JP2018029554A - Feed pellet for ruminants - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide feed that is easily fed to ruminants.SOLUTION: A feed pellet for ruminants contains kraft pulp containing a lignocellulose material as the raw material, the kraft pulp having a fiber length of less than 1.2 mm.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a ruminant feed and a method for producing the same.

In general, in the pastoral field, concentrated feed with high nutritional value is often used together with roughage such as pasture for the purpose of increasing the milk yield and weight gain of livestock.
Concentrated feed contains a lot of easily digestible carbohydrates (starch, etc.) such as corn, wheat, and soybean, while roughage is fermented hay (hay, straw) and pastures that have been green-cut. Mainly (silaged).

  Ruminants are able to ingest and digest forage because they have lumens (the rumen). Rumen occupies the largest volume of the rumen's multiple stomachs and contains abundant microorganisms (lumen microorganisms) that can degrade (rumen fermentation) indigestible polysaccharides such as cellulose and hemicellulose in roughage. It is.

  However, cellulose and hemicellulose in roughage often bind to lignins and exist as lignin-cellulose complexes and lignin-hemicellulose complexes, respectively. Such a complex may not be sufficiently decomposed in rumen fermentation, and the rough feed has a problem that feed efficiency tends to be insufficient. Moreover, since an increase in the amount of undigested materials causes an increase in the amount of feces, it has been considered undesirable from an environmental point of view.

  Furthermore, roughage is easily affected by the yield and pattern of pasture and its supply is unstable. In particular, Japan relies on imports for most of the roughage, so price fluctuations are generally large, and it may be difficult to import due to various circumstances in the exporting country, which may put pressure on ranch management.

For this reason, ruminant feed that can replace grass and is excellent in feed efficiency and stably available is desired.
Here, in order to increase the nutrient concentration in the feed, it is generally performed to mix a concentrated feed containing a large amount of easily digestible carbohydrates (starch) into the rough feed. In order to maintain the milk yield of dairy livestock or to maintain the increase in meat livestock, it is necessary to increase the feed intake, but the energy demands associated with the increase in milk yield and physique increase. This is because the rate of increase exceeds the rate of increase in the amount of ingested feed. However, carbohydrates such as starch in concentrated feeds can drastically lower the rumen pH, resulting in the occurrence of rumen acidosis. Rumen acidosis is a type of ruminant disease caused by rapid intake of carbohydrate-rich cereals, concentrates, fruits, and the like. In rumen acidosis, gram-positive lactic acid producing bacteria, particularly Streptcoccus bovis and Lactobacillus spp. Microorganisms increase in the rumen, resulting in abnormal accumulation of lactic acid or volatile fatty acid (VFA), and the pH in the rumen Decrease (pH 5 or less). The result is a decrease or disappearance of protozoa (protozoa) and certain bacteria in the lumen. In particular, acute acidosis is extremely dangerous because it causes rumen congestion and dehydration (a large amount of body fluid moves into the stomach as the gastric osmotic pressure increases), and coma and death.

  In order to prevent rumen acidosis, it is important to avoid sudden changes in feed composition, stabilize rumen fermentation, and reduce pH fluctuations. In addition, since saliva contains sodium bicarbonate and contributes to pH adjustment, it is also important to supply a feed that can secrete saliva with sufficient rumination. However, there is also a concern that rumen acidosis is feared, and if the nutritional value of the feed is lowered, energy is insufficient and milk production is reduced.

  As a feed for preventing rumen acidosis, Patent Document 1 discloses a livestock feed that is pulverized and pulverized by applying a high impact force to a woody material. Moreover, regarding the pelletized feed, Patent Document 2 proposes that the processed food residue is pelletized to produce the feed. Furthermore, Patent Document 3 describes that lignocellulose biomass is pelletized to produce ruminant feed (Japanese Patent Publication No. 2013-518880). Furthermore, Patent Document 4 describes that kraft pulp having a copper number of 90 or less is pelletized to obtain ruminant feed.

