These can be combined in various ratios and types based on the stage of growth and target animal or fish species. Whilst a qualified animal nutritionist should always be consulted in the formulation of the feed mix, general guidance for various target species follows:

Poultry Feeds

Poultry feeds require differing ratios of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals and vitamins, according to the stage of the birds.

Carbohydrates are usually provided by grains including corn, wheat, barley, serving as the major energy source in poultry feeds. Fats usually from tallow, lard or vegetables oil are essentially required to provide important fatty acid in poultry feed for membrane integrity and hormone synthesis. Proteins are important to supply the essential amino acids for the development of body tissues like muscles, nerves, cartilage, etc.

Meals from soybean, canola, and corn gluten are the major source of plant protein in poultry diets. Supplementary minerals are required, including calcium, phosphorus, chlorine, magnesium, potassium, and sodium. Supplementary vitamins, such as vitamin A, B, C, D, E, and K on the other hand are required in lower amounts by poultry animals.

Whilst the easiest way to feed birds is using pelleted feeds, these should contain both fine and coarse particle sizes to maximise the live performance of the broilers.

Fish Feeds

Farmed fish eat specially formulated pellet feeds containing the required nutrients.

Commercially farmed fish are broadly classified into herbivorous fish, which eat mostly plant proteins like soy or corn, vegetable oils, minerals, and vitamins; and carnivorous fish, which are given fish oils and proteins.

Carnivorous fish feed contains fish meal and oil, but recently Soybean Meal has become a better alternative to Fish Meal.

As particle size influences feed digestibility, so Soybean Meal prepared for the fish industry is heavily dependent on the particle sizes contained in the feed pellets.

Livestock feeds

Livestock include beef cattle, dairy cattle, horses, goats, sheep and llamas. Basic nutrient requirement of a livestock’s feed should include protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Dairy cattle need more energy in their feed than other type of cattle.

As with the other target feeds, protein is often provided by Soybean Meal and/or DDGS, with carbohydrates by Corn (or other grain) and/or DDGS.

Fats can be added to the feed to increase energy concentration (especially if Non-Fibre Carbohydrates (NFC) are too high which can affect rumen digestion). If required, fibre can be added to the feed to decrease the NFC mix.

Livestock feed mixes should include some protein, with lactating ruminants (especially dairy cattle) requiring higher amount of protein, specifically for milk synthesis.

Minerals including calcium, phosphorus and selenium are required by livestock for maintaining growth, reproduction and bone health.

Like other animals, livestock also require appropriate proportions of fine and coarse particles in their feed.

Swine feeds

Formulating a swine feed mix considers the varying nutrients at different stages of growth.

Swine feeds are generally based on a ground cereal grain as a carbohydrate source, Soybean Meal as a protein source, with minerals like calcium and phosphorus being added together with vitamins.

Distiller's Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS), which are rich in energy and protein, have been used in place of Corn and Soybean Meal. Corn DDGS is used primarily as an energy source in swine diets because it contains similar amounts of Digestible Energy (DE) and Metabolizable Energy (ME) as Corn (although the ME content is slightly reduced when feeding reduced-oil DDGS).

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