Table of Contents – Nutrition Book

Section 1: Energy, Protein, Fiber, Anatomy

This first section covers some of the basic principles of digestion and feedstuffs — how gastrointestinal tracts are organized (the anatomy of various species and why these are designed that way), the digestibility of feeds, the terms we use for energy and protein including some of the history of nutrition. Also, fat — there’s lots more to fat than just “getting fat” or “fattening animals for market”. And fiber, especially cellulose — not only what this famous molecule is, but some of its history and how cellulose is the chemical basis of many things we use today in our daily lives.

Nutritional Architecture . . . . . . . . digestive tract anatomy: species differences
Ruminant Ruminations . . . . . . . . digestive tract anatomy: ruminants and horses
Second Time Around . . . . . . . . digestive tract anatomy: rodents & rabbits
A Calorie By Any Other Name . . . . . . . . feed energy terminology
TDN . . . . . . . . ins and outs of using TDN to describe feeds
Ruminations on Protein . . . . . . . . analyzing feed protein by assaying for nitrogen
Dissecting Protein . . . . . . . . modern protein terminology, bypass protein
Where Does The Protein Go? . . . . . . . . forage protein levels
A Better Way Than Crude Fiber . . . . . . . . how the ADF‑NDF system replaced crude fiber
Fiber Site Map . . . . . . . . analyzing fiber: NDF, cellulose, NSC, NFC
More Fiber Numbers . . . . . . . . analyzing fiber: ADF, lignin, others
Cellulose Threads . . . . . . . . sugars, cellulose, and starch
Fiber That Changed The World . . . . . . . . useful compounds derived from cellulose
Starting Fluid Extracts . . . . . . . . fats, overview of fatty acids & triglycerides
Chewing The Fat . . . . . . . . how rumen fermentation changes fats
Feed Soaps . . . . . . . . feeding fats, rumen limitations, bypass fats
The Real Skinny On Fat . . . . . . . . fat terminology: cis, trans, saturation
Conjugated Possibilities . . . . . . . . CLAs, cancer

Section 2: Minerals

Minerals, minerals — the livestock world is fascinated by mineral mixtures, mineral requirements, and mineral deficiencies. The salt of the earth. Actually, each mineral has its own story, and some of those stories are here. There is some complexity, of course, but that is the nature of the chemistry. The stories, however, are very interesting.

Please Pass The Salt . . . . . . . . trace mineral mixes, feeding minerals
Double Trouble . . . . . . . . the main practical problem with feeding minerals
For More Than Strong Bones . . . . . . . . calcium, absorption, blood levels
DCAD Tricks . . . . . . . . calcium, milk fever, DCAD
Too Little, Too Much, Early Spring . . . . . . . . magnesium, grass tetany, Tetany Ratio
Magnesium Matters . . . . . . . . magnesium, preventing grass tetany
Odiferous Consequences . . . . . . . . sulfur, polioencephalomalacia, thiamine
Copper Beneath The Surface . . . . . . . . copper overview, chronic toxicity
Copper Redux . . . . . . . . copper, sheep salt, cattle minerals
Copper Extras . . . . . . . . copper, sources of extra copper
Iodine (1) . . . . . . . . iodine overview, metabolism, goiter
Iodine (2) . . . . . . . . iodine deficiencies, solving a field problem
Selenium Pools . . . . . . . . selenium, blood values
Selenized . . . . . . . . selenium in fertilizer
Kesterson . . . . . . . . selenium in an environmental catastrophe
FDA’s Time Machine . . . . . . . . selenium regulations, proposed changes
Evolutionary Ruminations . . . . . . . . iodine, cobalt, selenium, cyanide

Section 3: Vitamins

Vital amines — who knew, when thiamine was first identified in brown rice, that these small organic molecules would be so important? Here are some of the their stories, including why we don’t feed the B-vitamins or Vitamin C to ruminants or horses. And why the excitement over Vitamin D is real. And why there is a relationship between blood coagulation, bureaucracies, the Nobel Prize, and rat poison.

Vitamins Through The Rumen . . . . . . . . feeding vitamins to ruminants, fat‑soluble, water‑soluble
The Vitamin That’s More Than A Vitamin . . . . . . . . vitamin D, new understandings
A, B, C, D, E . . . . . . . . vitamin E, overview
K As In Coagulation . . . . . . . . vitamin K, discovery, warfarin
Nardoo & Opisthotonos . . . . . . . . thiamine, polioencephalomalacia, history
History Versus Today . . . . . . . . speculations on vitamin & mineral requirements

Section 4: Requirements, Ration‑Balancing, Foods

Balancing diets is an art and a science. It’s also like calling a square dance. This section goes into some very interesting corners of the art of fine-tuning livestock diets. Have you ever used truffles as a livestock feed?

The NRC book is the gold-standard reference for nutrition, but it has its strengths and flaws as you will see. You should know both sides of this story because everyone uses those numbers. The Dugway System for balancing diets, on the other hand, is like nothing you’ve ever seen. Also, the ewes that consumed nearly 7% of their body weight told us something that no one had ever imagined. Finally, we’ll apply livestock principles to meals for humans. Supermarket labels will never be the same for you.