JP 2011-083281 A JP-A-10-75719 International Publication WO2011-097075 JP-A-2015-198553

In ruminants, the final digestibility of the feed needs to be increased to maintain high milk fat content.
In view of the ease of handling the feed, the feed may be in the form of pellets. However, if the pellet is too soft, it is difficult for ruminants to eat, and the pellet may be crushed or dust may be generated during transportation. In particular, pulp with advanced delignification, such as kraft pulp, has a low content of thermoplastic lignin, and it is difficult to produce hard pellets.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide ruminant feed pellets that are easy to handle as feed and have a high final digestibility.

The inventors of the present invention diligently studied the above problems, and found that by pelletizing kraft pulp having an average fiber length of less than 1.2 mm, it is possible to produce feed pellets that can be easily digested in ruminants. It came to complete.
(1) A feed pellet for ruminants containing kraft pulp made from a lignocellulosic material, wherein the fiber length of the kraft pulp is less than 1.2 mm.
(2) The feed pellet according to (1), wherein the kraft pulp has a copper number of 15 to 30.
(3) The feed pellet according to (1) or (2), wherein the lignocellulose material contains a woody material.
(4) The feed pellet according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the pellet has a mechanical durability of 97.5% by mass or more and a pellet diameter of 3 to 10 mm.
(5) The feed pellet according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the kraft pulp has a breaking length of 7.0 km or less.
(6) The feed pellet according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein the Canadian standard freeness of kraft pulp is less than 400 ml.
(7) A method for producing a feed pellet according to any one of (1) to (6),
The said method including the process of press-compressing and pelletizing the kraft pulp whose moisture content is 15 to 35 weight%.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a feed in the form of pellets that is excellent in digestion efficiency, is highly ruminant, and is easy to handle. In addition, the ruminant feed pellets of the present invention can be manufactured from lignocellulose raw materials such as wood, and therefore can be supplied stably and inexpensively.

FIG. 1 is an appearance photograph of a feed pellet produced in an experimental example (Sample 6).

Feed pellet The feed pellet for ruminants of the present invention is applied to ruminants. Examples of ruminants include cows such as dairy cows and fattening cows, sheep, and goats. There is no particular limitation on the time when the feed of the present invention is fed to ruminants, that is, the age, physique, health status, etc. of ruminants to which the feed is applied. For example, it is considered that there are applications from calves in adulthood to adult cattle. .

  The feed pellet of the present invention has sufficient hardness so as not to be pulverized and pulverized at the time of transportation, and has a mechanical durability (based on a wood pellet quality standard 6.5 mechanical durability test method) of 97. It is preferably 5% or more. The mechanical durability indicates a resistance to breakage of the pellet, and is a mass ratio that is not broken and not pulverized when a certain amount of mechanical impact is applied. In a preferred embodiment, the feed pellet of the present invention has a mechanical durability of 98.0% or more, more preferably 99.0% or more.

  The feed pellet in this invention can be manufactured by pelletizing the raw material containing a kraft pulp by a well-known method. The shape and size of the feed pellet according to the present invention are not particularly limited. For example, the pellet diameter can be 2 to 20 mm, and preferably 3 to 10 mm. The length of the pellet is, for example, preferably 1 to 200 mm, more preferably 5 to 80 mm, further preferably 10 to 60 mm, and may be 15 to 45 mm.

  Pelletization can be performed by compression molding, and a known apparatus can be used. Although the apparatus for performing compression molding is not specifically limited, For example, a briquetter (made by Kitagawa Iron Works), a ring die type pelletizer (made by CPM), and a flat die type pelletizer (made by Dalton) can be mentioned as a suitable example.

  The feed pellet of the present invention contains bleached or unbleached kraft pulp, but preferably contains 10% by mass or more, more preferably 50% by mass or more, and further preferably 80% by mass or more. It may consist only of kraft pulp. If necessary, other feed ingredients may be included. The kraft pulp is preferably subjected to oxygen delignification treatment, and the kappa number is preferably 30 or less. The lower limit of the kappa number is not particularly limited, but is preferably 5 or more. More preferably, the kappa number is 10 to 28 and may be 15 to 26. If the kappa number is 30 or less, the ruminant animal has good palatability.

