Concentrate feed, also known as concentrate, refers to a type of feed that is rich in nutrients, low in crude fiber and more digestible in unit volume or unit weight. Compared to roughage, concentrate has a higher nutritional value and is more suitable as an energy and nutrient for animal growth and production**.
Concentrate feed mainly includes the seeds of crops (grains, legumes and oil crops) and the by-products of their processing, which can be divided into two categories: energy feed and protein feed from the perspective of nutrition.
Energy feed: This kind of feed mainly provides the energy required by animals, its palatability is good, the digestible nutrient content is high, and the processing and modulation is of little significance. Common energy feeds include corn, rice, barley and other cereals.
Protein feed: This type of feed mainly provides the protein needed by animals, which can be divided into plant-based protein feed and animal-based protein feed.
Plant-based protein feed: including legumes and their processing by-products, cereal processing by-products and oil cakes. For example, soybeans, broad beans, adzuki beans and other bean seeds, as well as soybean cake, rapeseed cake, sesame cake and other cakes.
Animal protein feed: including blood bone meal, fish meal, silkworm pupae, etc., this kind of feed has high protein content and has a good role in promoting the growth and reproduction of animals.
In addition, there are categories such as roughage, green feed, silage, mineral feed and vitamin feed, which are also components of concentrate feed, providing trace elements, vitamins and other nutrients needed for animal growth.
Concentrate feed plays an important role in animal feeding, which can improve feeding efficiency and the quality of animal products. When selecting concentrate feed, it is necessary to reasonably match different varieties of concentrate feed according to the species, age, growth stage and production purpose of the animal to ensure that the animal nutrition is comprehensive and balanced.