Husbandry Unit 5.6:

Technical Notes

Note: Numbers in brackets refer to illustrations in the Extension Materials.

Concentrates are a group of livestock feeds which are characterised by a higher dry matter content and a higher digestibility than roughages such as the stems and leaves of the grasses, fodders, legumes and trees.  (1)

Concentrates of plant origin can be either energy-rich concentrates or protein-rich concentrates.

Energy-rich concentrates:  dried cassava tubers; cereals such as rice, wheat, maize, millet and sorghum; agricultural by-products such as rice bran, wheat bran, molasses  (2)

Protein-rich concentrates:  coconut cake; soybean meal; palm kernel cake; sunflower cake; groundnut (peanut) cake; cotton seed cake; rubber seed meal etc.  (3)

Concentrates of animal origin are characterized by the larger amounts of high-quality proteins contained in them.  Some examples are the by-products of the milk processing industry e.g. skim milk and whey which can be used in calf feeds.  These are too expensive to be given to adult ruminants.  (4)

1 Animal feeds with higher:
- dry matter content
- digestibility
than roughages such as the stems and leaves of grasses, fodders, legumes and trees.

2 Two types of concentrates come from plants:
Energy-rich concentrates e.g.
- dried cassava, tubers cereals such as rice, wheat
- by-products e.g. rice bran, molasses

They are too expensive for adult animals.