  Although the feed pellet of the present invention contains kraft pulp (KP), pulp produced by other known pulping methods can be used in combination. For example, both mechanical pulp and chemical pulp are applicable. Examples of mechanical pulp include groundwood pulp (GP), refiner groundwood pulp (RGP), thermomechanical pulp (TMP), chemithermomechanical pulp (CTMP), and the like. Examples of the chemical pulp include kraft pulp (KP), dissolved kraft pulp (DKP), sulfite pulp (SP), and dissolved sulfite pulp (DSP). Either bleached pulp or unbleached pulp can be used. Of these, oxygen delignified chemical pulp and bleached chemical pulp are preferred.

  In the ruminant feed of the present invention, the pulp may be composed of one kind or a mixture of a plurality of pulps. For example, chemical pulps (hardwood kraft pulp, softwood kraft pulp, melted hardwood kraft pulp, melted softwood kraft pulp), or mechanical pulp (crushed wood pulp, refiner groundwood pulp, thermomechanical pulp, chemithermomechanical pulp) of different raw materials and production methods ) May be used in combination of two or more.

  As the raw material wood, for example, hardwood, conifer, miscellaneous tree, bamboo, kenaf, bagasse, empty bunch after palm oil extraction can be used. Specifically, the broad-leaved trees include beech, china, birch, poplar, eucalyptus, acacia, oak, itayaka maple, senoki, elm, giraffe, honoki, willow, sen, basamushi, konara, kunugi, tochinoki, zelkova, mizume, mizuzuki Aodamo etc. are exemplified. As conifers, cedar, spruce, larch, black pine, todomatsu, himekomatsu, yew, neko, spruce, iramimi, fir, sawara, togasawara, asunaro, hiba, tsuga, kotsutsuga, hinoki, yew, yellowtail, spruce (Beihiba), Lawson Hinoki (Beihi), Douglas Fir (Beimatsu), Sitka Spruce (Beisuhi), Radiata Pine, Eastern Spruce, Eastern White Pine, Western Larch, Western Fir, Western Hemlock, Tamarack and the like.

Kraft pulp The feed pellet in the present invention contains kraft pulp obtained by kraft cooking of a lignocellulose raw material, particularly preferably wood-derived kraft pulp. In particular, in the present invention, by using kraft pulp having an average fiber length of less than 1.2 mm, it becomes possible to produce feed pellets that are easily ruminated in ruminant lumens. In a preferred embodiment, the average fiber length of the kraft pulp used in the present invention is 1.1 mm or less, and may be 1.0 mm or less or 0.8 mm or less. In general, kraft pulp having a long fiber length can be obtained by kraft cooking using a tree species having a long fiber length as a raw material. Therefore, the average fiber length of kraft pulp can be adjusted by adjusting the lignocellulose material as a raw material. For example, since the fiber length of conifers is often longer than the fiber length of hardwoods, a pulp with a short average fiber length can be obtained by producing kraft pulp with an increased proportion of hardwood material.

In a preferred embodiment, the kraft pulp used in the present invention has a breaking length of 7.0 km or less, more preferably 6.5 km or less, and even more preferably 6.0 km or less. The breaking length means the length of the paper when it is cut by its own weight when one end of the paper is fixedly suspended, and is generally expressed in kilometers. In the present invention, the breaking length of kraft pulp means the breaking length measured based on JIS P 8113 for hand-made paper having a basis weight of 60 g / m ² manufactured from the pulp. In the present invention, it is preferable to produce a feed pellet from kraft pulp having a long breaking length because it can be a feed that is easily ruminated in ruminants. There is no particular lower limit on the breaking length, but it can be, for example, 2 km or more, or 3 km or more.

