Feeds can be grouped according to the general origin and appearance or the way it was processed. Animal feed can be fed in different forms. It may vary from natural pastures to complete feeds and from supplements to natural veldt.
The table below explains the different feed groups with examples and descriptions of the feed.
Feed grouping |
Description |
Examples |
Natural vegetation and veldt |
Plants and grasses grow naturally. |
All indigenous and naturalized grasses, shrubs, forbs, sedges, trees, etc. |
Cultivated pastures |
Plants that are sown regularly (annually or at specific intervals) by man after lands have been (usually) mechanically prepared. |
Ryegrass, Kikuyu, oats, Lucerne, cereals, various legumes, Smuts finger grass, kweek, etc. |
Hay |
Plant material, usually in the early stages of seed setting that has been mown, dried and baled |
Lucerne, Oats, Rye grass, etc. |
Silage |
Plant material, cut at various stages, that is fermented in an air-less environment (silage pit or bale) |
Oats, maize, wheat, Lucerne, legumes, etc. |
Straw |
The baled stalks and chaff residues result from the seed harvesting process. |
Wheat, oats, maize, bean. |
Dry concentrates |
Usually the seed component of the plant. |
Maize, wheat, oats, cottonseed, Soya beans, lupines. |
Algal and bacterial cultures |
Dried algae and/or bacteria |
Usually a feed supplement e.g. brewer’s yeast. |
Animal products |
By-products from animal processing plants. |
Bone meal, blood meal, carcass meal, chicken manure, fishmeal, fish oil. |
Complete feeds – well balanced. |
Pre-mixed feeds from a feed factory or on-farm mixing. |
Complete dairy meal, Calf meal, Lamb fattening meal, and Pig growth meal. |
Supplements. |
Feeds that are offered in addition to other feedstuffs to supplement the diet. |
Salt / mineral / protein / energy licks; molasses; Vitamin / Enzyme supplements. |