The main source of nutrients used in animal husbandry is feed. In feed management, the design of diets and the way that animals use the nutrients in their feed has a significant impact on the excretion of nutrients and perhaps even the balance of nutrients on a farm.
Interestingly, animal feeding involves both art and science. Years of research have affected it as a science, while centuries of practical experience have shaped it as an art.
To hand you the facts of feeding management from this start, feeding a balanced diet, staying away from overfeeding, and providing copious amounts of cool, fresh water will all help to maximize feed and nutrient usage.
There won’t be any surplus or waste if every nutrient is in perfect equilibrium.
Although it is impossible for all nutrients to be in perfect balance in commercial or practical diets, farmers try their best to come close to meeting an animal’s nutritional needs.
Keep in mind that overfeeding can be detrimental to both the ecosystem and the animals. Animals that are overweight or over-conditioned may be less productive and more prone to illness.
Of all the nutrients needed for the production of livestock, water is the most plentiful, least expensive, and least understood.
Also, it is common sense that if we want our animals to produce at their highest levels, we must be prepared to feed them properly and provide them with enough water.
If the water supply is inadequate or contaminated, animals will use their diets less efficiently, consume less, be less productive, and possibly excrete more nutrients in their waste.
In conclusion, healthy animals that are fed balanced diets and given access to enough fresh water will produce the most.
Then it is only natural that these animals will provide the farmer with the highest returns and the best nutrient utilization.
