feed

feed
feedable, adj.
/feed/, v., fed, feeding, n.
v.t.
1. to give food to; supply with nourishment: to feed a child.
2. to yield or serve as food for: This land has fed 10 generations.
3. to provide as food.
4. to furnish for consumption.
5. to satisfy; minister to; gratify: Poetry feeds the imagination.
6. to supply for maintenance or operation, as to a machine: to feed paper into a photocopier.
7. to provide with the necessary materials for development, maintenance, or operation: to feed a printing press with paper.
8. to use (land) as pasture.
9. Theat. Informal.
a. to supply (an actor, esp. a comedian) with lines or action, the responses to which are expected to elicit laughter.
b. to provide cues to (an actor).
c. Chiefly Brit. to prompt: Stand in the wings and feed them their lines.
10. Radio and Television. to distribute (a local broadcast) via satellite or network.
v.i.
11. (esp. of animals) to take food; eat: cows feeding in a meadow; to feed well.
12. to be nourished or gratified; subsist: to feed on grass; to feed on thoughts of revenge.
13. chain feed, to pass (work) successively into a machine in such a manner that each new piece is held in place by or connected to the one before.
n.
14. food, esp. for farm animals, as cattle, horses or chickens.
15. an allowance, portion, or supply of such food.
16. Informal. a meal, esp. a lavish one.
17. the act of feeding.
18. the act or process of feeding a furnace, machine, etc.
19. the material, or the amount of it, so fed or supplied.
20. a feeding mechanism.
21. Elect. feeder (def. 10).
22. Theat. Informal.
a. a line spoken by one actor, the response to which by another actor is expected to cause laughter.
b. an actor, esp. a straight man, who provides such lines.
23. a local television broadcast distributed by satellite or network to a much wider audience, esp. nationwide or international.
24. off one's feed, Slang.
a. reluctant to eat; without appetite.
b. dejected; sad.
c. not well; ill.
[bef. 950; ME feden, OE fedan; c. Goth fodjan, OS fodian. See FOOD]
Syn. 1, 2. nourish, sustain. 5. nurture, support, encourage, bolster. 14. FEED, FODDER, FORAGE, PROVENDER mean food for animals. FEED is the general word: pig feed; chicken feed. FODDER is esp. applied to dry or green feed, as opposed to pasturage, fed to horses, cattle, etc.: fodder for winter feeding; Cornstalks are good fodder. FORAGE is food that an animal obtains (usually grass, leaves, etc.) by searching about for it: Lost cattle can usually live on forage. PROVENDER denotes dry feed, such as hay, oats, or corn: a supply of provender in the haymow and corn cribs.
Ant. 1, 2. starve.

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Foodstuff grown or developed for livestock and poultry to maintain the health of the animals and to increase the quality of such end products as meat, milk, or eggs.

Modern feeds are derived from crops grown specifically for research or from by-products of surplus crops or foods produced for human consumption. Feeds are categorized as either concentrates (high in digestibility of nutrients but low in fibre content) or roughages (high in fibre and comparatively low in digestive nutrients). Most diets consist of a combination of feeds.

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Introduction
also called  animal feed 
 food grown or developed for livestock and poultry. Modern feeds are produced by carefully selecting and blending ingredients to provide highly nutritional diets that both maintain the health of the animals and increase the quality of such end products as meat, milk, or eggs. Ongoing improvements in animal diets have resulted from research, experimentation, and chemical analysis by agricultural scientists.

      Animals in general require the same nutrients (nutrient) as humans. Some feeds, such as pasture grasses (grass), hay and silage crops, and certain cereal grains, are grown specifically for animals. Other feeds, such as sugar beet pulp, brewers' grains, and pineapple bran, are by-products that remain after a food crop has been processed for human use. Surplus food crops, such as wheat, other cereals, fruits (fruit), vegetables (vegetable), and roots (root), may also be fed to animals.

      History does not record when dried roughage or other stored feeds were first given to animals. Most early records refer to nomadic peoples who, with their herds and flocks, followed the natural feed supplies. When animals were domesticated and used for work in crop production, some of the residues were doubtless fed to them.

