The Evaluation of Feeding Status of Large Animals Based on Farmers Knowledge in Sarikamis Region

This study was aimed to determine the structural characteristics of enterprises, the usage of feed types, quantities and their analyses, and animal feeding habits based on the knowledge obtained from large ruminant breeders in Sarikamis district. The survey was conducted in 68 enterprises; of them 77.94% were considered to be large, 14.7% to be medium, and 7.35% to be small farms. It was determined that the 79.42% of farms have been buying manufactured (concentrated) feeds, 2.90% of them have been utilizing the mixture of wheat and barley while 17.64% of the farms have been using the feeds produced by themselves. Dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), ether extracts (EE) and ash levels in feed samples were determined by Weende Analysis methods while crude fibre (CF) quantities were determined by Crampton and Maynard’s method. Wetch, sainfoin and alfalfa had 93.4, 92.3 and 94.7% DM, 16.7, 19 and 19.5% CP, 5.4, 3.8 and 2.2% EE, 10.8, 6.4 and 5.1% ash, 22, 26.30 and 25.1% CF and 2525.42, 2372.16 and 2414.93 kcal/kg ME contents, respectively. In conclusion, the knowledge and awareness of the breeders about technical animal nutrition should be enhanced in the district and region.