Nutritional Strategies Of Animal Feed Additives

Quality of feed nutrition is influenced not only by the content but also by some other aspects such as, feed presentation, hygiene, anti-nutritional factors, digestibility and palatability. Feed additives provide a mechanism by which such dietary deficiencies can be addressed and also benefits not only associated with the nutrition and thus the growth rate of the animal concerned, but also its health and welfare. Feed additives could modify animal metabolism in specific and direct ways by improving production efficiency (weight gain or milk yield); improving carcass composition in growing animals; increasing milk yield in lactating animals; and decreasing animal waste per production unit. This book discusses the impacts of feed additives on animal metabolism, health and production.

Antimicrobial resistance is a global and increasing threat. Stewardship campaigns have been established, and policies implemented, to safeguard the appropriate use of antimicrobials in humans, animals, and plants. Restrictions on their use in animal production are on the agenda worldwide. Producers are investing in measures, involving biosecurity, genetics, health care, farm management, animal welfare, and nutrition, to prevent diseases and minimize the use of antimicrobials. Functional animal nutrition to promote animal health is one of the tools available to decrease the need for antimicrobials in animal production. Nutrition affects the critical functions required for host defence and disease resistance. Animal nutrition strategies should therefore aim to support these host defence systems and reduce the risk of the presence in feed and water of potentially harmful substances, such as mycotoxins, anti-nutritional factors and pathogenic bacteria and other microbes. General dietary measures to promote gastrointestinal tract health include the selective use of a combination of feed additives and feed ingredients to stabilize the intestinal microbiota and support mucosal barrier function. This knowledge, used to establish best practices in animal nutrition, could allow the adoption of strategies to reduce the need for antimicrobials and contain antimicrobial resistance.

This book focuses on animal nutrition strategies using various feed additives to enhance nutrient digestibility and utilization, modulate the antioxidant capacity, mineral status, immunity, and gut and/or rumen microbiota in livestock. This results in improvements in their growth, performance and production parameters, as well as the quality of animal products.

Feed additives are non-nutritive substances, preparations and micro-organisms that are added to feed to animal feeds to improve growth performance, feed intake and the efficiency of feed utilization for healthy, economic and eco-friendly livestock production. This book on Advances in Animal Feed Additives addresses current information on the use of different animal feed additives with regard to production, health and reproduction of livestock and poultry. This book contains twenty five s contributed by 30 eminent scientists of animal nutrition, which highlights the significance of antioxidants, enzymes, probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, antimicrobials, organic acids, coccidiostats, mycotoxin binders, immunomodulator, hen egg antibody, hormones, beta agonist, methane inhibitors, defaunating agents, essential oil and herbal feed additives. etc. for sustainable livestock and poultry production. Each of the book attempts at providing clear and updated information on feed additives supported with good amount of the experimental evidence and references which will enable the students and research workers to obtain information quickly when necessary. The book is useful to students of animal sciences, teachers and scientists of animal nutrition discipline, personnel of feed industry, field veterinarians, animal husbandry extension workers and progressive animal farmers.

The production of food enriched with bioactive compounds, through natural means, represents a concept desired by nutritionists, doctors and consumers. Animal products with high nutritional quality can be designed using innovative feeding strategies. Animals are known to be able to ''bio-convert'' health-promoting components from their diet into their eggs, milk or meat. The nutritional quality of animal products depends on genetic, physiological and environmental conditions, but also upon their diets. Lately, various feed additives have been shown to increase the nutritional quality of animal-origin food, which in turn promotes a healthy human diet. Some of them have proven effects on productive parameters or on the sensory attributes of animal products, or modify the nutrient composition of products. Nutritional evaluations of animal products and feeds are necessary for establishing the bioconversion yield of nutrients, from feeds to animal-origin food. This Special Issue focuses on, but is not limited to, the development of new feeding formulas thst lead to improved animal production or the enhanced nutritional profiles of conventional or ecological animal products. Studies presenting feed additives that have beneficial effects on the production and quality of animal products, as well as natural feeding solutions that are environmentally friendly, were also welcomed. The proposed Special Issue is addressed to specialists from the domains of animal nutrition, food quality, chemistry and biology.

The world’s population is growing rapidly and consequently, there is an increasing demand for high-quality and safe food. At the same time, agricultural areas are diminishing due to industrialization, among other factors. Therefore, the efficiency of animal production needs to be improved. This book examines animal nutrition and ways to improve it. Topics covered include the use of feed additives in poultry nutrition, silage in dairy cattle nutrition, plant-origin feed additives in water buffalo nutrition, microbial inoculation in dairy cow nutrition, and more.

This book contains the scientific contributions published within the Animals topical collection “Feeding Strategies to Improve Sustainability and Welfare in Animal Production”. Originally a Special Issue, it has turned into a permanent collection, with its first article being published in July 2019 and more than 30 published articles a year later: evidence of the great interest from the scientific community regarding the topics addressed. The articles, which are grouped by species (poultry, ruminants, pigs, etc.) and by topic, deal with a wide range of arguments that, first of all, highlight the extraordinary complexity and diversity that exists in the animal production sector, and then, the great influence that nutrition and feeding can have in terms of optimizing the use of environmental resources and improving the welfare of farmed animals. In addition, all this is closely connected with the urgent need to safeguard the resources of the planet on which we live.

This book offers a comprehensive collection of cutting-edge research on feed additives for a sustainable animal production, including insects and aquaculture. In five clearly structured sections, the sources of feed additives, details on their biochemistry, feed security as well as specific applications for individual farm animal species, livestock health and product characteristics (meat, milk and eggs) find attention. International expert authors provide a full description on the use of aromatic plants, extracts and essential oils as feed additives alone or in combination with functional feeds of different categories. Readers will explore the potential of feed additives to tackle environmental issues. Practical examples include the use of local feedstuffs in combination with herbal additives and enzymes. Emphasis is placed on the consequences of using local feed sources versus imported feedstuffs on global warming potential, primary energy use, nutrient excretion and the feed additive influence on lessening the pollution from animal operations. The results presented will support realization of the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG 12 which stands for Responsible Consumption and Production worldwide. The use of novel and different feed additives can be an important tool to enhance sustainability, support productivity, and match increased food demands around the globe. Animal production depends on feed efficiency to sustain growth and profitability. Along these lines, the present volume is an essential reading for all future-oriented veterinarians, animal nutritionists, agricultural scientists, and moreover the feed, food and plant industry.