      The first scientific effort to evaluate feeds for animals on a comparative basis was probably made in 1809 by the German agriculturist Albrecht von Thaer, who developed “hay values” as measures of the nutritive value of feeds. Tables of the value of feeds and of the requirements of animals in Germany followed and were later used in other countries.

      Preservation of green forages such as beet leaves and corn (maize) plants by packing them in pits in the earth has long been practiced in northern Europe. The idea of making silage as a means of preserving and utilizing more of the corn plant was gradually developed in Europe and was taken from France to the United States in the 1870s. When the mature, dried corn plant was fed to cattle in the winter, much of the coarse stem was wasted, but when it was chopped and ensiled (made into silage), everything was eaten. During the 20th century, concrete bunker silos (silo) for storage of silage became a common sight in many rural areas worldwide.

Basic nutrients and additives
      The basic nutrients that animals require for maintenance, growth, reproduction, and good health include carbohydrates (carbohydrate), protein, fat, minerals, vitamins (vitamin), and water. The energy needed for growth and activity is derived primarily from carbohydrates and fats. Protein will also supply energy, particularly if carbohydrate and fat intake is inadequate or if protein intake exceeds the needs of the body.

      Animals need a source of energy to sustain life processes within the body and for muscular activity. When the energy intake of an animal exceeds its requirements, the surplus is stored as body fat, which can be utilized later as a source of energy if less food becomes available.

Proteins (protein)
      For immature animals, protein is also needed for growth of the muscles and other parts of the body. Since milk, eggs, and wool contain much protein, additional amounts are needed in the feed of animals producing these. All animals require a small amount of protein for maintenance—i.e., the daily repair of muscles, internal organs, and other body tissues.

      Proteins are composed of more than 20 different amino acids (amino acid), which are liberated during digestion. Animals with a simple single stomach (monogastric), including humans, monkeys, swine, poultry, rabbits, and mink, require correct amounts of the following 10 essential amino acids daily: arginine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. In addition to these, poultry need glycine and glutamic acid for growth. cystine can replace up to half of the methionine requirement, and tyrosine can replace up to half of the phenyalanine requirement. High-quality protein, such as that supplied by eggs, milk, fish meal, meat by-products, and soybean meal, contains high concentrations of the essential amino acids in the proper balance for their full utilization. Poor-quality protein, such as that in most grains, including corn, barley, and sorghum, contains too little of one or more essential amino acids. Feeds having poor-quality proteins are useful when blended with other feeds that restore the balance in essential amino acids.

      A protein source's amino acid profile is of secondary importance to ruminants (ruminant), such as cattle, sheep, goats, and the other animals that have four stomachs, because the bacteria that aid in the digestion of food in the rumen (first stomach) use simple nitrogen compounds to build proteins in their cells. Further on in the digestive tract, the animals digest the bacteria. By this indirect means, ruminants produce high-quality protein from a food that might originally have contained poor protein or from urea (a nitrogen compound). Very young ruminants, such as calves, lambs, and kids, however, need good-quality protein until the rumen develops sufficiently for this bacterial process to become established.

Carbohydrates (carbohydrate) and fats
      Most animals get energy from carbohydrates and fats, which are oxidized in the body. These yield heat, which maintains body temperature, furnishes energy for growth and muscle activity, and sustains vital functions. Animals need much more energy (and more total feed) for growth, work, or milk production than for simple maintenance.

      Simple carbohydrates such as sugars (sugar) and starches (starch) are readily digested by all animals. The complex carbohydrates ( cellulose, hemicelluloses (hemicellulose)) that make up the fibrous stems of plants are broken down by bacterial and protozoal action in the rumen of cattle and sheep or in the cecum of rabbits and horses. Such complex carbohydrates cannot be digested by humans or, to any appreciable extent, by dogs, cats, birds, or laboratory animals. Thus, ruminants and some herbivorous animals obtain much more of the energy-giving nutrients from the carbohydrates of plants than do monogastric carnivores and omnivores, for which fibrous materials have little or no energy value.

       fat in feeds has a high nutritive value because it is easily digested and because it supplies about two and one-quarter times as much energy as an equal weight of starch or sugar. While fat has a high nutritive value, it can be replaced by an equivalent amount of digestible carbohydrates in the feed, except for small amounts of essential fatty acids (fatty acid). Very small amounts of the unsaturated fatty acid linoleic, contained in some fats, are necessary for growth and health. Animal feeds typically supply ample amounts of this acid unless it has been removed by processing.

