What Are the Necessities of Animal Feed?

If you want to raise well-fed livestock, you will have to provide a strong groundwork in the form of nutrient-rich diets. Good farmers know how to provide a balance of nutrients, fat and minerals to keep their farm animals healthy and robust. There is no miracle feed that will work the same for all farm animals. Animal feeds should be examined and tested individually to find the combination of ingredients that work best for your livestock.

  1. Animal Feed

    • The long-term purpose of any feed is to maximize energy and nutrition for livestock. Fat and carbohydrates provide consistent energy and are the major components of grains and oils in animal feed. Digestible proteins are another major component in dietary plans since they provide livestock with the necessary fuel to augment muscle growth.

    Vitamins

    • Alfalfa, barley, corn, carrots, oats and soy are just a few generic ingredients found in a large portion of animal feed. They are naturally high in vitamins and nutrient content. Some farmers will add vitamin supplements to feeds for animals suffering from deficiencies. Indoor livestock are especially well-known for needing extra vitamin D which is normally obtained from direct sunlight.

    Water Content

    • Knowledgeable farmers know to keep a wary eye on the ingredients listed in animal feeds. It is common for water to be used to dilute the nutrition of animal feeds. This makes for a cheaper product, but also one that offers dramatically less nutrition for livestock. To remove the influence of water on feed value, farmers compare ingredients based on nutrient contained in every unit of dry matter, instead of the overall product.

    Minerals

    • Tables that compare the value of animal feeds will only include the most important of minerals in feeds. Calcium (Ca), potassium (K) and phosphorous (P) are almost always included in feeding situations. Other trace minerals, such as sulfur (S) or zinc (Zn), may or may not be included. The level of these minerals in feed is extremely contingent on the soil conditions where vegetative feedstuff were grown.