Predicting Feed Intake Of Food Producing Animals

How much do animals eat? Why do eating patterns change? How do physiological, dietary, and environmental factors affect feed intake? This volume, a comprehensive overview of the latest animal feed intake research, answers these questions with detailed information about the feeding patterns of fishes, pigs, poultry, dairy cows, beef cattle, and sheep. Equations for calculating predicted feed intake are presented for each animal and are accompanied by charts, graphs, and tables.

As members of the public becomes more concious of the food they consume and its content, higher standards are expected in the preparation of such food. The updated seventh edition of Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cattle explores the impact of cattle's biological, production, and environmental diversities, as well as variations on nutrient utilization and requirements. More enhanced than previous editions, this edition expands on the descriptions of cattle and their nutritional requirements taking management and environmental conditions into consideration. The book clearly communicates the current state of beef cattle nutrient requirements and animal variation by visually presenting related data via computer-generated models. Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cattle expounds on the effects of beef cattle body condition on the state of compensatory growth, takes an in-depth look at the variations in cattle type, and documents the important effects of the environment and stress on food intake. This volume also uses new data on the development of a fetus during pregnancy to prescribe nutrient requirements of gestating cattle more precisely. By focusing on factors such as product quality and environmental awareness, Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cattle presents standards and advisements for acceptable nutrients in a complete and conventional manner that promotes a more practical understanding and application.

The supply of new innovative precision dairy farming technologies is steadily increasing. It aims to help farmers to be more labour efficient and to support them in their daily management decisions. At the same time, since many technologies are developed from an engineering perspective, adoption of these technologies is sometimes limited since knowledge on economic benefits and farmers' needs is often incomplete. This book covers the current status of precision dairy farming technologies and what farmers expect from them. It also includes insights and future perspectives on managing, analysing, and combining sensor information. Moreover, new innovative ideas that may better fit farmers' needs and expectation are introduced, ranging from technologies or innovations that aim at improved animal health and welfare, to those technologies that result in a more efficient use of feed and improved grazing management. This book is unique because science and engineering are combined to develop precision dairy farming technologies that are to be applied in practice. The book will serve as a stepping stone for new and innovative ideas within this rapidly growing area within dairy farming.

This book contains an up to date and more focused examination of developments in the understanding of voluntary food intake and new ideas and studies related to diet selection. New chapters are introduced and old ones are rewritten and reorganized in a more readable style by using extensive reference to books and reviews. The book is intended for animal nutritionists, animal scientists, farm owners and managers, veterinarians and students.

This book is developed from a British Society of Animal Science occasional meeting, held in September 2000. It brings together all of the scientific disciplines involved in the pre- and post-weaning biology of the piglet, concentrating on growth/development, nutrition, immunology/health, ethology and the physical environment.

Principles; Food energy; Measurements of metabolisable energy; Metabolisable energy of the ration; Matabolisable energy concentration of rations; Metabolisable energy requirements; Maintenance; Liveweight gain; Milk production; Mobilisation of body reserves; Pregnancy; A net energy system for growing animals; Net energy requirements; Net energy values of foods; Animal production level; Safety margins; Dairy cows; Calculation of metabolisable energy allowances; Liveweight change; Daily ME allowances; Appetite Limits for dairy cows; Checking a ration; Ration formulation; Rapid method; Linear programming; Feeding the dairy cow; Significance of liveweight changes; Ration formulation for stages of lactation; Feeding according to yield; Energy requirements of grazing cows; Growing and fattening cattle; Prediction of performance; Ration calculations; Predicted liveweight gain; Calculation of metabolisable energy allowances; Ration formulation; Rapid method; Linear programming; Net energy system for ration formulation; Animal production level; Net energy values of foods; Net energy allowances; Ration formulation; Replacement values of foods; Linear programming; Sheep; Pregnant and lactating ewes; Maintenance allowances; Pregnancy allowances; Ration formulation; Growing and fattening sheep; Performance prediction; Prediction of liveweight gain; Calculation of metabolisable energy allowances; Net energy system for ration formulation; Net energy allowances; Animal prodution level; Net energy values of foods; Replacement values of foods; Metabolisable energies of foods; Energy values of foods; Digestibility measurements of foods; Metabolisable energy values of foods; Prediction of the ME of forages; Estimation of the ME of compound foods; Tables of food composition.

The Voluntary Food Intake of Farm Animals offers a wide discussion on food intake among farm animals. The book presents various studies, facts, details, and theories that are relevant to the subject. The first chapter begins by explaining the basic definition and significance of voluntary food intake. This topic is followed by discussions on meal patterns, the main features of eating, and the similarities between species. The next chapter explores theories about the food intake control, which are divided into two types: single-factor theories and multiple-factor theories. In Chapter 3, the discussion is on the food’s pathway, including elaborations on the various receptors. Chapter 4 considers the central nervous system’s involvement in the voluntary food intake and the energy balance regulation. The next couple of chapters highlight the possible reasons that affect food intake; among them are pregnancy, fattening, physical growths, and the environment. In the book’s remaining chapters, the discussion revolves around grass intake and the prediction and manipulation of voluntary food intake. The book serves as a valuable reference for undergraduates and postgraduates of biology and its related fields.