This document discusses feedstuffs and nutrition for large animals including swine, sheep, and goats. It defines feedstuffs and their primary functions of providing nutrients and energy. It describes the international feed identification system and the eight classes of feedstuffs. For each species, it discusses their water, energy, protein, mineral, and vitamin nutrition as well as common nutritional diseases and feeding management practices.

1. Feedstuffs
Large Animal Nutrition
Swine, Sheep and Goat nutrition

2. Feedstuffs
Definition- any component of a diet ( ration) that
serves some useful function
Functions
- Provide source of nutrients and energy*
- Combined to produce rations
- Modify characteristics of diet*
* Denotes a primary functions

3. International Feed ID System
• System for classifying feedstuffs based on
descriptive characteristics
• Based on the primary nutrient provided by the
feedstuff
• Each feedstuff is assigned an International Feed
Number ( IFN)

4. Eight Classes of Feedstuffs
1. Dry roughages
2. Pasture and range grasses
3. Ensiled roughages
4. High energy concentrates
5. Protein sources
6. Minerals
7. Vitamins
8. additives

5. 1. Dry Roughages
• Bulky feed that has low weight per unit volume
• High crude fiber content, low protein and fat
digestibility
• A feed is classified as a roughage if it contains
>18% crude fiber and <70% total digestible
nutrients

6. Dry Roughage Examples
• Hay: legume ( alfalfa), grass legume, non-
legume
• Straw and chaff
• Corn cobs
• Cottenseed hulls
• Sugarcane byproducts
• Paper and wood byproducts

7. 2. Pasture and Range Grasses
• Grazed plants
- Dormant plants
- Growing plants
• Soilage or greenchop
• Cannery and food crop residues

8. 3. Silages and Haylages
• Fermented, high moisture feed made from the
entire plant, stored in silos
- corn, sorghum
- Grass, grass-legume, legume

9. 4. High Energy Concentrate
• Cereal grains ( milling byproducts of cereal
grains)
• Beet and citrus pulp
• Molasses
• Animal, marine, vegetable fats
• Roots and tubers

10. 5. Protein Supplements
Contain > 20% crude protein
• Animal, avian, marine sources
• Milk and by-products
• Legume seeds
• Brewery and distillery by-products
• Urea, ammonia

11. 6. Mineral supplements
7. Vitamin supplements
• Must be added by sources that animal is able to
absorb
• Vitamin concentration in plants and animal
tissues varies greatly
• Plants: vitamin concentration affected by
harvesting, processing and storing
• Animals: liver and kidney are good sources of
most vitamins

12. 8. Additives
Non-nutritive ingredients added to stimulate
growth or performance or improve the efficiency
of feed
• Added in very small quantities
• Antibiotics, antifungals, antimicrobials
• Probiotics, buffers
• Colors, flavors
• Hormones, enzymes

13. Estimating Nutritional Value of a Feed
• Goal: estimate how well nutrients in feedstuff
matches the animals needs
Three methods for estimating
1. Chemical analysis
2. Digestion and balance trials
3. Feeding trials

14. Chemical Analysis
• Subdivides the components of the feedstuff into
general groups ( protein, water, carbohydrates,
lipids, minerals, vitamins) to estimate the
relative amount present
• Problem: doesn’t estimate how well the animal
utilizes the feed

15. Digestion and Balance Trials
• Measures the digestibility of feed
• Feed consumption and fecal excretion are
measured over period of time
• Problem: not a true measure because feces
contain sloughed cells and tissue

16. Feeding Trials
• Used extensively
• Usually done before chemical analysis or
digestion and balance trials
• Can evaluate growth, egg production, wool or
milk production

17. Swine Nutrion
• Porcine
• Monogastric omnivores
• Sow- adult female
• Boar- adult male
• Piglet – young Farrow- to give birth
• Gilt- sexually mature female, no litter yet
• Barrow- castrated male

18. Swine Nutrition- Water
• Neonates- 80% water, finishing pigs 55% water
• Requirement is influenced by many factors (
environment, moisture content of food, urine
output etc)
• General guidelines- 1-1 ½ quarts of water per 1
lb of feed consumed
• Lactating sows require more water
• Water quality affects it, high TDS>diarrhea, high
sulfates should be avoided

19. Swine Nutrition- Energy
• Required for buildup of lean and fat tissue
• Nursing pigs- most energy from fat and sugar in
milk
• Growing pigs- most energy from cereal grains
• Sows and finishing pigs- some energy from VFA
( volatile fatty acids) from large intestine
• Amount of feed consumed ad libitum is
controlled by energy content of diet