Minerals (mineral)
      Minerals essential for animal life include common salt (sodium chloride), calcium, phosphorus, sulfur, potassium, magnesium, manganese, iron, copper, cobalt, iodine, zinc, molybdenum, and selenium. The last six of these can be toxic to animals if excessive amounts are eaten.

      All farm animals generally need more common salt than is contained in their feeds, and they are supplied with it regularly. Of the other essential minerals, phosphorus and calcium are most apt to be lacking, because they are heavily drawn upon to produce bones, milk, and eggshells. Good sources of calcium and phosphorus are bonemeal, dicalcium phosphate, and defluorinated phosphates. Eggshells are nearly pure calcium carbonate. Calcium may readily be supplied by ground limestone, ground seashells, or marl, which are all high in calcium.

      Small amounts of iodine are needed by animals for the formation of thyroxine, a compound containing iodine, secreted by the thyroid gland. A serious deficiency of iodine may cause goitre, a disease in which the thyroid gland enlarges greatly. In certain regions, goitre has caused heavy losses of newborn pigs, lambs, kids, calves, and foals. Iodine deficiencies (iodine deficiency) can be prevented by supplying iodized salt to the mother before the young are born. Almost all commercial sources of salt for animals contain iodine as a routine additive.

      In some areas, soil and forage are deficient in copper and cobalt, which are needed along with iron for the formation of hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying pigment of the red blood cells. In these areas, farm animals may suffer from anemia unless the deficiency is corrected by means of a suitable mineral supplement. Ruminants are usually fed cobalt in the diet so they can then synthesize 12 (vitamin B12). Monogastric animals, such as pigs, require a direct source of vitamin B12 in their diet.

      Iron, used in hemoglobin formation, is amply supplied in most animal feeds, except milk. The only practical problem with iron deficiency (iron deficiency anemia) occurs in young suckling pigs before they start to consume other feeds in addition to milk. They require an iron injection or access to fresh soil to meet their iron needs.

       manganese is essential for animals, and the usual diets for all farm animals supply sufficient quantities. A lack of manganese may cause the nutritional disease of chicks and young turkeys called slipped tendon ( perosis) and also may cause failure of eggs to hatch. Normal diets for swine are often deficient in zinc, especially in the presence of excess calcium. Fortifying feed by adding 100 parts per million of zinc, as zinc sulfate or zinc carbonate, prevents zinc deficiency symptoms, which include retarded growth rate and severe scaliness and cracking of the skin (parakeratosis). While trace amounts of selenium are necessary for normal health, excessive amounts, which can be found in forages and grains in some regions, are toxic and may cause death. To furnish both calcium and phosphorus, grazing livestock may be allowed free access to such a mixture as 60 percent dicalcium phosphate and 40 percent common salt. Trace mineralized salt is used when copper or cobalt may be deficient. Livestock usually are given access to common salt separately, so they will not be forced to eat more of the other minerals than they require to get the amount of salt they need. Swine diets usually contain prescribed levels of calcium, phosphorus, salt, and essential trace minerals that may be deficient in the grains they are fed.

Vitamins (vitamin)
      Known vitamins include the fat-soluble vitamins A (vitamin A), D (vitamin D), E (vitamin E), and K (vitamin K), and the water-soluble B group of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, choline, biotin, folic acid, and vitamins 6 (vitamin B6) and B12 and vitamin C.

       vitamin A, the one most apt to be lacking in livestock feeds, is required for growth, reproduction, milk production, and the maintenance of normal resistance to respiratory infections. All green-growing crops are rich in carotene, which animals can convert into vitamin A. Vitamin A supplement is added to animal diets to ensure a supply when livestock are not fed green forages and are not on good pasture.

       vitamin D enables animals to use calcium and phosphorus; a deficiency causes rickets in young growing animals. The ultraviolet rays of sunlight produce vitamin D from the provitamin in the skin. Field curing of hay develops vitamin D through the action of the sunlight on ergosterol in the hay crops. Certain fish oils are very rich in vitamin D. Livestock that are outdoors in the sunlight much of the time have a plentiful supply of vitamin D. Under winter conditions in cold regions, cattle, sheep, and horses ordinarily get ample amounts from the hay they are fed; pigs, poultry, and laboratory animals that are raised indoors will be deficient unless a supplement is added.

