Classification of Feedstuff

Definition of feedstuff:
 Anything given through the mouth of an animal that serves a useful nutritional
purpose.
 Any component of a diet that serves some useful function
Classification of feedstuffs
Feedstuffs can be divided into:
 Roughages
 Concentrates
 Supplements
 Feed additives

Roughages
Is a feedstuff which is high in fibre >18%, low in density and low in digestibilities. It
forms the bulk of feed in ruminant animals.
Concentrates
These are feed mixtures which supply primary nutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fat).
The crude fiber is usually less than 18%.
The feed manufacturer’s primarily concerned with this class of feedstuff s since they
form the raw material base. They are usually included in a ration as source of energy or
protein.
Supplements
They are feedstuffs given to supply nutrients that cannot be fully supplied by roughages
and concentrates. They supply minerals and vitamins.
Feed additives
These are feedstuffs fed to serve a purpose not provided by the above classes. They
enhance availability and utilization of nutrients from the above feedstuff. They increase
profitability and reduce cost of feeding.

CONCENTRATES
The use of a given concentrate will depend on:
  Availability

 Cost factor

 Whether edible by humans and if so whether there is surplus

 Acceptability by the animal

 The ability of the animal to utilize the feed (digestion)

 Nutritional value

 Handling and milling properties of the feedstuff

 Presence of anti-nutritive factors

Types of concentrates
Energy feeds
These have less than 20% CP and less than 18% CF. They include cereal grains, root and
tubers, molasses, lipids (fats and oils), milling by products.
Protein feeds
These are feeds with more than 20%CP. They include:
 Animal, avian and marine sources
 Milk and by products
 Legume seeds
 Milling by products
 Legumes seeds
 Brewery distillery by products
 Single cell sources
 Non Protein Nitrogen (NPN) eg Urea
HIGH ENERGY CONCENTRATES
These are added to a ration primarily to increase energy density of the ration.
NB: these concentrates also contain other nutrient (protein, minrerals and vitamin)
Cereals
Although the composition will vary from one cereal to another, the composition
generally approximates:
Components Contents Comments

DM-Dry matter 80-90%

Metabolizable energy- ME 3000Kcal/kg Mostly in form of carbohydrates

Crude protein – CP 8-12% Lysine and methionine usually low

Digestibility about 75%

Crude Fat High in oleic and linoleic acids

2-5%

Crude Fiber 6-18% CF high in cereals with husks (oats,

barley, rice) low in naked grains(maize)

Carbohydrates Primarily starch

Calcium Low (less than

0.15%)

Phosphorous High(0.3- About 50% is bound P(phytic acid) which

0.5%) is unavailable to the non ruminants

Vit E From the germ

Maize
- Most important cereal in Kenya and forms staple food for humans
- Can be Yellow, white or red. (Yellow maize contains cryptoxanthin a precursor of Vit A).
Yellow colour gives a carcass yellow colour which may be desirable and yellow colour in
the eggs.
- Excellent source of digestible energy
- CP 8-13%. About 70% of protein is found in the endosperm and the remainder in the
embryo. The protein in the embryo is a better quality (mixture of glutelin, globulins,and
albumins). The principle protein in the endosperm is zein. It’s low in tryptophan and
lysine, which requires supplementation in non ruminants.

Maize by products:
Maize can either be wet milled or dry milled. The type of milling produces different by
products.
Maize undergoes dry milling to produce flour for human consumption. Two basic
processes are involved:

 Degerming
 Non degerming
In the degerming process, the hull, germ and endosperm are separated before milling.
Maize flour is used for human consumption and by products for animal feed. Due to
high-energy requirements for poultry, whole maize is normally milled and included in the
ration.
Maize bran - The outer coating of the corn kernel with little or no starchy part.
Maize germ – is actually the embryo, which contains a lot of oil. The byproduct left after
mechanical oil extraction is called maize germ cake while that after solvent extraction is
called maize germ meal.

Wheat
Wheat is for two types: hard and soft wheat. The wheat grain can be fed whole to
poultry after 2

wks of age but mostly ground wheat is preferred.

