What is to be known about animal feed supplements?

animal feed supplements

As it is universally known, contemporary modern society rely very much on feed additives. Along with the provision of the feed additives, the food items can bring taste to the feed. And actually, the number of additives that are produced and applied in the market increases with the developing desire for meat.

What is feed supplement?

Feed supplement includes phosphate, calcium and trace mineral mixtures. They can be added to animal feedby grazing them during the dry or the rainy season. The grazing supplements are useful to fulfill their need on minerals. There are also liquid feed supplementsthat contain some ingredients that can easily be stratified, settled out, or changed in physical stability after a period of time. Ground limestone, magnesium oxide, trace minerals, salts, and fat-soluble vitamins are examples of liquid feed supplements.

Supplements that cows need

Cattle need calcium and phosphorus. For reminder, notice that ninety-nine percent of total body calcium and 80 percent of total body phosphoruswhich are stored in the bones. And this skeletal stock of calcium and phosphorus are used to fulfill short-term deficiencies.

Feed supplements: pros and cons

To begin with, it is important to signal that feed additives present their own individual advantages and drawbacks. As far as its advantages are concerned, we can say that it has few. For instance, let’s consider the fact that the additives might add some taste to their feed. Besides, feed supplements can also bring very good odor. As soon as the poultry smell the feed, they can eat more. And as they eat more, they will rapidly grow up. And at the same time, customers’ wants for standard meat could be easily met.

But the additives present also somelimitations. In fact, there are some additives that the bodies cannot incorporate. The meat can then include some additives leading to their incorporation in human’s body. In general, this kind of feed additive is dangerous to people’s wellness. That’s’ the reason why a lot of individuals actually wonder about the quality of today’s meat.

In principle, there are some very famous feed additives that are spread around the world by the feed industry. During the manufacturing process of feeds and feed additive products for poultry, some factories may make use of some common additives to make the feed of premium quality. However, because they include some destructive additives, it is not recommended to use them in poultry feed in order to avoid consuming them when eating poultry meat.

Differences between feed supplement and feed additives

People tend to assimilate feed additives and feed supplement. But they don’t share the same uses, nor the same effects. In fact, additives should be entirely added into a ratio, in minimal quantities. But the supplements can be first freely added to the ratio or provided as a free choice option, for example a mineral block for cattle. And second, the animal feed supplements may gather feed additive but as an ingredient.

What are the main feed supplements for livestock and poultry?

Generally, talking about poultry feed for farm poultry means talking about the feed of chickens, ducks, geese and many other domestic birds. To meet their needs, modern feeds of poultry includes grain, protein supplements like soybean oil meal or mineral supplements. They may also include vitamin supplement.

And when we talk aboutfeed additive, we mean the additive of extra nutrient or even drug that farmers give to live stock. These kind of additives concerns vitamins, amino acids, fatty acids, minerals, pharmaceutical, fungal products and steroidal compounds. Such additives can lead to huge impacts on feed presentation, hygiene, digestibility, or even on the intestinal health.

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