Ration‑Balancing Is Like A Square Dance . . . . . . . . balancing rations
The Nutritional Value Of A Truffle . . . . . . . . an uncommon total mixed ration
New Year, New Thinking . . . . . . . . Dugway Nutritional Plan #1
Diets Outside The Box . . . . . . . . Dugway Nutritional Plan #2
A New Take on Intake . . . . . . . . high-producing ewes with astonishing feed consumption
Ewes Off The Scale . . . . . . . . limitations of the 1985 Sheep NRC
The New Sheep NRC . . . . . . . . 2007 Small Ruminant NRC #1
Twenty‑Five Pages of Numbers . . . . . . . . 2007 Small Ruminant NRC #2
Energy & Protein, New . . . . . . . . 2007 Small Ruminant NRC #3
Tough Love . . . . . . . . 2007 Small Ruminant NRC #4
Diets, New and Old . . . . . . . . comparing the 1985 NRC with the 2007 NRC
Applying The Principles . . . . . . . . applying nutritional principles to human foods

Section 5: Feed Tests, Feed Reports, Feed Tags

We get rather official in this section: feed tags, feed reports, the differences between testing soils versus testing feedstuffs, the new electronic method of analysis that has replaced most of the time-honored glassware in laboratories, but with an important caveat. Some very useful numbers are in these chapters, and also the rules that govern what’s on those feed tags and what’s not. And why some cat foods contain an ingredient for no reason.

Black Box Forage Analysis . . . . . . . . near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy, NIR
Anomalies . . . . . . . . forage tests, soil tests, fertilizers, cobalt, and cats
What Do I Look For? . . . . . . . . forage tests: energy and protein values
Looking At Minerals . . . . . . . . forage tests: mineral values
Feed Tag Bestsellers . . . . . . . . feed tags: guaranteed analysis, medicated
The Small Print . . . . . . . . feed tags: ingredients, collective terms, closed tags

Section 6: Sheep Production Cycle Nutrition

Most of this section focuses on the details of raising sheep — lambing jugs, the ratio of rams to ewes, etc. But not all. If you raise other animals, don’t skip this section. Principles are principles. Much of the information applies directly or indirectly to beef cattle, dairy animals, and goats — things like the effects of supplementing grain to grazing animals, or the real nutritional value of very young grass, or the nutritional trick of adding a special protein supplement to poor-quality forage, or all the techniques and principles about weaning and early-weaning. A smorgasbord, yes, but definitely a tasty one.

Decisions . . . . . . . . systems: deciding on a lambing date, business risks
Differences Among The Lambings . . . . . . . . systems: accelerated lambing, out‑of‑season lambing
The Numbers Game . . . . . . . . breeding: ram‑to-ewe ratios
Protein and the Pregnant Ewe . . . . . . . . gestation: new protein needs in late gestation
Nail Polish Remover? . . . . . . . . gestation: pregnancy toxemia, ketosis
Percent of What? . . . . . . . . lambing: calculating lambing rate, different definitions
Pellets In The Jug . . . . . . . . lambing: easy way to feed ewes immediately after lambing
Where Has All The Fiber Gone? . . . . . . . . lambing: issues about feeding alfalfa pellets in the jug
Choice, Choices — Not Enough Milk . . . . . . . . lactation: feeding in early lactation, options
Grain On Grass —‑ Let’s Do The Numbers . . . . . . . . lactation: supplementing grain on pasture, associative effects
Washy Grass . . . . . . . . lactation: very young forage, lamb growth
Lambs & Calves & Milk, Oh My! . . . . . . . . orphan lambs: milk composition, species differences, lactose
Growing Once . . . Growing Twice . . . . . . . . . . . young lambs: ewe milk supply at 60 days, lamb needs
When Do We Wean Turkeys? . . . . . . . . young ruminants: early weaning, pasture, rumen development
Points of Weaning . . . . . . . . weaning: practical tips
The Business of Early Weaning . . . . . . . . weaning: early weaning lambs on pasture
Protein Arithmetic . . . . . . . . weaned lambs: forage protein levels, lamb growth
To Grain Or Not To Grain . . . . . . . . weaned lambs: economics of supplements to pasture lambs
Let Them Eat Cake . . . . . . . . maintenance: supplementing protein to poor‑quality forage

Section 7: Practical Field Situations

These are problems and situations we face every day in the field: cold weather, wet hay, the quality of old hay, the risk of barn fires. Also pelleting feeds — you may never have thought that pelleting entails so many nutritional pros and cons. And a problematical case-study involving minerals, sheep, forages, and cyanide.

Deep Freeze . . . . . . . . cold stress
Pelleting in a Nutshell . . . . . . . . pellets pros and cons
Four Guys And A Barn Fire . . . . . . . . heat-damaged hay, the Maillard Reaction
Old Hay, Good Hay? . . . . . . . . hay quality over time
A Sleuth In The Clover . . . . . . . . case study: mineral deficiencies, stressed clover

Section 8: Intriguing Research

Some controversial topics in this section. A method of reducing the risk of toxic E. coli contamination in feedlot beef, and the brouhaha that erupted about Mad Cow Disease in cattle and scrapie in sheep. And also, an early GMO strategy with alfalfa, not for herbicide resistance but for increasing wool growth. A bit historical? Perhaps, but still very interesting.

Spliced Alfalfa Genes . . . . . . . . sunflower genes in alfalfa to increase protein quality
E. coli, Starch, and Feeding Grain . . . . . . . . potential method of reducing O157:H7 E. coli
BSE, Scrapie, & Bypass Protein . . . . . . . . linkage between TSEs and rendered products

Section 9: Reflections

A time to reflect. Three essays that complete this book with pensive appreciation for our agricultural world and the people in it.

Traveling Together . . . . . . . . our industry, friends
One Of A Kind . . . . . . . . Doug Hogue, professor and teacher
Time, Land, and San Juan Hill . . . . . . . . stories of time and the land