  In a preferred embodiment, the kraft pulp used in the present invention may be beaten. In particular, in the present invention, the production of feed pellets using kraft pulp having a Canadian standard freeness (CSF) of less than 400 ml facilitates digestion in ruminant lumens. In a more preferred embodiment, the Canadian standard freeness of kraft pulp used in the present invention is 385 ml or less, and may be 350 ml or less or 300 ml or less. In general, the Canadian standard freeness of kraft pulp can be reduced by treatment with known beating machines such as double disc refiners, single disc refiners, conical refiners or PFI mills.

  The kappa number of the kraft pulp used in the present invention is not particularly limited, but is preferably 10 or more, more preferably 15 or more, and may be 20 or more or 22 or more. The upper limit of the copper is not particularly limited, but can be 30 or less.

  When producing kraft pulp from wood chips, the wood chips are put into a digester along with the cooking liquor and used for kraft cooking. Moreover, you may use for cooking of correction craft methods, such as MCC, EMCC, ITC, and Lo-solid. Also, there are no particular limitations on cooking types such as 1 vessel liquid phase type, 1 vessel gas phase / liquid phase type, 2 vessel liquid phase / gas phase type, and 2 vessel liquid phase type. That is, the step of impregnating and holding the alkaline aqueous solution of the present application may be installed separately from the conventional apparatus or part for the permeation treatment of the cooking liquid. Preferably, the unbleached pulp that has been cooked is washed with a washing device such as a diffusion washer after extracting the cooking liquor. The liquid ratio between the wood chip and the chemical solution can be, for example, 1.0 to 5.0 L / kg, preferably 1.5 to 4.5 L / kg, and more preferably 2.0 to 4.0 L / kg. .

  Moreover, in this invention, you may add the alkaline cooking liquid containing a quinone compound to a digester. When adding the alkaline cooking liquid containing a quinone compound, 0.01-1.5 mass% per absolutely dry chip | tip is preferable. If the addition amount of the quinone compound is less than 0.01% by mass, the addition amount is too small to reduce the kappa number of the pulp after cooking, and the relationship between the kappa number and the pulp yield is not improved. Furthermore, the reduction of wrinkles and the suppression of the decrease in viscosity are insufficient. Moreover, even if the addition amount of a quinone compound exceeds 1.5 mass%, the further reduction of the kappa number of the pulp after cooking and the improvement of the relationship between a kappa number and a pulp yield are not recognized.

  The quinone compound used is a quinone compound, hydroquinone compound or precursor thereof as a so-called known cooking aid, and at least one compound selected from these can be used. Examples of these compounds include anthraquinone, dihydroanthraquinone (for example, 1,4-dihydroanthraquinone), tetrahydroanthraquinone (for example, 1,4,4a, 9a-tetrahydroanthraquinone, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroanthraquinone). Methyl anthraquinone (eg 1-methyl anthraquinone, 2-methyl anthraquinone), methyl dihydroanthraquinone (eg 2-methyl-1,4-dihydroanthraquinone), methyl tetrahydroanthraquinone (eg 1-methyl-1,4,4a) , 9a-tetrahydroanthraquinone, 2-methyl-1,4,4a, 9a-tetrahydroanthraquinone) and the like, anthrahydroquinone (generally 9,10-dihydroxyanthracene), Tyranthrahydroquinone (for example, 2-methylanthrahydroquinone), dihydroanthrahydroanthraquinone (for example, 1,4-dihydro-9,10-dihydroxyanthracene) or an alkali metal salt thereof (for example, disodium salt of anthrahydroquinone, 1 , 4-dihydro-9,10-dihydroxyanthracene disodium salt), and precursors such as anthrone, anthranol, methylanthrone, and methylanthranol. These precursors have the potential to convert to quinone compounds or hydroquinone compounds under cooking conditions.