      The vitamin B group (vitamin B complex) is not important in the feeding of cattle, sheep, and other ruminants, because the bacteria in their rumen synthesize these vitamins. Very young calves, however, and poultry, swine, and other monogastric animals require the B vitamins in their diets. Of these, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, and vitamin B12 are most likely to be deficient in ordinary feeds; special supplements are needed by pigs, poultry, and laboratory animals. choline may also be deficient in poultry feeds.

       vitamin E is necessary for normal hatching of eggs. It plays a role along with selenium in preventing muscle stiffness and paralysis (dystrophy) in lambs, calves, and chicks under certain conditions. Vitamin C, which prevents scurvy in humans and guinea pigs, can be synthesized in the bodies of most other animals and need not be supplied in their food. Vitamin K is synthesized by bacteria in the intestinal tract and can be absorbed, and, if livestock can ingest feces, a dietary supply is usually not important. Today many animals are raised without fecal contact, though, so vitamin K is often added to their diets as a safety factor.

Antibiotics (antibiotic) and other growth stimulants
      Antibiotics (antibiotic) have been used in livestock diets since the early 1950s. They and other growth stimulants are non-nutritive substances added to animal feeds to treat diseases, to improve the efficiency of feed utilization and feed acceptance, or to improve the health or metabolism of the animal in some way. The use of antibiotics can be broadly divided into two categories, therapeutic and subtherapeutic, in which the distinction purely depends on the amount added to the feed. In therapeutic use, enough antibiotics are used to control bacterial infections within an individual or animal population; in subtherapeutic use, antibiotics are given in relatively low doses to enhance the performance (typically growth and feed efficiency) of the animals. The addition of subtherapeutic antibiotics to the diets of young pigs improves growth performance by 10 to 15 percent or more. Because the subtherapeutic use of antibiotics does not completely eradicate bacteria populations, over time the practice leads to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which forces the search for new antibiotics for both livestock and humans. Some countries in the European Union have banned the subtherapeutic use of antibiotics, and there is growing pressure in the United States to ban the subtherapeutic use of penicillin and tetracyclines (tetracycline), the most important antibiotics for human use. The most commonly used antibiotics in feed are chlortetracycline, oxytetracycline, bacitracin, penicillin, and tylosin.

      Other growth enhancers added to the feed do not have a disease-reducing affect but rather change the animal's metabolism. Most are related to hormones produced by the animals. These include lasalocid for cattle and sheep, melengestrol acetate and monensin for cattle, and ractopamine for swine. Several ear implants are approved for delivering hormones or other drugs to feedlot cattle in the United States. For example, these products typically increase daily gain by 10 to 15 percent and feed efficiency by 5 to 10 percent. Other countries, particularly those in the European Union, severely restrict or prohibit the use of implants in meat-producing animals because of opposition from some consumer groups.

Composition and valuation of feeds
      The usual chemical analyses of feeds provide information on the amount of dry matter, protein (with its amino acid composition), fat, fibre, minerals, and vitamins contained in the feed. Various energy values (digestible, metabolizable, and net) of the feed, which depend on the species of animal being fed, are included in complete tables of feed composition.

Determination
      Digestion and balance experiments measure the degree to which the various components of a feed are absorbed and retained by the animal body. Proteins are composed of varying quantities of amino acids, which are ultimately used by the animal to develop muscle and other body tissues. Microbes in the rumens of cattle and sheep can synthesize amino acids from the various nitrogen sources in their feed. In contrast, monogastrics such as pigs and poultry must have the proper amounts of the essential amino acids provided in their diet. Thus, ruminants typically have simple protein requirements, while monogastrics have amino acid requirements.

