then with vegetable oil under such conditic-na and nO o time to allow for substantial coating of the particulate o 00 components with molasses and oil but without allowing substantial sticking of the particulate components to each other.

o 0 In a preferred form, the selected particulate feed components are high in nutrient so as to provide a high nutrient feed for horses and other ungulates.

The particulate feed components may include crushed 04°° grain, such as oats, barley, corn, sunflower, lupin and tick bean. There may also be included powdered nutrient such as cotton seed meal (a high protein meal), amino acids, vitamins minerals and electrolytes.

In the context of the present invention, the requirement that there be "substantial coating of the particulate components with molasses and oil but without allowing substantial sticking of the particulate components to each other" means that there be sufficient coating to ensure that the particulate components are, as is referred to in the art, wet and friable. In the present circumstances, the particulate components are wet with oil and molasses and are friable to the extent that they have an overall loose consistency.

Preferably, the vegetable oil is a crude vegetable oil rather than a refined or semi-refined vegetable oil.

o. 10 Examples of crude vegetable oils that can be used in the present invention include cotton seed oil, olive oil, canola oil, linseed oil and rapeseed oil.

0 Preferred crude vegetable oils are those which are high B 0 in oleic acid colitent, have a nutritionally balanced concentration of linoleic and linolenic acids and have appreciable surfactant activity.

0 0 According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a feed for horses and other ungulates whenever "t prepared by the above mentioned process.

In order that the invention may be more readily 11 understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the following example of a preferred milling process utilising a preferred high nutrient horse feed of the invention.

The milling process begins with the release from separate storage silos of oats, barley, corn, sunflower, lupin and tick bean which are crushed by being passed through crush rollers. The crushing process improves the

L

-U ;;a digestibility of the final feed product. The crushed grain is then dispensed into a first mixing chamber. A mixture of powdered nutrient that includes cotton seed meal, aminoacids, vitamins, minerals and electrolytes is also introduced into the first mixing chamber to give a total mixture weight of about 740 kg and the mixing of these components takes about 3 minutes. The resultant dry mixture is then passed to a second mixing chamber where about 50 kg of molasses kept above 550°C to retain a constant viscosity is sprayed for i10 about 30 seconds into the mixture. The mixing with molasses 0 0 S is allowed to continue for another 30 seconds to disperse the mola. es before about 4 kg of canola oil at room temperature o 0 is sprayed over 15 seconds and mixed into the feed in the second chamber for a period of about 105 seconds.

In a practical embodiment, the molasses and oil comprise between about 6% and 10% of the mixture in the second mixing chamber. The mixing operation is carried out with the use of a ribbon mixer and the timing and amounts of "o o components added is controlled to predetermined levels by a computer. During this operation, dry conditions should be maintained to limit the incorporation of any moisture such as 0 may be due to the humidity of the operating area.

The mixed feed is then conveyed by an auger or belt to the bagging assembly where the feed is bagged in an airtight heat sealed plastic container and made ready for sale.

In the process, a period of time of not more than about ten minutes passes from when the grain is removed from the o0 aoo ooo 0 0 0 0,W o ~O silo to when it is bagged as part of the finished feed. This is in contrast to prior art processes where the crushed grain is stored for extended periods before mixing. Such long term storage of crushed grain in the prior art often leads to oxidization and subsequent spoiling of the grain and an undesirable take up of moisture from the atmosphere or drying out depending on the storage humidity.

It should also be noted that mixing the feed sequentially with molasses and then vegetable oil, ensures 10 that there is no substantial sticking of the grains to each 0.

other but that the powdered nutrient is absorbed into the molasses and vegetable oil that themselves stick readily to 0 S the crushed grain pieces. In this way, the energy density of the grain is increased and the feed is made to taste sweeter to the horses. Furthermore, because of the uniform molasses taste throughout the feed, the feeding horse is not tempted to sift through the feed searching for preferred components, as is a common occurrence with prior art feeds. This ensures S that the present feed provides the complete nutrient package 20 in spite of a horse's taste preferences.

It is another advantage of the present invention that S the sequential addition of molasses and oil stops the resultant feed going hard and maintains a loose consistency of grain and powder particles. This is largely attributable to the presence of the oil as it keeps the moisture content down, whilst also reducing viscosity and altering the surface tension of the molasses. The low water content may also eliminate the growth of mould.

oa o o? 0o °o° o 000 0 0 00OO 000 r~~inaruu~--u~- r -7- In order to maintain fibre and roughage in the horses diet, hay and chaff may be added to the processed feed just prior to the feeding stage.

Various modifications may be made to details of the steps of the process without departing from the scope or ambit of the invention.

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Claims (14)

1. A process for preparing a feed for horses and other ungulates, comprising mixing selected particulate feed components first with liquid molasses, then with vegetable oil under such conditions and time to allow for substantial coating of the particulate components with molasses and oil but without allowing substantial sticking of the particulate components to each other.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein the vegetable oil is a crude vegetable oil.

3. The process of claim 2 wherein the crude vegetable oil is selected from the group consisting of crude canola oil, crude cotton seed oil, crude olive oil, crude linseed oil and crude rapeseed oil.

4. The process of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the vegetable oil is high in oleic acid content.

5. The process of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the vegetable oil has surfactant activity.

6. The process of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the vegetable oil has a nutritionally balanced concentration of linoleic and linolenic acids.

7. The process of any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the particulate feed components include crushed grain selected from the group consisting of oats, barley, corn, sunflower, lupin and tick bean.

8. The process of any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein the particulate feed components include cotton seed meal, amino acids, vitamins, minerals and electrolytes. a C)OOC, n a 0000 a a A 04 -9-

9. The process of any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein the particulate feed components are dry pre-mixed before addition of liquid molasses.

The process of claim 9 wherein the dry pre-mixing occurs in a first mixing chamber and addition of liquid molasses and vegetable oil occurs in a second mixing chamber.

11. The process of claim 9 or claim 10 wherein the dry pre- mixing is of a mixture weighing about 740 kg and is over a period of about 3 minutes.

12. The process of claim 11 wherein about 50 kg of constant viscosity molasses is sprayed over a period of about seconds into the mixture, and at the end of the spraying, the mixing allowed to continue for a further period of about seconds.

13. The process of claim 12 wherein the mixing with molasses is followed by spraying into the mixture for a period of about 15 seconds, about 4 kg of room temperature canola oil and the mixing allowed to continue for a further period of about 105 seconds.

14. A high nutrient feed for horses and other ungulates whenever prepared by the process of any one of claims 1 to 13. DATED this 18th day of September, 1990 AUSTRALIAN FEED CO. PTY. LIMITED By their Patent Attorneys PETER MAXWELL ASSOCIATES