The cooking liquor preferably has an active alkali addition rate (AA) per 10% dry wood chip weight of 10 to 35% by mass. When the active alkali addition rate is less than 10% by mass, removal of lignin and hemilulose becomes insufficient, and when it exceeds 35% by mass, the yield and quality are degraded. Here, the active alkali addition rate is obtained by converting the total addition rate of NaOH and Na ₂ S as the addition rate of Na ₂ O, and multiplying NaOH by 0.775 and Na ₂ S by 0.795. Therefore, it can be converted into the addition rate of Na ₂ O. The degree of sulfidation is preferably in the range of 20 to 35%. In the region where the sulfidity is less than 20%, the delignification property is lowered, the pulp viscosity is lowered, and the drought rate is increased.

  Kraft cooking is preferably performed in a temperature range of 120 to 180 ° C, more preferably 140 to 160 ° C. If the temperature is too low, delignification (decrease in the kappa number) is insufficient, while if the temperature is too high, the degree of polymerization (viscosity) of cellulose decreases. The cooking time in the present invention is the time from when the cooking temperature reaches the maximum temperature until the temperature starts to decrease, and the cooking time is preferably 60 minutes or more and 600 minutes or less, and 120 minutes or more and 360 minutes or less. Is more preferable. If the cooking time is less than 60 minutes, pulping does not proceed, and if it exceeds 600 minutes, the pulp production efficiency deteriorates, which is not preferable.

  Moreover, the kraft cooking in this invention can set process temperature and process time by setting H factor (Hf) as a parameter | index. The H factor is a standard representing the total amount of heat given to the reaction system during the cooking process, and is represented by the following equation. The H factor is calculated by time integration from the time when chips and water are mixed until the end of cooking. The H factor is preferably 300 to 2000.

Hf = ∫exp (43.20-16113 / T) dt
[Wherein T represents an absolute temperature at a certain point]
In the present invention, the unbleached (unbleached) pulp obtained after cooking can be subjected to various treatments as necessary. For example, bleaching can be performed on unbleached pulp obtained after kraft cooking.

  The pulp obtained by kraft cooking can be subjected to oxygen delignification treatment. As the oxygen delignification used in the present invention, a known medium concentration method or high concentration method can be applied as it is. In the case of the medium concentration method, the pulp concentration is preferably 8 to 15% by mass, and in the case of the high concentration method, it is preferably performed at 20 to 35% by mass. As the alkali in oxygen delignification, sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide can be used. As oxygen gas, oxygen from a cryogenic separation method, oxygen from PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption), VSA (Vacuum Swing Adsorption) Oxygen etc. from) can be used.

The reaction conditions for the oxygen delignification treatment are not particularly limited, but the oxygen pressure is 3 to 9 kg / cm ² , more preferably 4 to 7 kg / cm ² , and the alkali addition rate is 0.5 to 4 mass per pulp dry weight. %, A processing temperature of 80 to 140 ° C., a processing time of 20 to 180 minutes, and other conditions can be known. In the present invention, the oxygen delignification treatment may be performed a plurality of times. Moreover, it is preferable that the copper number of the kraft pulp after performing an oxygen delignification process etc. is 5-15.

  For the purpose of further reducing the kappa number and improving the whiteness, the pulp that has been subjected to oxygen delignification treatment, for example, is then sent to the washing step, and after washing, it is sent to the multistage bleaching step, where the multistage bleaching treatment is performed. It can be carried out. The multi-stage bleaching treatment of the present invention is not particularly limited, but acid (A), chlorine dioxide (D), alkali (E), oxygen (O), hydrogen peroxide (P), ozone (Z), It is preferable to combine a known bleaching agent such as peracid and a bleaching aid. For example, the first stage of the multistage bleaching process uses a chlorine dioxide bleaching stage (D) or an ozone bleaching stage (Z), the second stage is an alkali extraction stage (E), the hydrogen peroxide stage (P), the third stage or later. A bleaching sequence using chlorine dioxide or hydrogen peroxide is preferably used. The number of stages after the third stage is not particularly limited, but considering energy efficiency, productivity, etc., it is preferable to finish in three or four stages in total. Further, a chelating agent treatment stage with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) or the like may be inserted during the multistage bleaching treatment.