       protein and amino acid requirements are expressed as the amounts of digestible protein or amino acids needed for growth or other body functions, either as a percentage of the diet or as the total grams or units required per day. The amounts of energy needed are measured as digestible energy (DE), metabolizable energy (ME), net energy (NE), or total digestible nutrients (TDN). These values differ with species. The gross energy (GE) value of a feed is the amount of heat liberated when it is burned in a bomb calorimeter. The drawback of using this value is that a substance such as wood and corn may have a similar GE but vastly different nutritional values because some or all of it passes through the body without being digested. Furthermore, some of what is digested gets excreted in the urine as urea. Still more energy is lost from the heat of digestion and as gas produced by bacteria in the digestive tract. This loss is appreciably greater in ruminants than in pigs, chickens, and other monogastric animals. The work of eating, digesting, and metabolizing food may also be subtracted from the food energy, resulting in the NE value, or useful energy value of a feed that can be used for production (growth, reproduction, or milk) or for maintenance (basal metabolism, activity, keeping warm). The TDN value of a feed represents the sum of the digestible protein, digestible ether extract (fat) times 2.25, digestible nitrogen-free extract (carbohydrate), and digestible crude fibre. Its use as a measurement factor has declined in recent years because it considers neither the fermentation and heat losses during digestion and metabolism nor the fact that energy is utilized more efficiently for maintenance or milk production than for growth and fattening.

Optimization of nutrient-cost ratio
      Feed costs vary widely from season to season; it is often possible for producers to realize substantial savings through wise selection of the feed ingredients used to formulate complete diets. It is much easier for large commercial feed companies with widespread operations to take advantage of regional variations in feed prices than it is for individual relatively small-scale livestock producers who must rely on locally produced feeds.

      Least-cost formulation of feed mixtures makes it possible to use computers to select the correct amounts of competitively priced feed ingredients that will combine to fully satisfy the nutrient requirements of a specific type of animal at a particular stage of development. When used by a qualified nutritionist, computer programs can successfully formulate diets that yield maximum production at the lowest possible cost.

Basic types of feeds
       Concentrates used as animal feeds (nutrient values on as-fed basis) Roughages used as animal feeds (nutrient values on as-fed basis)Animal feeds are classified as follows: (1) concentrates, high in energy value, including fat, cereal grains and their by-products (barley, corn, oats, rye, wheat), high-protein oil meals or cakes (soybean, canola, cottonseed, peanut [groundnut]), and by-products from processing of sugar beets, sugarcane, animals, and fish, and (2) roughages, including pasture grasses, hays, silage, root crops, straw, and stover (cornstalks). The nutritional composition of commonly used feedstuffs is shown in the table (Concentrates used as animal feeds (nutrient values on as-fed basis)) of feed concentrates and the table (Roughages used as animal feeds (nutrient values on as-fed basis)) of roughage feeds.

Concentrate foods
cereal grains and their by-products
      In the agricultural practices of North America and northern Europe, barley, corn, oats, rye, and sorghums (sorghum) are grown almost entirely as animal feed, although small quantities are processed for human consumption as well. These grains are fed whole or ground, either singly or mixed with high-protein oil meals or other by-products, minerals, and vitamins to form a complete feed for pigs and poultry or an adequate dietary supplement for ruminants and horses.

      The production of grains is seasonal because of temperature or moisture conditions or a combination of both. It is necessary to produce a full year's supply during the limited growing season. The grain is dried to 14 percent or less moisture to prevent sprouting or molding; the grain is then stored in containers or buildings where insects and rodents cannot destroy it. It is generally desirable to store more than a year's supply of the grains to be used as feed, because crop failures sometimes occur.

High-protein meals
      Vegetable seeds produced primarily as a source of oil for human food and industrial uses include soybeans (soybean), peanuts (peanut) (groundnuts), flaxseed (linseed) ( linseed), canola, cottonseed, coconuts, oil palm, and sunflower seeds. After these seeds are processed to remove the oil, the residues, which may contain from 5 percent to less than 1 percent of fat and 20 to 50 percent of protein, are marketed as animal feeds. Cottonseed and peanuts have woody hulls or shells, which are generally removed before processing—if the hulls or shells are left intact, the resulting by-product is higher in fibre and appreciably lower in protein and energy value. The protein quality of these meals for monogastrics varies greatly depending on the levels and availability of the amino acids present. Ruminants in general require only protein or nitrogen sources for the rumen microbes to synthesize amino acids.

      These high-protein feeds supplement inexpensive roughages, cereal grains, and other low-protein feeds in order to furnish the protein and amino acids needed for efficient growth or production. The supplement chosen for a particular diet depends largely on the cost and availability of supply.

