Feed Evaluation covers basic principles and new developments in feed evaluation for simple-stomached animals with an emphasis on pigs and poultry.

Feed Evaluation covers:

• nutrient analysis and characterisation
• nutrient bioavailablility
• post-absorptive nutrient utilisation
• modern approaches to the estimation of nutrient requirements (including growth modelling)
• recent advances in feed evaluation for pigs, poultry and companion animals

Contents

Overview of determinants of the nutritional value of feed ingredients

• Total content of energy-yielding nutrients and amino acids
• Nutrient availability
• Contents of antinutritional factors
• Physico-chemical properties
• Feed ingredient-specific effects on utilisation of absorbed nutrients
• Effects of feed ingredients on voluntary feed intake
• Effects of feed ingredients on the quality of animal products

Principles of chemical analysis

• Sample collection
• Sample preparation
• Sample storage
• Analysis

Developments in the determination of protein and amino acids

• Determination of protein content
• Determination of the amino acid content of feedstuffs
• Pitfalls

Developments in the measurement of the energy content of feeds and energy utilisation in animals

• Feed components providing energy for animals
• Gross energy content of feed components
• Measurements of energy utilisation in animals
• Interrelationships between feed components and energy use by animals

Characterisation of the non-starch polysaccharides

• Chemical composition and structure of NSPs
• Mechanisms by which dietary NSPs affect animal performance
• Chemical characterisation of NSPs
• Measurement of viscosity and water-holding capacity

Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy and related technologies for the analysis of feed ingredients

• Principles of near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) and related technologies
• NIRS calibration
• NIRS applications

Amino acids - The collection of ileal digesta and characterisation of the endogenous component

• Faecal versus ileal amino acid digestibilities
• Digesta collection
• Determining endogenous nitrogen and amino acid losses

Amino acids: digestibility, availability and metabolism

• An overview of amino acid metabolism
• Availability versus digestibility
• Unprocessed feedstuffs
• Processed feedstuffs

Bioavailability: the energy component of a ration for monogastric animals

• Components of a ration that provide energy
• Determinants of bioavailability: digestion, absorption and utilisation
• Methods for improving the bioavailability of energy in feeds
• Definition of available energy for pigs and poultry
• Prediction of the energy value of feeds

In vitro digestibility methods: history and specific approaches

• History
• General discussion of in vitro digestibility methods
• Specific approaches to simulate in vivo digestion
• Prediction of in vivo digestibility
• Utilisation of in vitro digestibility methods in general feed evaluation

The significance of antinutritional factors in feedstuffs for monogastric animals

• Main classes of ANFs, their occurrence in feedstuffs and general description of their effects on monogastric animals
• Description and effects of individual antinutritional factors

Amino acid and energy requirements

• Growth characteristics of the animal
• Actual rates of protein and energy deposition; effects of the production environment
• Stimulation of the rate of protein deposition
• Amino acid requirements for maintenance
• Energy requirements for maintenance
• Control of voluntary feed intake
• Determining the amino acid requirements of an animal

Principles behind feed formulation

• Growth and production characteristics of the livestock
• Tissue nutrient requirements to meet production goals
• Translation of tissue requirements into dietary specifications
• Nutrient composition of feed ingredients
• Minimum and maximum inclusion limits for nutrients and ingredients
• Formulation of diets to least-cost
• Manufacture of the feed

Advances in feed evaluation for pigs

• Variability in feeding value within the same feed ingredient
• Effects of processing on the feeding value of feed ingredients
• Interactive effects of feed ingredients on nutrient digestion and utilisation
• Significance of microbial fermentation in the upper gut of pigs
• Feed ingredient specific effects on nutrient metabolism in visceral organs
• Differences in nutrient digestibilities between different classes of pig

Advances in feed evaluation for poultry

• The poultry industry and feed evaluation
• The digestive tract, prehension and food intake and digestion
• Feed evaluation

Advances in feed evaluation for companion animals

• Evolution of Canoidea and Feloidea
• Anatomy of the digestive tract of cats and dogs
• Metabolic adaptations of the cat and the dog
• Criteria for diet formulation
• Nutritional testing of diets for cats and dogs
• Prepared cat and dog foods
• Over-formulation of commercial diets for cats and dogs
• Nutrient digestibility

Index

click here to see books of related interest