🤷‍♀️ Why Do We Feed Animals?

Why Do We Feed Animals?

Moral and Ethical Reasons

• Animal welfare → meet animals’ nutritional needs and support well-being

Food Security Reasons

• Food security → provide sufficient animal-derived food for human populations

Economic Reasons

• Economic → support efficient and profitable animal production

Product Quality Reasons

• Composition → affects nutritional composition of animal products

• Food safety → helps produce safe food

• Organoleptic → affects sensory qualities such as taste, smell, and texture

• Health benefits → can influence health-promoting qualities of animal products

Human Well-being and Hedonistic Reasons

• Human well-being → animal products contribute to human nutrition and well-being

• Hedonistic → animals may be fed to produce desirable foods and experiences

Moral & Ethical Reasons

Animal Welfare

• Animals are kept in captivity for a variety of reasons

• #1 concern → keeping animals healthy and “well”

Moral & Ethical Reasons

Food Availability

• Environment → cannot always provide enough food for animals

• Animals in captivity → cannot escape to seek food sources elsewhere

• Sometimes the environment is not productive enough → insufficient nourishment

Ethical Responsibility

Nourishment

• We are ethically bound to provide a source of nourishment

• Applies to the animals we keep

Extensive Grazing – Northern Australia

Environment

• Weather → tropical wet + dry seasons

• Environment may not always provide enough nourishment

Nutritional Supplement

• Nutritional supplement available → animals can receive additional nourishment

• Un-supplemented → animals rely on available environmental food sources

Ethical Consideration

• Question: Is this ethical?

• Major logistical challenges in the outback:

  • Huge area

  • Very low animal density

• These challenges make providing supplements to animals more difficult

Signs of Nutritional Deficiencies in Salmon

Screamer’s Disease

• Screamer’s disease → sign of a nutritional deficiency in salmon

• Cataract → a visible sign of the deficiency

Solution

• Feed nutritionally adequate diets

• Provide diets in appropriate quantities

Too Much Nourishment Can Also Be a Real Problem

Question

• What are some potential health problems associated with too much nourishment

Potential Health Problems

• 1.

• 2.

• 3.

• 4.

Melamine Contamination and Feed Safety

Food Product Safety

• Melamine contamination → serious food safety issue

• Baby formula + dog food → contaminated with melamine

• Fraudulent purpose → melamine was added for economic gain

• Contaminated feed → killed 70 rodeo horses

How Contamination Occurs

• Feed cross-contamination

• Human error

Animals as a Source of Food Security

Why Humans Keep Animals

• Humans keep animals for food, fibre, labour, protection + companionship

• Animals are often a major source of food for humans

Using Resources

• Animals can use resources humans cannot consume or digest

• Ruminants → convert forages → milk + meat

Food Reserve

• Animals can act as a reserve of food during shortages

• Animals can be:

  • Kept alive → milked for a regular food supply

  • Slaughtered → when food is needed

• Meat does not need to be preserved beforehand

Increasing Consumption

• Humans generally have an appetite for animal products

• Economic power increases → consumption of animal products tends to increase

Henri IV and Food Security

Henri IV

• Henri IV → also known as Henri le Grand and Henri de Navarre

• Quote recorded by Hardouin de Péréfixe (1661) in Histoire d’Henri le Grand

• “A hen in his cooking pot” → symbolized having enough food to live well

Meaning in France

• Symbolizes social equity

• Adequate reward for one’s work → people should be able to afford basic food through their own work

The 1791 Lower Canada Alimony Agreement

Land in Exchange for Support

• Lower Canada, 1791

• Joseph Blanchard → promised his parents annual support (alimony) in exchange for their land

Food Provided

• 30 bushels of flour

• 200 onions

• 1 fat sheep

• 1 cow

• 6 hens + 1 rooster

• 91 kg pork

• 100 heads of cabbage

• 11 kg maple sugar

• 2 bushels peas

• 4.5 kg butter

• 1 bushel salt

• 1 lb pepper

Drinks + Other Goods

• 3 jars rum

• 3 jars wine

• 14 kg tobacco

• 1 kg tea

Household Supplies

• 1.5 kg wool

• 5 kg candles

• 3 pots lamp oil

• 4 wool shirts

• 1 set of clothes

• Bed sheets + shoes as required

• 25 cords firewood

Every 3 Years

• 1 set of Sunday clothes

Economic Growth and Animal Food Consumption

Economic Status

• Improved economic status → significant increase in consumption of animal food products

• Increased demand → increased production of animal food products

Meat Consumption vs. Income

Relationship

• Income increases → meat consumption increases

• Higher economic status → greater consumption of animal products

Economic Importance of Animal Production

Animals as an Income Source

• Animals provide meat, milk, fibre (wool, fur) for dietary and daily needs

• Animal products are also a source of income

Productivity and Efficiency

• Goal → improve productivity + efficiency of food animal production

• Genetic selection → animals with high potential for:

  • Growth → meat production

  • Milk production

  • Egg production

Nutrition and Production

• Animals need to be well fed to:

  • Stay healthy

  • Express their production potential

  • Produce desired products → meat, milk, eggs, wool, etc.