  The feed pellets of the present invention can be fed to ruminants along with other feeds. Other feed ingredients include roughage (eg pasture), concentrated feed (eg corn, wheat and other grains, soybeans and other beans), bran, rice bran, okara, protein, lipid, vitamins, minerals and other additives (preservation) , Coloring agents, fragrances, etc.). These other feed ingredients may be mixed with wood pulp when compression molding.

  The ruminant feed of the present invention preferably has a water content of 15% by mass or less. By making the water content 15% by mass or less, the transportability is improved and the decay by microorganisms can be reduced.

Feeding feed pellets to ruminants The feed pellets of the present invention can be fed to ruminants along with other feeds. Other feed ingredients include roughage (eg pasture), concentrated feed (eg corn, wheat and other grains, soybeans and other beans), bran, rice bran, okara, protein, lipid, vitamins, minerals and other additives (preservation) , Coloring agents, fragrances, etc.). These other feed ingredients may be mixed with wood pulp when compression molding.

  The ruminant feed pellet of the present invention preferably has a water content (water content) of 15% by mass or less. By making the water content 15% by mass or less, the transportability is improved and the decay by microorganisms can be reduced. The water content of the feed pellet may be, for example, 1% by mass or more, and may be adjusted to 5% by mass or more.

  The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to experimental examples, but the present invention is not limited to these experimental examples. In the present specification, concentration and% are based on mass unless otherwise specified, and numerical ranges are described as including the end points.

Experiment 1: Production of feed pellets made from kraft pulp (samples 1-2)
Chips (thickness of about 3 mm) manufactured from cedar wood were fractionated with a screening tester to obtain cedar wood chips having a radius (Φ) of 25.4 mm to 9.5 mm.

  Put cedar chips (equivalent to 300g dry) into a pressure kettle, kraft cooking under the conditions of 18.5% active alkali addition, 25% sulfidity, 1500 H factor, 3.2 liquid ratio, unbleached kraft Pulp was obtained. This unbleached kraft pulp was beaten with a PFI mill (manufactured by Kumagai Riki) (sample 1: freeness 520 ml, sample 2: freeness 435 ml).

  Next, the beaten unbleached kraft pulp was dehydrated with a screw press (SHX-200 × 1500L type, manufactured by Togoku Industry Co., Ltd.) to a moisture content of 30% by mass, and then a ring die type small pelletizer (manufactured by California Pellet Mill, Processed with a die having a motor capacity of 30 kW and a diameter of 4.8 mm and an effective thickness of 32 mm.

(Samples 3-4)
Chips (thickness of about 3 mm) manufactured from cedar wood were fractionated with a screening tester to obtain cedar wood chips having a radius (Φ) of 25.4 mm to 9.5 mm. Moreover, the eucalyptus material chip | tip with a radius ((PHI)) 25.4mm-9.5mm was obtained from the eucalyptus material by the same procedure.

  For sample 3, cedar wood chips and eucalyptus wood chips were mixed at a weight ratio of 5: 5, and then kraft cooking was carried out under the conditions of active alkali addition rate 17.0%, H factor 1200, liquid ratio 3.0. Then, a beating process was performed with a PFI mill (manufactured by Kumagai Riki) to adjust the freeness to 265 ml.

  For sample 4, cedar wood chips and eucalyptus wood chips were mixed at a weight ratio of 3: 7, and then kraft cooking was performed under the conditions of active alkali addition rate 16.5%, H factor 1000, liquid ratio 2.8. Then, a beating process was performed with a PFI mill (manufactured by Kumagai Riki) to prepare a freeness of 680 ml.

Next, as in Sample 1, feed pellets were produced from the beaten unbleached kraft pulp and subjected to each test.
(Samples 5-6)
Chips (thickness of about 3 mm) manufactured from the eucalyptus material were sieved and fractionated with a testing machine to obtain eucalyptus material chips having a radius (Φ) of 25.4 mm to 9.5 mm.

