Feed additive composition for ruminants and method of producing the same

Abstract

A food additive composition for ruminants of the dispersion type and a method of continuously producing the same. This food additive composition for ruminants, which contains 40% by weight or more but less than 65% by weight of a basic amino acid and has rumen bypass properties, is formulated into granules in an arbitrary shape which are scarcely classified when added to a silage or another feed. Thus, attempts have been made to develop a method of producing granules by which the milk yield of a lactation cow can be increased. Namely, it is intended to provide a food additive composition for ruminants which contains at least one protecting agent selected from among a hardened vegetable oil and a hardened animal oil having a melting point higher than 50° C. but lower than 90° C., 0.05 to 6% by weight of lecithin, water and 40% by weight or more but less than 65% by weight of a basic amino acid. It is also intended to provide a method of producing a food additive composition for ruminants characterized by comprising solidifying a molten mixture, which comprises at least one protecting agent selected from among a hardened vegetable oil and a hardened animal oil having a melting point higher than 50° C. but lower than 90° C., lecithin and a basic amino acid, by dipping in water.

Description

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation-in-part of International Patent Application No. PCT / JP2007 / 001088, filed on Oct. 4, 2007, and claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-273330, filed on Oct. 4, 2006, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-354771, filed on Dec. 28, 2006, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to feed additive compositions for ruminants, in particular, feed additive compositions for ruminants which are capable of bypassing the rumen in lactating cows. The present invention also relates to methods of producing the same. The present invention further relates to methods of raising ruminants and methods of making products derived from ruminants.[0004]2. Discussion of the Background[0005]When ruminants ingest feed, a portion of the nutrients in the feed is exploited as the nutrient sourc...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0042]The feed additive composition for ruminants of the present invention has a resistance to degradation in rumen juice and dissolubility in the small intestine, and can carry high contents of basic amino acids efficiently and in large quantities to the small intestine of lactating cows. Therefore, the lactating cows can absorb large quantities of amino acids as nutrients, and enhancement of the milk yield and production is made possible. Furthermore, the method of producing a feed additive composition for ruminants involves, for example, retaining a molten mixture produced with an extruder temporarily in a multi-hole shooter, and allowing this mixture to fall through a plurality of holes provided at the bottom of the multi-hole shooter, and thus it is possible to enhance the amount of production of the feed additive composition in accordance with the capacity of the extruder. Furthermore, by controlling the fall distance from the multi-hole shooter, the shape of the granules of the composition produced can be made into various shapes such as a spherical shape, a granular shape, a pellet shape or a shape of pressed barley, due to the energy of impacting the water surface. In particular, the granules of the pellet shape and the shape of pressed barley had a feature of not being easily sorted out when added to feedstuff. The feed additive composition for ruminants of the present invention includes granules having a shape which is easily ground by the mastication of lactating cows, but the feed additive composition is stable in the rumen juice, irrespective of the shape. Also, since the feed additive composition has a high content of basic amino acids which are biologically active substances, it is possible to obtain high quality granules which are capable of releasing more basic amino acids, which are biologically active substances, from the granules in the small intestine of lactating cows

Problems solved by technology

Therefore, it is an especially important issue to prevent elution of basic amino acids, particularly L-lysine monohydrochloride which is generally used in the form of hydrochloride, to the rumen juice, and exploitation thereof by microorganisms.

However, in the case of dispersion type preparations, amino acids are partially exposed at the preparation surface, and thus when the amino acids are in contact with the rumen juice at pH 6 to 8, the amino acids are prone to be eluted.

Therefore, it is difficult to say that prevention of the loss of amino acids in the rumen, particularly basic amino acids, is sufficiently accomplished.

Furthermore, formulation is carried out using a variety of protective agents so as to reduce the loss of amino acids from the preparations, and as a result, a problem arises that the contents of amino acids in the preparations become relatively scarce.

Thus, in general, it is difficult to produce dispersion type preparations containing amino acids in an amount exceeding 40% by weight.

In this preparation, since there is no chance for the amino acids to be exposed at the preparation surface due to the coating, the amino acids are relatively stable in the rumen juice, but the preparations have a defect in terms of production, such that the production process becomes complicated compared to the production process of dispersed type preparations, and thus more processes are needed.

However, in the production method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2005-312380, it is necessary to use a mixture having low viscosity so as to allow the mixture to pass through the spray nozzles, but on the other hand, if the content of L-lysine monohydrochloride in the mixture exceeds 40% by weight, the molten mixture obtains high viscosity, and thus it is difficult to make the mixture to pass through the spray no

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