Now that you have learned about the nutrient categories of feed, it is time to take a look at some specific feeds and feed ingredients. Study the information in the table below. Pay particular attention to the nutrient category for each feed. Learn to recognize each feed by its characteristics (color, texture, other characteristics). On the following pages you can test your knowledge.

 

Name of Feed Nutrient Category Color Texture Other Characteristics
protein
green smooth tubular shaped particles that may be of varying lengths because of breakage of the pellets
protein
brown powdery smells like fish; look for tiny bone chips; by-product from fisheries or removal of oil from fish
protein
light brown granular to flaky by-product after removing oil from oilseeds; 44% crude protein (CP) soybean meal = soybean meal plus soybean hulls; 48% CP = soybean meal without hulls.
energy
yellow to light brown powdery smells sweet like milk replacer; by-product from making cheese
energy
brown flaky whole barley that has been steamed and rolled; look for creases in the kernel caused by the roller; darker color and shorter in length than rolled oats
energy
brown with white spots flaky by-product from removing starch from wheat; looks like crumbled bran cereal
energy
brown slightly rough with irregular edges common cereal grain fed for its fiber
energy
brown smooth with round edges look for crease along the middle of one side
energy
yellow smooth most common cereal grain in Ohio
mineral
gray granular looks like small rocks of uniform sizes
mineral
light gray granular looks like small rocks of various sizes
mineral
bronze granular, grainy looks like tiny, uniform crystals
mineral
white granular, grainy looks like tiny, uniform crystals
  light brown with yellow spots smooth tubular shaped particles that may be of varying lengths because of breakage of the pellets

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The photos above by Jeffrey La Favre are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.