Supplementing animal feed

The vocation of AFCA-CIAL’s member industries

What is animal nutrition?

Its aim is to cover the needs of livestock for their care, reproduction, growth and production of milk, eggs and meat. Rations are based on fodder, cereals, oilseeds, pulses, and agro-food industry by-products (wheat bran, molasses, cakes…).

They are supplemented in order to:

Cover the specific needs of animals in essential nutriments: minerals, trace elements, vitamins and amino acids…
Strengthen their health and well-being with nutritional factors: enzymes, probiotics, plant extracts…

					
				Nourishing livestock means ensuring a healthy and balanced nutrition for their health, care, growth and well-being. 			
			

What are supplements?

Supplements make it possible to:

Supplement animal rations, by providing essential nutriments such as minerals, trace elements, vitamins, amino acids…

Improve animal performance by providing substances that improve the digestion of certain raw materials, such as enzymes, by reinforcing their gut flora

Support animals during specific phases of their lives, such as weaning or calving/farrowing thanks to the specific provision of certain nutriments.

Complementary feeds are mixtures:

Of feed materials such as cereals, oilseed and protein crops, minerals…
Of additives that are added in very small amounts to animal feed and participate in healthy and balanced animal nutrition. These additives are generally incorporated into feed as premixtures.

Complementary feeds only ensure the daily ration for animals when they are combined with other raw materials or other feed.

Among these complementary feeds, we can identify certain feedstuffs with specific compositions:

Mineral feeds that provide the mineral supplementation that is essential for a good ration balance.
Liquid feeds that are rich in sugars and nitrogen sources, these products are an original supplement to fodder in particular for ruminants.

Some complementary feeds are specifically formulated to help animals during certain life phases. They are given to animals in order to prevent nutritional unbalances and meet specific needs that occur in different physiological phases, such as the growth of young animals, weaning, early or late production, changes in feed, reproduction… These phases may lead to deficiencies in vitamins and trace elements, stress, digestive disorders, reproduction problems, growth slowing… These complementay feeds carry claims that highlight the product’s interest and functionality. They are marketed with different presentations to best adapt to the working practices of farmers and to the living situations of the animals: powder, fine granular feed, pellets, licks, paste, gel, liquid, gradual-release bolus, individual tablet…

The scientific, technological and zootechnical expertise of AFCA-CIAL’s members ensures a continuous innovation to feed manufacturers and animal sectors by integrating societal expectations and environmental requirements.

Focus on “dietetic feed”

Dietetic feed is defined by the regulations as feeds intended for particular nutritional purposes, i.e. supporting the specific nutritional needs of animals animal at specific times in its life: reproduction, weaning, change of feed, stress, sporting efforts… The list of particular nutritional purposes as well as the conditions attached to them are defined by the regulations.

A few examples of authorised particular nutritional purposes:

Long-term supply of grazing animals with trace elements and/or vitamins
Reduction of the risk of acidosis for ruminants
Stabilisation of physiological digestion for piglets
Compensation for malabsorption for poultry
Compensation of electrolyte loss in cases of heavy sweating for equines
Reduction of ex cessive body weight for dogs and cats

In addition to their specific composition and/or manufacturing process(es), dietetic feed has the specific ability of being able to contain certain additives, such as vitamins and trace elements, at higher levels than in normal feed.

Supplementing animal feed

What is animal nutrition?

Nourishing livestock means ensuring a healthy and balanced nutrition for their health, care, growth and well-being.

What are supplements?

Focus on “dietetic feed”

The complementary feed market