Physical and chemical quality of forage feed pellets with different types of materials and compositions

The aimed of this study was to determine the physical (durability) and chemical quality of forage feed pellets with different raw materials and compositions. This study used two (2) weed raw materials with different forms, namely in the form of fresh and in the form of hay that has been milled. Each raw material was formulated and processed in the same way, a mixture of forage and rice bran, consisted of 90%: 20% and 80%: 20% (calculated based on dry matter, mixed in as fed), pelleted, then dried in the sunshine. Each treatment has three (3) replications. Dried forage pellets were tested with the PDI (pellet durability index) test and chemical quality test (proximate) in the Forage and Pasture Science Laboratory. The experimental design used a Randomized Completely Block Design where there were blocks of material types and blocks of material composition. The variables observed were physical quality in the form of PDI and chemical quality in the form of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), crude fibre (CF), extract ether (EE) and nitrogen-free extract (NFE). The data were statistically analysed with program SPSS version 26. If there was a significant difference, it was continued with the least significant different (LSD) test. The conclusion of this study was that the physical quality of forage pellets (PDI number) made from weed (Synedrella nodiflora) or Legetan was affected by composition, but neither hay nor fresh weed material affected its quality. The type of raw material in the form of hay and fresh affects the chemical quality of forage pellets in the form of DM, OM, CP, CF and NFE, but does not affect EE. EE was influenced by the composition of the pellets

Evaluation of fish feeder manufactured from local raw materials

An automatic feeder for fish feeding was manufactured and evaluated successively. Feed pellet size, air flow rate and feeder screw speed were the most important factors affecting the performance and efficiency of the automatic feeder. It was tested at 3 sizes of pellets (1, 2 and 3 mm), 3 air flow rates (10, 15 and 20 m3 min−1) and 5 screw speeds (180, 360, 540, 720 and 900 rpm). The automatic feeder productivity, efficiency, specific energy consumption and costs were determined. The obtained results indicated that the automatic feeder productivity increases with increasing feed pellets size, air flow rate and rotational speed of screw treatments under study, the automatic feeder efficiency increased with increasing rotational speed of screw until it reached the highest value at 540 rpm and then remain constant at 720–900 rpm and after that decreased with increasing speed. Meanwhile, the specific energy consumption of automatic feeder decreased with increasing feed pellets size, air flow rate and rotational speed of screw treatments under study. The total cost of using automatic feeder ranged from 0.09 to 0.16 EGP kg−1 ($ = 15.63 EGP) for all treatments under study. This feeder will save time, effort and cost for fish industry.

Phage-Mediated Control of Flavobacterium psychrophilum in Aquaculture: In vivo Experiments to Compare Delivery Methods

Phage-based approaches have gained increasing interest as sustainable alternative strategies to antibiotic treatment or as prophylactic measures against disease outbreaks in aquaculture. The potential of three methods (oral, bath, and injection) for delivering a two-component phage mixture to rainbow trout fry for controlling Flavobacterium psychrophilum infections and reduce fish mortality was investigated using bacteriophages FpV4 and FPSV-D22. For the oral administration experiment, bacteriophages were applied on feed pellets by spraying (1.6 × 108 PFU g–1) or by irreversible immobilization (8.3 × 107 PFU g–1), using the corona discharge technology (Fixed Phage Ltd.). The fish showed normal growth for every group and no mortality was observed prior to infection as well as in control groups during the infection. Constant detection of phages in the intestine (∼103 PFU mg–1) and more sporadic occurrence in kidney, spleen, and brain was observed. When fish were exposed to F. psychrophilum, no significant effect on fish survival, nor a direct impact on the number of phages in the sampled organs, were detected. Similarly, no significant increase in fish survival was detected when phages were delivered by bath (1st and 2nd bath: ∼106 PFU ml–1; 3rd bath: ∼105 PFU ml–1). However, when phages FpV4 and FPSV-D22 (1.7 × 108 PFU fish–1) were administered by intraperitoneal injection 3 days after the bacterial challenge, the final percent survival observed in the group injected with bacteriophages FpV4 and FPSV-D22 (80.0%) was significantly higher than in the control group (56.7%). The work demonstrates the delivery of phages to fish organs by oral administration, but also suggests that higher phage dosages than the tested ones may be needed on feed pellets to offer fish an adequate protection against F. psychrophilum infections.

PENGUJIAN DAN PERAWATAN MESIN GRANULAR

This paper discusses the granulator machine testing process. This test aims to determine the process of occurrence of granular. Granular pellets are one form of feed pellets, granular (rounded) and light in weight. Granular pellets are not easy to sink but are easily broken down in water. This type of pellet is made without going through the process of pressing, so that it can produce feed grains that are light weighted, not easily submerged but easily decomposed in water. The goal is to determine the optimal state of the granulator machine with three angular tilt positions, it can perform maintenance on the granulator machine. The granulator machine testing process is carried out by means of the plate angle measurement process, the water mixture measurement process, the plate speed measurement process. Material used for the testing process uses flour and water. While the tools used in the granulator machine testing process are spray, 14 key, sieve, and container. After testing at 3 angles at an angle of 25o, angle of 30o and angle of 35o the authors conclude that this machine can produce small granules at a slope of 250 with an engine speed of 17 rpm and average weight of granular which is produced 236 grams. While the results of hourly 3 kg / hour.