When breeding nutria,
they are often compared to rabbits. Both species give the breeder not only dietary meat, but also valuable fur. However, nutria are much more picky eaters. Which makes growing them quite an attractive business. But in any business, there are subtleties that you need to know in order to succeed in it. This article will discuss what food for nutria should contain in order for their meat to be tasty and their fur to be of high quality.При разведении нутрий
их часто сравнивают с кроликами. Оба вида дают приносят заводчику не только диетическое мясо, но и ценный мех. Однако, нутрии гораздо более непривередливы в еде. Что делает их выращивание довольно привлекательным бизнесом. Но в любом, даже самом простом деле, есть свои тонкости, которые нужно знать, чтобы в нем преуспеть. В это статье речь пойдет о том, что должен содержать в себе корм для нутрий, чтобы их мясо было вкусным, а мех качественным.Feeding nutria by season
Nutria, though picky in food, but their diet is quite diverse. And it consists of several food groups:
- juicy,
- rough,
- combined.
The ratio of these groups in the composition and the diet as a whole is significantly affected by the time of year. The list of products of these fur-bearing animals in the cold season is radically different from the summer.
Warm period
In summer, their feeding is covered by two systems: self-walking and growing in cages.
The first option is more optimal. With such a rhythm of life, the animal independently obtains all the necessary food for itself and at the same time moves a lot. The combination of these points makes the meat of the animals tasty, the fur healthy and beautiful. And the breeder is happy,
because he saves a lot of feed during this period.
If you still chose the second option, do not despair. There are many ways to get food for them. You can buy or build your own. In the warm period of time, most of the diet of rodents is juicy food, particularly, greens:
- stalks of cereals and legumes,
- water rice,
- seaweed,
- buckwheat,
- clover,
- nettle,
- quinoa,
- sedge,
- thistle,
- sagebrush,
- pemphigus,
- cattail,
- salad,
- sorrel and others.
It is noteworthy that such food, despite the large amount of vitamins in the composition, is not highly nutritious. Therefore, in order to fully meet the daily energy needs of the body, the animal must eat about 800 grams.
Cold period
The beginning of cold weather for nutria marks a cardinal change in diet. From light and juicy food in large quantities, they move on to small portions of coarse and concentrated food. The main part of the diet in the winter will be representatives of a concentrated subgroup, such as cereals:
- corn,
- wheat,
- oats,
- barley,
- millet and others.
The daily norm of which can be from one hundred to one hundred and fifty grams.
Rough feeds:
- branches,
- tree bark,
- meal (sunflower, flax, soy, hemp),
- hay,
- straw,
- cake,
- needles.
Their daily share can vary from fifty to one hundred and fifty grams. It depends on the age, weight and daily activity of the individual. It is customary to harvest such feeds during their flowering period. At this time, the level of vitamins and trace elements in them is at its peak. Juicy food, in the form of vegetables and fruits:
- carrot,
- boiled pumpkin,
- Boiled potatoes,
- fodder beet,
- cabbage,
- zucchini,
- tomatoes,
- apples,
- melon and watermelon peels,
- fodder turnip and others.
They can be present in the diet all year round. However, in practice, the need for them appears more in the cold period of time. In the summer, the abundance of food makes it easy to do without them.
Combined feed
This is a feed consisting of a mixture of various products, crushed and mixed to a homogeneous consistency. The composition can contain up to 20 components at the same time. The value of such feeds is in their balanced composition. Depending on the variety, they may contain both the entire range of essential trace elements, and a separate missing group. Experienced livestock breeders are inclined to believe that it is much more productive to buy combined feed for nutria than to spend time on independent harvesting.
More about the types of compound feed:
Compound feed for agricultural birds and agricultural animals
Read more about feeding rabbits here:
Compound feed for adult rabbits
You can read about feeding other farm animals here:
Feed for dairy cows
Compound feed for piglets from 61 to 120 days
Compound feed for lambs up to 4 months