- CP 8-14%, proteins in wheat are prolamin and glutelin.
- Wheat gluten has a property of elasticity and forms a sticky mass in the mouth of
an animal hence not very palatable and also can lead to digestive problems.
- While wheat has high protein than maize and provides slightly less energy, there
are potential problems from feeding more than 30% in diets for young birds.
- Wheat contain about -8% pentosans which cause digesta viscosity leading to
reduced overall diet digestibility and wet feaces. The main pentosan is
arabinoxylans which absorbs up to ten times their weight of water.
- Birds do not have adequate enzyes to digest these polymers which lead to
increased viscosity of digesta and reduction of 10-15% ME utilization.
- The problem can be solved by feeding exogenous xylanase enzyme.
- Wheat grain is made of 85% endosperm, 13%bran and 2% germ. During milling
 for human consumption, the endosperm is separated from bran and germ.
Wheat by products
Wheat germ – rich in CP 22-32% and low in CF. It is therefore classified as protein
supplement. It is rarely used due to its unavailability.
Wheat bran - coarse outer covering of the wheat grain which is separated from wheat
during milling.
Consist of the husk and some adhering of endosperm. Has low energy value
Wheat pollard (middlings) – consists of a layer of grain just outside the outer bran
covering. It is a brownish finely ground meal. After removal of the bran, the wheat grain
is left as brown wheat, the brownish coat is removed to get a white wheat
Very suitable for pigs and poultry.
Not as palatable as bran due to its tendency to form a pasty mass in the mouth of
animals.

Barley
Brewery industry by products
The byproducts of brewing process:
Barley can be fed to animals but mostly the ones unsuitable for brewing.
 Barley
 Soaked and allowed to germinate for approximately 6 days- to develop enzyme
system to hydrolyse starch to dextrins and maltose
 Dried grains (malt)
 Sprouts ( radicles and plumules) are removed
 Malt is mashed and mixed with water (at this stage can be mixed with other
cereals)
 Sugarly liquid wort is drained off leaving the spent grains
 Wort is mixed with hops, hops filtered off and used as spent hops
 Wort fermented with yeast ( converts sugars to alcohol)
 Yeast filtered and dried and sold as brewer’s yeast
Barley by products
Multiculms (multisprouts) - These are sprouts and rootless obtained from malted
barley.
Brewers grain
- Insoluble residue left behind after removal of fermented liquid
- CP 18%, CF 15%,Ca 0.3%, P 0.5%
- Wet grains become rancid fast thus it is necessary to keep them in absence of
air or use them immediately.
- Low in energy but high in fibre. Not widely used in poultry and swine
-
Spent hops
Rarely used as animal feed due to high fibre and bitter taste
Dried brewer’s yeast
- Dried yeast (Saccharomyces)is a products from brewing of beer.
- It is very richin highly digestible protein (CP 42%)
- Good source of vitamin B and P
Rice
Rice is grown exclusively for human food. Risk with hull can be fed to ruminants and
horse but brown rice is preferred for pigs and poultry.
Rice by products
Hulls
- Makes 20% of the total weight of the grain.
- Has low nutritive value
- Very fibrous
- Low digestibility
After the removal of hull product is brown rice.
Rice bran
- It is very palatable when fresh but becomes rancid with storage due to high fat
contents (6-10%)
- Has trypsin inhibitor and should not be fed to poultry beyond 40% of the diet and
 30% in pigs
- It is high in vit B complex
- Good source of energy due to high fat contents
Rice polishing
- Fine powdered material obtained during polishing of rice grain after hulls ad bran
have been removed.
- Rich in vit B complex esp Thiamin
- High fat contents and becomes rancid on storage