20. Energy Source Feedstuffs in Swine
• Cereal grains ( especially corn)
• Damaged grains
• Grain by-products
• Purified sugars ( sucrose, lactose for piglets)
• Fat ( tallows, animal and vegetable fats)
• Processed food waste

21. Swine Nutrition- protein and amino
acids
• Pig carcasses contain about 50% muscle, ~ 8% of the
whole body is edible protein
• Pigs need 10 essential amino acids to maintain
tissues
• Phenylalanine, valine, tryptophan, threonine,
isoleucine, methionine, histidine, arginine, leucine
and lysine
• Lysine is the first limiting amino acid, high
requirements but low content in feedstuff like corn

22. Protein cont
• Most porcine diets are based on corn and
soybean meal, corn is low in lysine
• Amino acid requirements for protein accretion is
higher than for maintenance
• Plant protein sources: soybeans
• Animal proteins: byproducts of meat packing,
fish meal and dried milk
• Bacteria and synthetic amino acids

23. Swine Minerals
• Ca/P- limestone and oyster shells
• NaCl- inadequate amounts suppress feed intake
• I- require supplementation, soybean and grain
deficient
• Fe- injected in piglets, milk deficient, lasts 3 weeks
• Mg- usually present in diet
• Z – supplemented to prevent parakeratosis

24. Swine Vitamins
• Vit A- supplemented due to def. in corn, breaks
down with processing, dehydrated alfalfa is a good
source
• VitD – absent in feedstuffs, expose to sunlight or use
sun-cured hays or fish oils in diet
• Vit E- req throughout life, legume hay, green forage,
cereal grains
• Vit K- synthesized in hind gut fermentation (need
access to feces), supplement in confinement

25. Vitamin, mineral and additives for
swine
• Minerals- trace mineral salt
• Vitamins- alfalfa meal, fermentation by-
products, animal protein
• Additives- antibiotics, anthelmintics etc

26. Swine Nutritional Diseases
• Amino acid deficiency- anemia, edema,
immunocompromise, impaired growth
• Parakeratosis- occurs between, the 6-16th week,
from low zinc, high calcium diet, bilateral
abnormal keratinization of the skin forming
horny scales, starts as brown spots on abdomen

27. Swine feeding management
• Pre- breeding- gilt bred at 7-8 mos, flushing- 1-
2 weeks prior to breeding to increase ovulation
and litter size, also add antibiotics
• Gestation- normal nutritional needs for first two
trimesters. Majority of growth in last month.
Overweight sows are more likely to crush piglets
• Farrowing- laxative of wheat bran or dried beet
pulp, 10-15% of diet, high antibiotics

28. Nutrition cont
• Lactation- requirements 3-4 times higher than
during gestation (12-16 lbs fed daily); produce
2.5lbs milk per piglet. If restricted, bone
fractures or paralysis can occur
• Nursing pigs- all nutrients from sow during first
2 weeks. High nutrient requirements are all met
by milk, must supplement iron ( injection) begin
eating dry food at 2 weeks

29. Sheep Nutrition
• Ovine
• Ruminant herbivores
• Ewe- female of reproductive age
• Ram- intact male of reproductive age
• Lamb- young of either sex
• Wether- neutered adult male
• Mutton- meat derived from adult sheep

30. Water
• Limiting nutrient in many areas
• Quality more important to sheep than any other
livestock species ( odor, bacteria, minerals)
• Intake influenced by feed, vegetation, protein
intake, environmental temperature, rain, dew
and snowfall

31. Water requirements
• 1 gallon per 4 lbs of dry feed consumed
• More water when air temp is > 70F
• Less intake if water temp is <40 or > 50F
• Lower requirement with daily rain, heavy dew or
soft wet snow
• Lower requirement when eating silage,
succulent or range forage

32. Energy for Sheep
• Insufficient energy from low intake or poor
quality feed
• Energy deficiency reduces growth, fertility, wool
quality, death
• High energy needs:
- Immediately before and after lambing
- Flushing ewes and rams for breeding
- Finishing lambs

33. Energy feedstuffs for Sheep
• Good quality pasture, hay, silage
• Grains: barley, corn, wheat, oats and milo
• Precautions when feeding wheat grain- lambs
susceptible to acute indigestion

34. Sheep nutrition- protein
• Usually quantity is more important than quality
due to bacterial conversion in rumen
• Microbial protein synthesis supplies protein
needs except when lactating or very young lambs
• Add extra protein feeds when pastures are
mature or when feeding creep rations

