This book describes current research in modelling nutrient use in farm animals, from cellular to ecosystem level. The chapters are developed from papers presented at a satellite meeting of the 9th International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology, held in South Africa in October 1999.Excellent papers from a top list of contributorsEditors of great reputationCovers the current topics of interest
For more than 30 years, modelling has been an important method for integrating, in a flexible, comprehensive and widely applicable way, basic knowledge and biological concepts on digestion and metabolism in farm animals. The purpose of this book is to present the 'state of art' in this area. The chapters are written by leading teams and researchers in this field of study, mainly from Europe, North America and Australasia. Considerable progress has been made in topics dealing with: modelling methods, feeding behaviour, digestion and metabolic processes in ruminants and monogastric animals. This progress is clearly illustrated by the emergence of a new paradigm in animal nutrition, which has moved from the aim to cover the requirements of the animal to explaining and predicting the responses of the animals to diets (e.g., productivity and efficiency, impact on quality of products, environmental aspects, health and well-being). In this book several chapters illustrate that through empirical models, meta-analysis is an efficient tool to synthesize information gathered over recent decades. In addition, compared with other books on modelling farm animal nutrition, two new aspects received particular attention: expanding knowledge of the individual animal to understanding the functioning and management of herds, and the consideration of the environmental impact of animal production. This book is a valuable source of information for researchers, nutritionists, advisors, and graduate students who want to have up-to-date and concise information on mathematical modelling applied to farm animals.
This book brings together the papers presented orally or as posters at the Sixth International Workshopon Modelling Nutrient Utilization in Farm Animals, held in Wageningen, The Netherlands, 6 - 8 September2004. The purpose of this book is to present current research in modelling nutrient digestion andutilization in cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry and fish.The book is organised into six sections that cover a range of topics and modelling approaches; theseare (i) absorption and passage; (ii) growth and development; (iii) mineral metabolism; (iv) methodology;(v) environmental impact; and (vi) animal production and feed evaluation. Deterministic, stochastic,empirical and mechanistic modelling approaches are described.This book will be of significant interest to researchers and students of animal science, particularly thoseconcerned with nutrition modelling.
Mathematical modelling is increasingly applicable to the practical sciences. Here, mathematical approaches are applied to the study of mechanisms of digestion and metabolism in primary animal species. It also explores common themes between species, and provides an integrated approach to mathematical modelling in animal nutrition.
Digestion in animals involves mechanical, enzymatic, and microbial processes in the gastrointestinal tract, which convert large feed particles to a size which can be absorbed, transported, and used by the animals. The digestive systems of all farm animals are not the same, rendering them less competitive and able to adapt to a wide range of available feed resource niches. Based on the structure and functions of the digestive tract, farm animals are divided into two major groups: ruminants or polygastrics, e.g. cattle, buffaloes, sheep, and goats; and non-ruminants or monogastrics, e.g. horses, donkeys, rabbits, dogs and cats. The key difference between these two groups of animals lies in the structure of the stomach. Ruminants, as opposed to non ruminants, have three additional stomach compartments where digestion takes place in different environments. In general, for farm animals the processes associated with digestion include prehension, ingestion, grinding or mastication, digestion of feed, absorption of nutrients, and excretion of waste products.Nutrient Digestion and Utilization in Farm Animals to present comprehensive topics on nutrient digestion and utilization in cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry and fish. The book covers a range of topics and modelling approaches; these are absorption and passage; growth and development; mineral metabolism; methodology; environmental impact; and animal production and feed evaluation. Deterministic, stochastic, empirical and mechanistic modelling approaches are described. This book will be of significant interest to researchers and students of animal science, particularly those concerned with nutrition modelling."
This book presents specially commissioned reviews of key topics in farm animal metabolism and nutrition, such as repartitioning agents, near infrared reflectance spectroscopy and digestibility and metabolisable energy assays, where major advances have recently been made or which continue to represent issues of significance for students and researchers. Authors include leading researchers from Europe, North America and Australia.
This book explores the importance of good nutrition in ensuring an adequate standard of welfare for farm animals. It is often not realized that farm animals can suffer when they are fed unsuitable diets, which may be because these diets are more economic or the farmer does not know how to rectify poor nutrition. This book reveals how to recognize and deal with feeding problems in farm animals, when the animal’s behaviour is indicating a deficiency, through oral stereotypies for example. Feeding livestock in emergency situations can present special challenges, and the availability of clean and potable water, one of the essential components of life, can also be an unrecognized problem for many farm animals. Feeding farm animals effectively is rarely recognized for the major welfare issue that it is. We may assume that animals in intensive husbandry conditions have adequate feed, yet it is often too concentrated and designed primarily to immediately maximize production from the animals, in the form of growth, milk yield or reproduction. In extensive rangeland conditions adequate feed supply also cannot be assured, potentially leading to undernutrition with serious consequences for the health and even survival of livestock. This book will provide a much-needed review of the relationships between nutrition and the welfare of farm animals.
