Animal Nutrition, Feeds and Body Condition

Animal Nutrition, Feeds and Body Condition

• Feedstuff Composition
  Dry matter – this is what is left when all the water is removed from a feed.
  Crude protein – this is an estimation of the amount of protein in a feed. Protein is used for growth and repair.
  Crude fibre – mainly cellulose which not all animals can digest.
  Metabolisable energy – the energy that is used to produce milk, meat or wool.
• Bulky Feeds vs Concentrates
  Bulky feeds are feeds that are high in water and/or fibre.
  Concentrates are feeds that are low in water and fibre.
  Concentrates would have more nutrients packed into a smaller space.
• Bulky Feeds
  Fresh grass - the most common but can be very variable in composition.
  Silage and hay – silage is a better feed than hay.
  Root crops – good energy value but low in protein.
  Straw – low nutritive value.
  Forage crops – crop grown to be grazed e.g. kale & rape – Limit intake as chemical agents in the vegetation interfere with iodine utilisation causing blood disorders.
• Concentrates
  Cereal grains – used as a source of energy. Rolling and grinding are used to improve their digestibility.
  Cereal grain by-products – bran and distillers grain.
  Molasses, beet pulp – molasses is very palatable, beet pulp good nutritive value but high in fibre.
  Soya bean meal – high in protein.
  Feed supplements – vitamins and minerals either included in feedstuffs or supplied as licks in buckets or blocks.
• Nutrient Requirements
  1.Requirement for Maintenance:
  Amount of nutrients needed to keep bodyweight and composition constant.
  2.Requirement for Production:
  Amount of nutrients fed above what is needed for maintenance and goes towards producing meat, milk, wool or offspring.
• Ration Formulation
  A ration is a mixture of food given to an animal.
  We formulate rations based on what the animal requires, what the ingredients contain and how much the animal will eat.
  Teagasc have calculated what each animal requires at various stages of growth for maintenance and production.
• Conformation
  Conformation refers to the shape of an animal and in particular the distribution of muscle on the body.
  Good conformation means muscle is concentrated in the parts of the carcass that have the most value i.e. hindquarters and back.
  The main factor influencing conformation is breed.
  Continentals have the best conformation followed by British beef breeds and the dairy breeds have the worst conformation.
• Body Condition Scoring (BCS)
  This is the condition of animals in terms of lean and fat.
  It is very important for breeding females to be in correct BCS.
  BCS is based on examining the animal by hand to access the amount of fat cover on areas such as backbone, loin, transverse process and tailhead.
  Range 0-5 for cows and ewes and 0-9 for sows.
  0 is the thinnest and 5 or 9 the fattest. Values in the middle are best.