Feed Articles on Animal Nutrition

Dietary live yeast improved (p<0.01) fish body weight, reduced muscular fat and serum triglycerides and cholesterol but increased RBC's, Hb, PCV and serum glucose. So, dietary live yeast may improve growth performance and hematological picture in fish (Kobeisy and Hussein, 1995). Moreover, Abdelhamid et al. (2000) reported significant positive effects of the combination of dried live yeast and lacto-sacc on tilapia growth, feed conversion and nutrients utilization.


Global agriculture is heading towards challenging times, since the world's population continues to grow at an ever increasing rate. Thus, consumers' demand for sufficient supply of high-quality safe food is a main goal. Decreasing acceptance of antibiotic drugs in many parts of the world and the concomitant debates about residues and contaminations in animal products are driving factors in the search for new and sustainable concepts.


The equine industry continues to grow and diversify, with more events, disciplines and activities for horse owners than ever before. The amount of horse related information available to owners has also grown incredibly. There are popular press publications targeted to every age and aspect of horse ownership, a great number of books about horses on the shelves at bookstores, and the internet offers access to a vast amount of information on topics related to raising and feeding horses. Despite this explosion in access to knowledge, myths, folklore and traditions about feeding horses are alive and well on horse farms across the industry and in all parts of the world. It is amazing to listen to what horse owners have read or been told and believe about feeds and feeding. A few of the more common myths about feeding horses include:


Although the National Research Council (NRC) series on nutrient requirements of domestic animals has been in existence for almost a century and it is familiar to many throughout the world today, the way in which reports are developed, prepared, and disseminated might not be as familiar. The NRC’s new study on nutrient requirements of dogs and cats is anticipated to be a significant endeavor with far- reaching effects. As a result, it is important to be cognizant of the opportunities to provide input and to understand the mechanisms in place to assure the objectivity, quality and value of the final product.


Phytobiotics may be explained as plant derived products added to the feed in order to improve performance of agricultural livestock. This definition addresses mainly the purpose of use in terms of a feed additive to healthy animals under common practical conditions of production of food of animal origin rather than the veterinary use for prophylaxis and therapy of diagnosed health problems. According to this definition, phytobiotics comprise are very wide range of substances with respect to biological origin, formulation, chemical description and purity. Within this variety, some subgroups may be classified, such as herbs (product from flowering, non-woody and nonpersistent plants), botanicals (entire or processed parts of a plant, e.g. root, leaves, bark), essential oils (hydro distilled extracts of volatile plant compounds), and oleoresins (extracts based on non-aqueous solvents).