Sorghum
- Sorghum can withstand drought better than most grain crops.
- The grain is small relatively hard and requires some processing for optimal
utilization
- Has two varieties white (very palatable) and brown (bitter)
- The brown variety has tannins which lower digestibility and animal performance
and therefore should be taken in low quantities.
Oats
- The proportion of hull to grains 23-3% therefore not recommended for fattening
- Low in energy
- High fiber contents
- CP 11-14% low in lysine, methionine, tryptophan
- CF 12.2%
- Calcium 0.07%
- Phosphorous 0.3%
Oat is fed to cattle in crushed form but grinding is recommended for pigs and poultry
Oats in poultry tend to prevent feather pecking and cannibalism
Hulls also improve feather development in chicks.
High protein feeds
Most energy sources (except fat, starch and sugars) supply protein but enough to meet
the animal requirements. Protein supplements are those feedstuff containing more than
20% CP on dry matter basis.
Usage of protein in a ration depends on:

 Availability

 Cost factor

 Contents and availability of amino acids

 Presence of undesirable and toxic acids e.g. gossypol in Cotton seed cake

 Cost of other nutrients

Plant Protein Sources

Most are oilseed meals and cakes
Others include:
- Grain legumes
- Maize gluten feed
- Germ meals (maize)
- Distillery and brewery wastes
- Coconut meal( copra)
Plant proteins have about 90% true protein.
Most of these oilseed cakes and meals are:
- Low in lysine, methionine and cysteine (soyabean is an exception with high lysine)
- Energy contents depends on method of fat extraction
- High in P, but most is phytic bound
- Low in Ca
- Low in vit B, Carotene and vit E.

Processing oils seeds

Expeller methods
Seed is cracked, dried and heated (cooked) for 15-20 min to deactivate toxins. The oil is
expelledusing an expeller; (screw process).Long cooking would cause maillard reaction,
which binds amino acids and glucose making them unavailable.
Solvent extraction
The seeds are cracked and conveyed to extraction equipment where the oil is removed
by solvent (hexane) at low temp.
The meal is toasted or heated after solvent extraction, cooled and ground.
Hydraulic extraction
Raw beans are cracked, ground and flaked. They are then exposed to both dry and
steam heat. They are placed in hydraulic press for mechanical extraction of oil. These
cakes may contain 5-8% of residual oil.
Pre-press solvent extraction
Oil partially removed with an expeller process then extracted with solvent.
Maximum fat is extracted with pre-press solvent method and least with expeller method.
Nitrogen solubility is higher with solvent extraction method than with expeller or pre-
press solvent.
Soybean meal
The whole seed has 40%CP and 15-21% oil, which is extracted to make a meal. After
extraction of oil, the protein contents of the meal is 40-50%. It is highly digestible and
very palatable. It is low in methionine and high in lysine.
Raw beans have low nutritive value than heated beans or soybean meal (due to toxic
substance). The toxins aare especially harmful to young animals. Layers fed raw beans
will lay eggs normally but with blood spot on egg yolk. The toxins affect pancreas and
reduces fat absorption. It also depressed the utilization of methionine and cysteine.
Anti-nutritive factor
Trypsin inhibitor –reduces protein digestion and increases N and S in feaces.
Goitrogenic substances- may cause goiter with continued use.
Phytic acid- may interfere with zinc absorption.
Dehulled soybean meal: has more protein and less fibre, also used in humans.
Full fat soybean meal: (38% CP, 18%fat, 5% CF and high energy. The beans are heated,
extruded and ground. Due to high cfat contents( saturated fatty acids) it produces fatty
carcasses in broilers. It is also prone to rancidity.
Soy flour: fine powder after screening ground, dehulled extracted meal. Used for partial
replacement of milk proteins in milk replacers.
Soy protein concentrates: dehulled beans, fat extracted and leached with water to
remove water soluble non protein constituents. Has 70%CP (DM basis). Used to
produce soya products resembling meat
Cotton seed meal
The protein is of good quality but the quantity is variable due to processing. It is not
usually considered for poultry but for economic reasons it is used in cotton producing
areas.
It has high fibre contents and presence of gossypol limit its use.
It is low in cysteine, methionine and lysine
Low in calcium and carotene
Palatable to ruminants but less liked by poultry and swine
Use of cotton seed cake is more limited by anti nutritional factors compared to
soybeans meal. It contains gossypol, a yellow pigment that is toxic to young chicks and
swine. Although easily removed by heat treatment, it tends to form complexes between
gossypol and lysine making lysine unavailable.
NB: Pre press solvent meals with a high level of bound gossypol while screw press
meals have high levels of free gossypol which is more toxic (probably due to breaking of
the granules).
Toxicity can be reduced by addition of ferrous sulphate(ferrous bind gossypol)
Low gossypol meals are available but more expensive.
Gossypol causes a green-brown-black discolouration in the yolk depending on gossypol
levels and length of storage.
Sterculic acid (fatty acid) creates problems with egg whites which turns pink during
storage.
Sunflower meal
The dehulled extracted meal has high protein (higher than 50%), however it is deficient
in lysine and high in lysine. High fibre discourages use in swine and poultry diets.
CP-26%
CF-35%
Ca- 0.23%
P-1.03%
Peanut meal (groundnuts meal)
- Has high protein contents of 45-50%. The quality is influenced by processing and
amount of hulls.
- It is deficient in lysine
- Low protein digestibility, probably due to presence of tannins from skin
- contains trypsin inhibitor which is removed by heating or oil extraction
- CP: 45%
- CF: 8-10%
-Ca: 0.14%
- P: 0.9%

