Nutritional Contents Of Feeds Flashcards
What are the main factors when looking at different feeds?
- Nutritional content
- Digestibility
- Palatability
What is palatability?
• How acceptable a food is
• Motivation
• Tastiness
• Combination of sensory, physical, and chemical characteristics:
1. Aroma
2. Taste
3. Shape
4. Texture
5. Colour
What is a balanced diet?
“A diet consisting of a variety of different types of food and providing adequate amounts of the nutrients necessary for good health”
What is digestibility?
• How much nutrition a type of food provides
• Amount of nutrient digested compared to how much was ingested
• Highly digestible feeds vs low digestible feeds
• Measure of nutritional value and quality
What affects digestibility?
• Age of feed
• Preparation of feed
• Quality of feed
• Feeding frequency
Why is knowledge of digestibility important?
• Provide appropriate foods and mixtures of foods
• Allows feed to be formulated which is nutritionally effective
What are the nutrients of fruits and vegetables?
➢Low in fat, salt and calories
➢Source of vitamins, minerals and fiber
What are the nutrients of grass and foraged foods?
➢Benefits animals who can break down cellulose
➢Energy
➢Cheaper than processed food
What are the nutrients of meat?
➢Essential for carnivores
➢Excellent source of protein
➢Good source of energy
➢Source of vitamins and minerals
➢e.g. red meat: zinc, iron and vitamins B12, B6 and B12
What are the nutrients of live food ?
➢Carnivores and omnivores
➢Controversial
➢Nutrients fed do not depend on if the animal is alive or not
What is the pros and cons of prepared & processed foods?
• Keeps for longer than fresh food
• Convenient
• Can develop mould if not
stored correctly
• Poor storage can also lead to contamination
What is dry food?
• Pellets or biscuits
• Store for longer
• Better for teeth
• Little water in feed
• Created from dry, flaked or crushed cereals and vegetables
• Mixed with dried protein concentrates
What is the cons of dry food?
• Hay is common dry food for livestock
• Drying process loses nutritional quality
• Can be harder to digest
• More expensive than grass
• Keeps for longer
• Used when fresh grass not available
What is wet food?
• Contain 70-80% moisture
• Sealed containers
• Easily stored, but can spoil once opened
• More expensive than dried food
• Highly palatable
What is semi- moist food?
• 30% moisture
• Similar to dry biscuits but greater water
content
• May contain more sugar
• Less expensive than wet food
