Feeds and Feeding - Raising Sheep - page 175

TERMINOLOGY
These are a few terms that are used specifi cally when discussing
feeds:
■ Feedstuff. Any food intended for livestock consumption.
■ Ration. The combination of foods in a specifi c diet for a specifi c
animal or class of animals at any given time. Includes every-
thing the animal is receiving.
■ Forage or roughage. The hay or pasture portion of the ration.
■ Concentrate. The grain or grains being fed as part of the ration.
■ Supplements. The vitamins, minerals, or protein incorporated
into the ration to provide additional nutrition.
■ Energy. The part of the ration that is made up of sugars, fats,
fatty acids, and starches, which are used by the body for mus-
cle and nerve activity, growth, weight gain, and milk secretion.
■ Fiber. The part of the ration that comes from cellulose and
hemicellulose in plant matter; it is broken down by ruminants
and horses to create additional sugars and fatty acids.
■ Protein. The portion of the ration that contains amino acids,
required by the body for cell formation, development, and main-
tenance, especially for muscle and blood cells.
■ Balanced ration. A ration that provides all necessary nutrients
in the proper proportions (such as energy, fi ber, protein, vita-
mins, and minerals) for the animal's needs on the basis of its
age and level of work.
■ Dry matter. The mass of the ration or feedstuff if the water
is “baked off.” For example, a sample of mixed meadow hay
might contain 85 percent dry matter, so your 60-pound (27.2
kg) bale of hay would actually weigh 51 pounds (23.1 kg) on a
dry-matter basis (0.85 × 60 pounds).
■ Total digestible nutrients. The part of the ration that the animal
can actually take advantage of. Feed reports, feed tags, and
feed charts report the total digestible nutrients (TDNs) of the
feedstuff. If the TDN on a sample of hay was tested as 60 per-
cent on a dry-matter basis, the bale would contain 30.6 pounds
(13.9 kg) of digestible nutrients (0.6 × 51 pounds [23.1 kg]).