By-products of sugar beets (sugar beet) and sugarcane
      From the sugar beet industry come beet tops, which are used on the farm either fresh or ensiled, and dried beet pulp and beet molasses, which are produced in sugar factories. Cane molasses is a residue from cane sugar manufacture. These are all palatable, high-quality sources of carbohydrates. Sugarcane bagasse (stalk residue) is fibrous, hard to digest, and of very low feed value. In Europe, beets and some other roots are grown as animal feed. Citrus molasses and dried citrus pulp, which are generally available at low cost as by-products of the citrus juice industry, are often used as high-quality feeds for cattle and sheep.

Other by-product feeds
      Large quantities of animal feed are by-products or residues from commercial processing of cereal grains for human consumption. The largest group of these by-product feeds comes from the milling of wheat, including wheat bran, wheat middlings, wheat germ meal, and wheat mill feed. In some areas, bakery wastes, such as stale and leftover bread, rolls, and various pastry products, are ground and used as filler or feed for pets and farm animals. rice bran and rice hulls are obtained in similar fashion from the mills that polish rice for human food. Corn gluten feed, corn gluten meal, and hominy feed are produced as by-products from the manufacture of starch for industrial and food uses.

      Brewers' grains, corn distillers' grains and solubles, and brewer's yeast are useful animal feeds and are collected from the dried residues of the fermentation industries that produce beer and distilled spirits. Waste products from pineapple-canning plants include pineapple bran or pulp and the ensiled leaves from the plant. By-products from the abattoirs and meatpacking plants that process animals into meat include such feeds as meat and bonemeal, tankage (animal residue left after rendering fat in a slaughterhouse), meat scraps, blood meal, poultry waste, and feather meal. Various types and qualities of fish meals (fish meal) are produced by fish-processing plants. These animal by-products typically contain 50 percent or more high-quality protein and the mineral elements calcium and phosphorus. Steamed bonemeal is particularly high in these important minerals. Dried skim milk, dried whey, and dried buttermilk are feed by-products from the dairy (dairy product) industry.

Roughages
  Concentrates used as animal feeds (nutrient values on as-fed basis)Pasture grasses (grass) and legumes (legume), both native and cultivated, are the most important single source of feed for ruminants such as cattle, horses, sheep, and goats. During the growing season they furnish most of the feed for these animals at a cost lower than for feeds that need to be harvested, processed, and transported. Hundreds of different grasses, legumes, bushes, and trees are acceptable as feeds for grazing animals. The nutritive value of the cultivated varieties has been studied, but information is incomplete for many of those that occur naturally. The composition of some of the forage crops most widely used is shown in the table (Concentrates used as animal feeds (nutrient values on as-fed basis)).

 Hay is produced by drying grasses or legumes when they approach the stage of maximum plant growth and before the seed develops. This stage has been shown to give maximum yields of digestible protein and carbohydrates per unit of land area. The moisture content is typically reduced below 18 percent in order to prevent molding, heating, and spoilage during storage. Legume hays, such as alfalfa and clovers (clover), are high in protein, while the grasses (such as timothy and Sudan grass) are lower in protein and vary considerably depending on their stage of maturity and the amount of nitrogen fertilization applied to them. Stored hay is fed to animals when sufficient fresh pasture grass is not available.

 Silage is made by packing immature plants in an airtight storage container and allowing fermentation to develop acetic and lactic acids, which preserve the moist feed. Storage may be in upright tower silos or in trenches in the ground. The initial moisture concentration of the forage should be between 50 and 70 percent, depending on the type of silage. Lower moisture levels can cause difficulty in obtaining sufficient packing to exclude air and may result in molding or other spoilage. Too high a moisture content causes nutrient losses by seepage and results in the production of excessively acidic, unpalatable silage. Ensiled forage can be stored for a longer period of time with lower loss of nutrients than dry hay. The nutritive value of silage depends on the type of forage ensiled and how successfully it has been cured. Corn, sorghums, grasses, and sometimes leguminous forages are used in making silage.