  Unbleached kraft pulp was obtained by kraft cooking under the conditions of eucalyptus wood chips (absolutely 300 g), active alkali addition rate 14.0%, H factor 830, liquid ratio 2.5. This unbleached kraft pulp was beaten with a PFI mill (manufactured by Kumagai Riki) (sample 5: freeness 380 ml, sample 6: freeness 426 ml).

Next, as in Sample 1, feed pellets were produced from the beaten unbleached kraft pulp and subjected to each test.
<Analysis of kraft pulp>
About the kraft pulp used for each sample, the copper number was measured based on JIS P 8221, the number average fiber length based on ISO 16065-2, and the Canadian standard freeness (CSF) based on JIS P 8121. Moreover, a hand-sheet was prepared based on JIS P 8222: 1998, and the tear length was measured based on JIS P 8113: 1998.

<Mechanical durability test>
About the said feed pellet, the mechanical durability of the wood pellet was evaluated based on the wood pellet quality standard (Japan Wood Pellet Association, established March 31, 2011) "Mechanical durability test method". The mechanical durability of the wood pellet quality standard is standardized in accordance with the European standard EN15210-1, and relates to the dust resistance performance of the wood pellet against mechanical impact force. Specifically, the following mechanical durability (DU) was determined using a DT-T type pellet durability tester (manufactured by Sanyo Trading Co., Ltd.).
・ Mechanical durability (%) = m1 / m0 × 100
m1: Sample mass before rotation (g)
m0: Sample weight after revision (g)
Experiment 2: Feeding ruminants (in situ digestion test)
Digestibility in the lumen was measured by the in situ method (Journal of Dairy Science, vol. 71, pages 2051-2069, 1988, James E. Nocek).

  A polyester bag (# R1020, polyester, 10 cm × 20 cm, average pore diameter of 50 ± 15 μm, ANKOM Technology Corp., Fairport, NY, USA) weighing 5 g (air dry weight) of sample in the lumen of the test animal (cow) I put it in. At the time of 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, and 96 hours after charging, the polyester bag was taken out from the lumen, washed with water, and the dry matter constant weight was determined at 60 ° C. Moreover, the polyester bag containing the feed which was not put into the lumen but was simply washed with water was used as a sample having a decomposition time of 0 hour. Each sample was measured in triplicate with different implementation dates.

  In addition, as a control, pressed corn (sample 7: concentrated feed, Nakajima Seiya Kogyo, heat-pressed corn) and Bermudagrass hay (sample 8: roughage, Takeda, Bermuda Hayvale, USA) were introduced into the cattle lumen. Then, a digestion test was performed.

  The feed pellets (samples 4 to 6) of the present invention manufactured from kraft pulp having a fiber length of less than 1.2 mm are feed pellets (samples 1 to 3) and roughage (samples) manufactured from pulp having a fiber length of 1.2 mm or more. The final saccharification rate was higher than in 8). Since the final digestibility of the feed pellet of the present invention is equivalent to that of the concentrated feed (sample 7), energy conversion is considered to be performed with high efficiency. In addition, it is considered that the feed pellet according to the present invention has a longer time for saccharification than the concentrated feed (sample 7), stays in the lumen for a longer time, and contributes to induction of rumination.

  Thus, according to the present invention, it was possible to produce ruminant feed pellets that have a high final digestibility, a slow digestion rate, and can promote rumination.

Claims (7)

  A feed pellet for ruminants containing kraft pulp made from lignocellulosic material, wherein the fiber length of the kraft pulp is less than 1.2 mm.   The feed pellet according to claim 1, wherein the kraft pulp has a copper number of 15 to 30.   The feed pellet according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the lignocellulosic material comprises a woody material.   The feed pellet according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the mechanical durability of the pellet is 97.5% by mass or more, and the diameter of the pellet is 3 to 10 mm.   The feed pellet according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the kraft pulp has a breaking length of 7.0 km or less.   The feed pellet according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the kraft pulp has a Canadian standard freeness of less than 400 ml. It is a method for manufacturing the feed pellet in any one of Claims 1-6,
The said method including the process of press-compressing and pelletizing the kraft pulp whose moisture content is 15 to 35 weight%.