EVALUATE AND SELECT FEEDS

Learn the composition of a range of feeds, including pasture, fodder crops, grasses, cereals, seed, and other edible plants. This course also explains the role of proteins, vitamins and minerals in animal diets. It equips you with the skills required to evaluate feeding and select appropriate feeds - for digestibility and nutritional content - applicable to real life farming situations.

What do Animals Eat?

Learn to manage food and nutrition for pets, farm animals or wildlife in zoos. Learn the composition of a range of feeds, including pasture, fodder crops, grasses, cereals, seed, and other edible plants. This course also explains the role of proteins, vitamins and minerals in animal diets. It equips you with the skills required to evaluate feeding and select appropriate feeds - for digestibility and nutritional content - applicable to real life farming situations.

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction To Animal Foods
2. Food Components: Carbohydrates, Fats
3. Food Components: Proteins, Minerals
4. Evaluating Foods & Digestibility
5. Classifying Foods: Part A
6. Classifying Foods: Part B
7. Classifying Foods: Part C
8. Calculating Rations: Part A
9. Calculating Rations: Part B
10. Calculating Rations: Part C

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

• Describe the range of livestock feeds and feeding methods available for animal production, using accepted industry terminology.
• Explain the role of energy foods, including the sources and functions of those foods, in animal diets.
• Explain the function of the major nutritional groups, including proteins, vitamins, minerals and trace elements in animal diets.
• Explain the on-farm methods used to evaluate feeding, including selection of feeds and feed digestibility.
• Evaluate the dietary value of pastures, including grasses, cereals, and other edible plants, and their by-products for animal feeds.
• Explain the dietary value of seeds, including oil seeds, legume seeds and their by-products as food sources for animals.
• Evaluate the dietary value of fodder plants, including trees and shrubs and their by-products, as a food source in animal production.
• Determine suitable feed rations for a farm animal maintenance program.
• Analyse the method(s) to determine suitable feed rations in a farm animal production program.
• Evaluate the dietary value of protein in an animal production program.
• Explain the factors affecting the composition of feed rations in animal production.

• Explain the importance of feed quality in livestock production.
• Describe the various food groups that animal foodstuffs are based upon.
• Define at least fifteen relevant industry terms related to livestock feed, feeding and feed processing.
• Explain the role of water in animal nutrition.
• Describe three different, commercially available, animal feeds, including the composition and appropriate uses for each.
• List the chemical names of at least five different carbohydrates which are of importance to animal production.
• Evaluate the roles of four different carbohydrates in animal metabolism.
• List the important sources of carbohydrates for at least four different types of farm animals.
• List the chemical names of at least five different fats which are important to animal production.
• Compare fat deposition patterns in three different animals.