Millfeed proteins
During wet milling of maize, there are several by products used as animal feeds.
Corn

Steep tank steepwater Heavy steep

water

Germ separator germ corn oil

Germ meal

Grinding mills

Screen bran
 Centrifugal separation gluten

Gluten meal gluten feed

Starch

Process

- Soaking the maize to soften

- Soluble nutrient comes out to the tank- steep water

- Evaporates water to get heavy steep water (thick and high in protein)

- Germ is carefully removed

- Oil is removed to get germ meal

- Once the germ is removed, the grain is ground to remove outer cover

- This is screen to get bran

- Endosperm is which has starch and gluten undergoes a process of centrifugation

to separate gluten and starch

Corn gluten feed (bran+gluten)

Part of corn that remain after the extraction of the larger portion of the starch, gluten
and germ in wet milling. Protein approx. 21-23%

- Has high fibre thus not used in poultry and swine

- Low in lysine and tryptophan

- CF: 10%

- Ca: 0.36%

- P: 0.82%

Corn gluten meal

Dried residue from the crop after removal of the larger part of starch and germ and
separated from bran in wet milling.

- CP: 41-60% ( low in lysine and tryptophan)

- CF: 5%

- Ca: 0.16%

- P: 0.05%

Germ meal

Maize germ with oil extracte

Has good balance of amino acids

CP:20%

CF: 12%

Heavy steep water

Not coomnly used in dry feeds due to high water contents (50%)

Coconut meal (copra)

Residue after extraction and drying of coconut meat

CP- low 20-26%

CF15%

Ca: 0.17%

P: 0.61%

Can be used in swine but not as a major source of protein

Contains oil residue and therefore goes rancid fast

Has high energy content

Has strong smell

Peas and beans

CP: 20-28%

Mostly grown for humans

Low in sulphur amino (methionine and cysteine0acids nd tryptophan

Bean seed contains anti-nutritional factors such as antitrypsin

Steaming at 100°C for 75 min is adequate if fed to pigs

Protein supplements of animal origins

These are derived from:

 meat packaging and rendering operations

 poultry and poultry processing

 milk and milk processing

 fish and fish processing

The amino acid composition of these supplements is generally similar to dietary needs

Quality varies due to source and processing. They are difficult to process and store
without spoilage o or nutrient loss.

Meat meal, meat and bone meal

Made from carcass trimming, a condemned carcasses, inedible offal and bones

Should not include hair, hoof, horn, hide, manure or stomach contents

Though the protein contents is high, it is considered to be of low quality than either fish
meal or soybean meal

High fat which increases the energy contents

The ash content is high (because of bone) upto 28-36%, 7-10% of this being calcium and
4-5% being phosphorous. Sodium, potassium and magnesium are also high.

