Feed Selection
Cows & Buffaloes
Mouldy Feed and Mycotoxins — The Poison You Can't Always Smell
Updated 26 Aug 2026 • By Falah Nutrition Desk, Animal Nutrition Advisor
Mould on feed is more than spoiled taste — certain moulds produce toxins that damage liver, immunity and pregnancy at levels you cannot see or smell. The rule with mould is unforgiving because the enemy is invisible: when in doubt, throw it out.
आम लक्षण
- Feed refusal or hesitant eating of a particular batch
- Vague, spread-out troubles: dull coats, weaker immunity, more illness than usual
- Drop in yield without a clear single cause
- Digestive upsets tied to a specific bag, bale or stack corner
- In serious exposures: abortion or serious illness — thankfully rarer, but real
संभावित कारण
- Feed or fodder stored damp — rain-touched bales, floor-stored bags, leaky corners
- Visible culprits: caked/clumped feed, grey-green or black patches, musty smell, warm spots in the stack
- Mouldy kitchen waste, wet spoiled silage edges, sour trough leftovers
- Rainy-season humidity turning slow-moving feed stocks
- Buying damaged 'discount' feed or fodder — spoilage is why it's cheap
किसान को क्या जाँचना चाहिए
- Smell and inspect INSIDE bales and bags, not just surfaces — mould loves the middle
- Any clumping, caking, webbing or off-colour in stored feed?
- Are bags off the floor, dry, and used first-in-first-out?
- Trough hygiene: are sour leftovers accumulating and being topped over?
- Do problems track a particular purchase or stack section?
फ़ीड मार्गदर्शन
Policy, not rescue: mouldy feed is not made safe by mixing it thin, drying it, or feeding it to 'the strong ones' — visible mould means unseen toxins may already be through the batch, and the pregnant and the young are most vulnerable. Discard affected feed away from all animals, and fix the storage that caused it: dry, off the floor, ventilated, rotated. Clean troughs daily so yesterday's damp remnants don't seed today's feed. When a suspect batch has already been eaten, stop it immediately, support the animals with clean water and good fodder, and watch closely for a few days. Buy quality, store dry, and let the compost heap eat the doubtful stuff — it's the cheapest insurance in the feed room.
संबंधित GOKA प्रोडक्ट्स
Dairy Cows & Buffaloes
Under 15 liters/day
Best when green fodder is scarce
Dairy Cows & Buffaloes
10-15 liters/day
Maintains milk fat, prevents repeat breeding
पशु चिकित्सक से कब संपर्क करें
Abortion, serious illness or several animals sick after suspect feed — call your veterinary doctor immediately and keep a sample of the feed for examination.
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