35. Protein source feedstuffs for sheep
• Green pastures, soybean meal, cottonseed meal,
alfalfa hay, urea ( sometimes)
• Urea levels: <1% of total ration
• No urea in young lambs, creep rations, straw,
poor quality hay or lambs on limited feed

36. Minerals for sheep
• NaCl- usually provided ½ to ¾ lb per
ewe/month
• Ca/P- highest need during lactation, provide
leafy legumes for Ca, grains for P
• I in salt, Co in legumes
• Se- narrow margin of safety, deficiency leads to
white muscle disease
• Zinc- needed for normal testicular development

37. Vitamins for sheep
• Vit A- can store excess for 6-12 months
• Vit D- fast growing lambs kept inside may show
problems
• Vit E- low selenium leads to Vit E deficiency
• Vit K- synthesized in rumen
• Vit C- synthesized by tissues

38. Vitamin and mineral feedstuffs
Vitamins- green feeds, germs of seeds, sun- cured
hay
Minerals- leafy legumes, grains, trace mineral salt
mix

39. Sheep nutritional diseases
• Enterotoxemia type D- intestinal toxins present
in blood, caused by stress and sudden diet
changes, vaccinate lambs prior to weaning
• Urinary calculi- common in rams and wethers in
drylot, results from Ca/P ration imbalance and
decreased water intake

40. Sheep Feed Management
• Pre-breeding- ewe is flushed for 4-6 weeks, 2
weeks prior to breeding and continuing for 2-3
weeks after breeding. Flushed either on high
quality pasture or ¼ to ½ lb of grain or pellets
per day. Treat for internal parasites and trim
hooves
• Gestation- 70% of fetal growth happens in the
last 6 weeks of gestation

41. • Late pregnancy feed requirement
- 50% more feed if single lamb
- 75% more feed if twin lambs
- Add grain to high roughage diet for more energy
• Lactation- max milk production 2-3 weeks post
parturition. Feed three times her maintenance
requirement, must increase protein to make
milk

42. • Nursing lambs- born with on functioning rumen.
Colostrum is a must within first 12-18 hours. If
no ewe colostrum, can use fresh cow colostrum.
Creep feeding used for early weaning and getting
lambs to market

43. Goat Nutrition
• Caprine
• Ruminant herbivores
• Doe- female buck- intact male
• Kid- baby goat of either sex
• Wether- castrated male
• Inquisitive feeding behavior
• Raised for meat, milk, fiber and hides

44. Goat feeding behavior
• Confinement feeding- will pick and choose
- This leads to
1. Composition of consumed diet differs from
formulated diet
2. Goats will eat more if they have more to select,
so offer less feed to force them to choose more
of the desired diet

45. • Range feeding- active forager, browses all plant
types including trees, shrubs, grasses creating a
browse line. Will sometimes defoliate one type
of plant. Goats grazing hilly terrain have higher
energy requirements than those on level terrain

46. Goat nutrition- water
• Requirements
- Intake is related to feed intake and feed intake
correlates to productivity
- Free access to good quality water
- More sensitive to water quality, won’t touch
urine or feces contaminated water
- Lactation increases needs

47. Goat nutrition- energy
• Wide variances among breed, productivity,
production and size
• Mostly from carbs and low levels or fat ( high fat
inhibits rumen fermentation)
• Excess fat is stored in the body around internal
organs
• Consume more dry matter than other livestock
species

48. Energy source feedstuffs for goats
• Forages- alfalfa hay, bermuda grass hay
• Grains- corn, sorghum, oats
• Other- molasses

49. Goat nutrion- protein
• Most expensive component of diet
• Needed to support rumen fermentation and
supply amino acids
• Unlike fat, excess is not stored
• Vary with developmental stage
• Protein feedstuffs for goats: soybean meal, fish
meal, cottonseed meal, sunflower meal

50. Goat nutrition- minerals
• Ca/P – needed for bone and milk production
• Phosphorus is met with high diet selectivity
• Only salt should be provided free choice
• Lush pasture deficient in magnesiou

51. Goat nutrition- vitamins
• Only vitamin A is likely to be deficient
• Occurs in confinement fed goats in dry cold
weather
• Occurs in range fed goats when vegetation
contains little or no green plant material

52. Goat nutritional diseases
• Enterotoxemia- can occur after high intake of
immature succulent forage. Toxin is produced by
Clostridium perfringens type D
• Urinary calculi- can occur when Ca and P rations
are unbalanced