Costs and Profitability

• Different ways of feeding + managing animals → different costs + profitability

• Intensification → generally increases profitability, but not always

• Profitability depends on the relative value of the final products

Agricultural Enterprises

• Productivity + profitability → very important to agricultural enterprises

• No profits → no future for the business

Genetic Improvement in Broiler Chickens

Genetic Potential

• Genetic selection → increases the genetic potential of broiler chickens

• Selection focuses on traits that improve growth + meat production

Declining Relative Cost of Animal Foods

Lower Food Costs

• Relative cost of animal foods → decreased over the past 50 years

• If prices had followed inflation → many people could not afford these foods

• Animal production industry → became increasingly efficient

Reasons for Lower Costs

• Genetic selection → improved animal productivity

• Nutrition → improved feeding and nutrient use

• Production practices → increased efficiency

• Agronomic improvements → improved crop/feed production

Feed Costs

• Price of feed ingredients → has not increased very much

• Agricultural practices + genetic improvements → helped keep feed ingredient costs lower

Measures of Productive and Economic Efficiency

Weight Gain

• Weight gain → measure of productive efficiency

• Average daily weight gain (ADG) → commonly used

• ADG → measured in g/day or kg/day

Feed Conversion Ratio

• Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) = Feed consumed ÷ Weight gain

• Lower FCR → better

• Higher FCR → worse

Feed Efficiency

• Feed Efficiency (FE) / Feed Efficiency Ratio (FER) = Weight gain ÷ Feed intake

• Higher FE → better

• Lower FE → worse

Feed and Feeding Cost

• Feed cost → $ per kg of feed

• Feeding cost → $ per kg of growth, L of milk, kg of wool, etc.

Memory Trick

FCR = Feed ÷ Gain → lower is better
FE = Gain ÷ Feed → higher is better

Feed Cost in Broiler Production

Production Costs

• Feed cost / feeding cost → major part of production cost

• In many animal production systems → feed represents ≥50% of production cost

• Can reach as high as 90% of production cost

Feed Cost vs. Total Production Cost

Relative Contribution

• Feed cost % = Feed cost ÷ Total production cost

• A higher % feed cost does not necessarily mean higher feed cost ($/kg)</strong> or <strong>production cost ($/kg product sold)

• The percentage shows the relative contribution of feed to total production cost, not the actual dollar cost

Canadian Poultry Producers

• Feed costs can represent different percentages of total production costs

• Example values shown → 51.1% and 69.6%

Memory Trick

% feed cost ≠ actual feed cost
Percentage = relative share, not $/kg

Feed Cost and Productivity

Importance of Feed Cost

• Feed cost → one cost among many production costs

• Generally the most important cost

Feed Quality

• Different feed quality → can support different growth + productivity

• What we choose to feed animals → has important economic consequences

Managing Feed Costs and Quality

Feed Price Variation

• Feed ingredients → prices are highly variable

• Feed prices → must also vary because manufacturers cannot absorb all cost variation

• Production cost → is not constant in animal production

Role of Animal Nutritionists

• Manage feed costs

• Source the most cost-effective ingredients

• Ensure feeds have stable nutritional quality

Product Quality and Market Value

Product Quality Factors

• Price & marketability → affects how easily the product can be sold

• Nutritional composition → affects the nutritional value of the product

• Organoleptic properties → affects sensory qualities such as taste, smell, texture

• Food safety → ensures products are safe for consumption

Nutrient Composition of Cooked Lean Meat

Nutrient-Enriched Animal Food Products

How Are They Produced?

• Nutrient-enriched foods → produced by changing the composition of the feed given to animals

• Secret → the feed composition

• Feed composition → influences the nutrient composition of animal products

Examples

• Milk

• Eggs

• Butter

Quality of Animal Food Products

Importance of Quality

• Quality → very important for many different animal food products

• Includes:

  • Colour

  • Texture

  • Taste

  • etc.

Wagyu Beef Marbling Score

Marbling

• Marbling → amount and distribution of intramuscular fat in beef

• Wagyu beef → known for high levels of marbling

• Higher marbling score → more visible fat within the muscle

Quality

• Marbling affects tenderness, juiciness, and flavour

• Higher marbling → generally considered higher beef quality

Canadian Pork Color Standard

Fresh Pork Color

• Canadian Pork Color Standard → subjective scoring method used to evaluate fresh pork colour

• Uses a visual chart with 7 colours representing 7 scores

• Score range → 0–6

Colour Scale

• 0 → extremely pale colour

• 6 → extremely dark red colour

• Higher score → darker red pork

Organoleptic Testing of Aquaculture Products

APOTEC in Vietnam

• Organoleptic testing → evaluates the sensory qualities of aquaculture products

• Uses human senses to assess characteristics such as:

  • Colour

  • Texture

  • Taste

  • Smell

Food Safety Considerations

Animal Feed → Food Safety

• Animal feed can affect the safety of animal food products

• Food safety depends on:

  • Duration of exposure to contaminants

  • Type + concentration of contaminants

Contaminant Processes

• Colonization → contaminants establish and grow in the animal/environment

• Bioaccumulation → contaminants build up in an organism over time

• Biomagnification → contaminant concentrations increase higher in the food chain

• Biotransfer → contaminants move from feed → animal → animal product

Human Health

• Unsafe food consumption → can result from contaminated animal products

• Safe animal feed → safe food → safeguards human health

Heavy Metals in Animal Feed

EU Regulations

• Heavy metals → regulated in animal feed products

• Maximum allowed concentrations → set by EU regulations

• Limits help prevent harmful levels of contaminants from entering the food chain

Food Safety

• Feed contamination → can transfer to animals + animal products

• Maximum concentrations → help protect animal health + human health

Human Well-Being and Hedonistic Reasons

Why Humans Keep Animals

• Emotional attachment → animals provide companionship and emotional connection

• Service → animals can provide assistance to humans

• Entertainment → animals provide enjoyment and recreation

• Cultural/religious significance → animals can have important cultural or religious roles

• Hobby + sport → animals may be kept for recreation, hobbies, or sports