In the large animals industry especially in dairy farms , feed costs can contribute up to 70% of total production costs, therefore improving the efficiency of feed conversion into milk or other economical traits can have a significant impact on the profitability .
Like humans, livestock animals need a balanced diet containing all the necessary nutrients such as proteins and amino acids, carbohydrates, fats and essential fatty acids, minerals, vitamins and water . Proper feed formulation and adjusted feeding gives animals the vigor to grow, develop, production, reproduction and strong immunity to fight off infections.
A dairy cow must be fed a balanced diet with enough amounts of net energy, protein, effective fiber , water, minerals and vitamins to cover her own maintenance and growth as well as milk production and the needs of a growing fetus after pregnancy .
In addition to concentrate’s ingredients , the diets of ruminant normally consist mainly of fibrous plant and roughages such as alfalfa hay , corn silage and wheat straw that requires prolonged chewing ( rumination ) and then ferment in the rumen by microorganisms . Therefore, the goals for any feeding or nutritional strategy in ruminants to improve rumen efficiency should be to maintain a stable environment and supply sufficient, appropriate nutrients to the rumen microbial flora .
Besides proportional amounts of energy and protein, ruminants diets must consists of different types of minerals ( including chelated ) , vitamins , antioxidants , probiotics , prebiotics and buffers to perform various important and vital activities and protect their body against diseases.