Good source of Vit b12

Meat meal is differentiated from meat and bone meal on basis of phosphorous
contents. If the material contains more than 4.4%, it is labeled as meat and bone meal.

Bone meal
Produced from dried (either spray or cooker dried) ground blood. Have a high lysine
content and a protein content of 85%.

Except for isoleucine, an excellent source of amino acids

Low in Ca and P

It has a high by-pass rate, thus good for ruminants.

Hydrolysed poultry feathers

Cooked under pressure for 30-45 min to produce digestible products

My contain 85-90%CP

Deficient in cysteine, methionine, lysine, histidine and tryptophan

Supplement with other protein s with high levels of the deficient amino acids

Good protein for ruminants

Dry poultry waste

Excreta collected from caged birds. Contains 25-28% CP (dry basis) of which 1/3 is true
protein

Not suitable for non ruminants

Poultry litter

Mostly from broiler operations and has enough CP to qualify as a protein supplement

Used for cattle and sheep and can be fed as it us or ensilaged with other products

Milk products

Dried skim milk

Used in milk replacers and rarely in starter diets for pigs

Poor in fat soluble vitamins

Condensed or dried butter milk

Qualifies as a protein concentrate

34% CP (dm)
Dried whey protein concentrates

Obtained as a fluid by separating cheese coagulum from milk

Has 25% CP minimum

Fish meal

Fish meal can either be clean, dried, ground tissues of un-decomposed whole fish or
fish cuttings with or without extraction of part of the fat.

Minimum dm content of 90%and max7% salt

The fish oil content in the meal is important for poultry and swine diets due to fishy
flavour in the meat products.

Fish oils can also oxidize easily and antioxidants need to be added

Excellent sources of protein and essential amino acids

Highly digestible

Good sources of Vitamins Band most of the mineral elements

It is an expensive protein only compared to milk protein thus its use is limited

Poultry do not find it very palatable and it should be limited to 5-10% in poultry diets.
High levels of fish meal with oil contents may give an undesirable flavor in eggs and
meat or milk. There is no special advantage in feeding fish to dairy cattle.

Non Protein Nitrogen

- NPN includes any compound that contains N but are not present in the
polypeptide form of protein which can be precipitated in a solution.

- Organic NPN includes ammonia, urea, amides, amines and amino acids.
Inorganic compounds include ammonium salts.

- Of all the NPN sources, urea is the cheapest thus widely used. Urea ids
hydrolysed rapidly in the rumen to yield ammonia and carbon dioxide. The
ammonia is utilized by the rumen microbes to synthesize microbial proteins.

- NPN is therefore used in ruminant animals since in the simple stomached

animals, the urea is broken down in the lower GIT where absorption of protein is
limited.

Limitations of urea usage

 - Urea is not a satisfactory source of N for animals fed on poor quality roughage.
Under these circumstances, natural proteins should be fed.

- For urea to be maximally utilised, it must be retained in solution. However, in the

rumen it is absorbed via the rumen wall so it is not fully utilizable. Some will be
recycled via urea to rumen.

- Ammonia is absorbed in the rumen more rapidly as the pH rises towards 7. At cid
PH of around 6, absorption is low or nil. If enough starch is fed to the animal to
lower pH to this level, then utilization of urea is enhanced

Urea toxicity

- Urea can be toxic or lethal depending on size and timing of dose. Fatal levels of
urea are affected by adaptation of animal to urea, how long it has been without
feed and the type of diet among other things. The toxicity is due to rapid
hydrolyses of urea to ammonia and if the rumen pH was alkaline, the urea and
ammonia make it worse. Treatment would be to administer vinegar (acid) to
reduce thee rumen pH and prevent further absorption.

Feeding urea

- It is recommended that not more than 1% of the total N in concentrates be supplied

by urea or any other NPN compound.

- In total mixed rations, urea should be restricted to not more than 1%. More than this
may make the feed unpalatable and reduce feed intake.

- The adaption should be gradual, 1/3 the level for 1st week, 2/3 foe 2nd wk and full
amount 3rd wk.

- To improve palatability, mix with molasses or grain.

