Why mixed rations heat
Heating is a microbial process. Yeasts and moulds already present in feed ingredients become active when they have moisture, oxygen and warmth — which is exactly what a freshly mixed ration sitting in a warm bunk provides.
Higher-moisture mixes, warm ambient conditions and rations that sit for longer before being eaten all raise the risk. So does a silage face or commodity that is already unstable when it goes into the mixer.
What to look and feel for
Warmth in the feed face or in the bunk, especially in the hours after feed-out. A sour, sharp or alcoholic smell. Visible mould. Feed that looks or smells different at the end of the day than it did at mixing.
Behaviour is a signal too: stock sorting through a ration, backing off it, or leaving more residual than usual.
What it costs, and what to do about it
The cost shows up as refusals and waste, as labour spent removing or remixing feed, and as reduced palatability and intake. The commercial impact varies between operations — monitoring ration temperature, refusals, palatability and intake gives you a far more useful picture of what heating is costing in your own system.
The management controls come first: feed-out rate, face management, mixer hygiene, moisture in the mix, and how long feed sits before it is eaten.
FreshFoss is used alongside those controls. Vilofoss describes it as reducing heat build-up in the ration after dispensing, particularly where water is mixed into the ration and during warm periods.
The product we supply
FreshFoss in warm-weather feed management
A dry treatment applied to mixed rations through the conditions where heating is most likely — warm weather and high-moisture mixes — alongside the bunk and mixing controls that come first.
Feed stability
FreshFoss
A dry feed-treatment product developed to reduce heating in mixed rations during warm or high-moisture conditions.
View FreshFoss →
Rates, directions and approved uses
Ask us for the current documents
Tell us the product and your production system, and we will send the current Australian documentation that applies to what we supply — directions, rates, approved uses and safety information.
Products must be used in accordance with current Australian labels, directions and product documentation. Information on this website is general and does not replace veterinary, nutrition or other professional advice appropriate to an individual operation.
Talk to us about feed stability.
Ask us about the products relevant to this challenge, the Australian documentation, or supply in your region.