Root crops
      Root crops are used less extensively as animal feed than was true in the past, for economic reasons. Beets (mangels), rutabagas (rutabaga), cassava, turnips (turnip), and sometimes surplus potatoes (potato) are used as feed. Compared with other feeds, root crops are low in dry-matter content and protein; they mostly provide energy.

straw and hulls
      Quantities of straw remaining after the harvesting of wheat, oats, barley, and rice crops are used as feed for cattle and other ruminants. The straws are low in protein and very high in fibre; digestibility is low. Straw is useful in maintaining mature animals when other feeds are in short supply, but it is too low in nutrition to be a satisfactory feed for extended periods unless supplemented with other feeds that supply the protein, digestible energy, and minerals needed for growth and production. Treatment of straw with alkali markedly increases the digestibility of the cellulose, augmenting its value as a source of energy for animals.

      Corncobs, cornstalks, cottonseed hulls, and rice hulls can also be used as sources of fibre in ruminant diets. Rice hulls are lower in value, while the others are similar to straw.

John K. Loosli Palmer J. Holden

Additional Reading
Textbooks and reference works that are useful sources of information on animal nutrition include Marshal H. Jurgens and Kristjan Bregendahl, Animal Feeding and Nutrition, 10th ed. (2007); M.E. Ensminger, J.E. Oldfield, and W.W. Heinemann, Feeds & Nutrition, 2nd ed. (1990); Richard O. Kellems and D.C. Church, Livestock Feeds and Feeding, 5th ed. (2002); and Peter R. Cheeke, Applied Animal Nutrition, 3rd ed. (2005).

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Feed — Feed, n. 1. That which is eaten; esp., food for beasts; fodder; pasture; hay; grain, ground or whole; as, the best feed for sheep. [1913 Webster] 2. A grazing or pasture ground. Shak. [1913 Webster] 3. An allowance of provender given to a horse,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • feed — Feed, n. 1. That which is eaten; esp., food for beasts; fodder; pasture; hay; grain, ground or whole; as, the best feed for sheep. [1913 Webster] 2. A grazing or pasture ground. Shak. [1913 Webster] 3. An allowance of provender given to a horse,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Feed — may refer to:* As a verb, to feed means to give food to, or to eat food. See feeding. * Feed as a noun often refers to animal feed, food given to or meant for livestock (see also fodder )Inserting one thing into another: * Card feed * Paper… …   Wikipedia

  • Feed — (f[=e]d), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Fed} (f[e^]d); p. pr. & vb. n. {Feeding}.] [AS. f[=e]dan, fr. f[=o]da food; akin to OS. f[=o]dian, OFries. f[=e]da, f[=o]da, D. voeden, OHG. fuottan, Icel. f[ae][eth]a, Sw. f[ o]da, Dan. f[ o]de. [root]75. See… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • feed — vb Feed, nourish, pasture, graze are comparable when they mean to provide the food that one needs or desires. Feed is the comprehensive term applicable not only to persons and animals but also to plants and, by extension, to whatever consumes… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • feed — [fēd] vt. fed, feeding [ME feden < OE fedan < base of foda, FOOD] 1. to give food to; provide food for 2. a) to provide as food [to feed oats to horses] b) to serve as food for …   English World dictionary

  • Feed — Feed, v. i. 1. To take food; to eat. [1913 Webster] Her kid . . . which I afterwards killed because it would not feed. De Foe. [1913 Webster] 2. To subject by eating; to satisfy the appetite; to feed one s self (upon something); to prey; with on… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Feed — (englisch feed „Einspeisung“, „Zufuhr“) oder Newsfeed wird im Deutschen als jargon sprachliche Bezeichnung verwendet für elektronische Nachrichten aus dem Internet, die kostenlos abonniert und automatisch in einen Feedreader oder auch in den …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • feed up — ˌfeed ˈup [intransitive/transitive] [present tense I/you/we/they feed up he/she/it feeds up present participle feeding up past tense …   Useful english dictionary

  • feed — fēd vb, fed fed; feed·ing vt 1 a) to give food to b) to give as food 2) to produce or provide food for vi to consume food: EAT feed n …   Medical dictionary

  • Feed — [fi:d], der; s, s [engl. feed, eigtl. = Versorgung, Einspeisung] (Jargon): elektronische Nachricht aus dem Internet, die kostenlos abonniert u. in ein E Mail Programm o. Ä. eingespeist werden kann …   Universal-Lexikon

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