MINERAL AND VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS AND PREMIXES

Though minerals and vitamins make u a small portion of the diet, they are vital and at
times supplementation is essential for high producing animals. (All basic feedstuff
contains minerals and vitamins)

Level of supplementation of minerals will depend on the mineral contents of basal diet.
Mineral level in plant material in turn depends on the mineral contents of soil.

Requirements will depend on species, age, type of production (whether producing milk,
egg, meat etc) and level of production.

Minerals
 - Proper balance of minerals is importance excess of one mineral may interfere
with absorption or utilization of another. E.g. high levels of Ca will interfere with P,
Mg and Zn utilization. Excess levels of minerals can also be toxic.

- Minerals supplements must be provided from compounds that is available to the

animal (must be dissolved and absorbed). E.g. ferric oxide is almost insoluble
and therefore of little use to the animal.

The choice of mineral supplements depends on:

 Cost

 Chemical form of mineral which affect availability

 Physical form (fineness of division and mixing)

 Freedom from harmful impurities

Sodium chloride (common salt)

This is the most common supplement added to livestock feed. It is very palatable.
Sometimes it is used as a carrier for medicines (antihelmitics)

For ruminants it is common to add 0.5-1% salt to commercial fed. For swine and poultry
0.25-05% is added.

Due to high requirements, salt is added ad libitum (free flowing of block) to ruminants
and horses.

Excess salt is a problem for all species but poultry and swine are more prone to toxicity,
especially if water intake is limited. In areas where water or soils are saline, it may not
be necessary to feed salt.

Calcium and Phosphorous

Supplementary Ca and P are required in many animal diets since requirements are high
for skeletal growth, milk and egg production.

Most feedstuffs are low in Ca and P. Phosphorous is more deficient in roughages.

Animal on high cereals diets need Ca and P is high in cereals

Most non-plant Ca sources are fairly well utilized. Approximately half of plant P is bound
by phytic acid and non available to non ruminants. During ration formulation, assume
half P available for non ruminants and 100% for ruminants (phytin is metabolized by
rumen microorganism)
Other macrominerals

Magnesium: main sources are – magnesium oxide (most prefered), magnesium

carbonate and magnesium sulphate

Potassium: potassium chloride, potassium bi carbonate, potassium carbonate

Sulphur: either as elemental or sulphate salts

Trace minerals

These are normally added as a commercially premix due to the small quantities. The
main sources are:

Elements Source

Potassium Potassium chloride

Iron Iron oxide (low availability), iron carbonate, iron sulphate

Copper Copper sulphate, copper oxide

Manganese Manganese oxide or manganese sulphate

Cobalt Cobalt carbonate, Cobalt Sulphate

Iodine Iodised salt, potassium iodide, potassium iodate, Calciu periodate

Zinc Zinc oxide, zinc sulphate

Selenium Sodium selenate, sodium selenite

Sulphur Ammonium sulphate, element sulphur in ruminants

Chelates

Compounds in which the minerals atom is bound to an organic complex (e.eg protein or
polysaccharides). It is thought that chelated elements prevent formation of insoluble
complexes in GIT reducing amount required in the diet.

Vitamins

Almost all feedstuffs contain some of the various vitamins. The concentration varies
tremendously. The concentration depends on:

 Harvesting
  Processing

 Storage

 Plant species

 Age

In animals, liver and kidney are best sources. Yeast and other microorganism are good
sources of Vit B

Vitamins are easily destroyed by heat, sunlight, oxidising conditions or storage

conditions that allow mold growth. It is there advisable to provide vitamins above the
requirements.

Vitamin K is normally synthesized in enough amounts in the GI tract. It may be needed if

additives which interfere with synthesis are included in the diet.

VITAMIN SOURCES

A Carotene: green and yellow plants, dehydrated alfalfa

Vitamin A: Fish oil, kidney and liver

Sold as Vitamin A acetate or propionate

D Synthetic

Fish oil

E Highest in germ or germ oil

synthetic

K Green Plants

Produced by microbes in GIT

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