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
 dark brown to dull red granular to powdery by-products from meat industry; fatal if fed to non-ruminants - DO NOT FEED TO POULTRY
protein
 yellow granular to powdery by-products from removing starch, oil, and germ from corn
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.
protein*
 white granular small bead-like particles; *used as a source of non-protein nitrogen for ruminant animals; fatal if fed to non-ruminants - DO NOT FEED TO POULTRY
energy yellow/white rough whole corn kernels that have been broken; starch may stick to fingers
energy
 brown with white spots flaky by-product from removing starch from wheat; looks like crumbled bran cereal
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
 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.