Unstable feed and pet food can cause major health issues for pets, poultry, and livestock. Vitamin content in feed and pet food can quickly deteriorate if grown, processed, mixed or handled improperly. If your cat, dog, chicken, livestock or other animal is eating a nutritionally complete and balanced feed and is not suffering from any health issues or eye problems it is most likely your feed is stable and there is no need to provide a vitamin supplement. However, studies show that the vitamin amounts shown on cat food, dog food, chicken feed, livestock feed and other feeds which use grains can become unstable and not provide the correct amounts of vitamins which your pet needs, no matter what the label says. If your pet is showing signs of having a vitamin deficiency, such as,
- fatigue,shortness of breath, dizziness, pale or yellowish skin, irregular heartbeats, weight loss, muscle weakness, listlessness, lack of energy, or health issues, you should check with your veterinarian to see if a vitamin supplement may be needed or if there may be other health problems. See reasons pets, poultry, chickens and livestock feed can become unstable below.
Reasons Pet, Poultry, & Livestock Feed Can Become Unstable
These are some of the many reasons animal feed can become nutritionally unstable:
"Vitamin levels will vary in feed ingredients due to crop location, fertilization, plant genetics, plant disease and weather. Intensive cropping practices and use of new crop varieties may alter or reduce levels of certain vitamins in many feedstuffs. In forage crops, factors that favor production of lush, green plants also favor production of many vitamins, particularly beta-carotene, vitamin E and vitamin K.
Combs and Combs (1984) reported vitamin E activity values, based on corn and grain alpha- and gamma-tocopherol, to be different among 42 varieties of corn. The vitamin E activity varied from 11.1 to 36.4 IU per kg (5.06 to 16.5 IU per lb) of air dried corn, with a mean of 22.7 IU per kg (10.3 IU per lb)".
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- Moisture levels
- Improper processing and storage
- Humidity levels
- Heat
- Light-"Some vitamins are destroyed by light. Riboflavin is stable to most factors involved in processing; however, it is readily destroyed by either visible or ultraviolet (UV) light. Similarly, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C and folic acid can also be destroyed by light (Table 6). It is necessary, therefore, to protect premixes of feeds containing these vitamins from light and radiation (Stamberg and Peterson, 1946)".
- Pelleting pressure
- Oxidation reduction
- Rancidity
- Ph levels
- Interaction with other vitamins
- Carriers
- Feed enzymes
- Feed additives
- Crop location
- Fertilization
- Plant genetics
- Plant disease
- Weather
- Too many treats
"Vitamin levels will vary in feed ingredients due to crop location, fertilization, plant genetics, plant disease and weather. Intensive cropping practices and use of new crop varieties may alter or reduce levels of certain vitamins in many feedstuffs. In forage crops, factors that favor production of lush, green plants also favor production of many vitamins, particularly beta-carotene, vitamin E and vitamin K.
Combs and Combs (1984) reported vitamin E activity values, based on corn and grain alpha- and gamma-tocopherol, to be different among 42 varieties of corn. The vitamin E activity varied from 11.1 to 36.4 IU per kg (5.06 to 16.5 IU per lb) of air dried corn, with a mean of 22.7 IU per kg (10.3 IU per lb)".
Read more...
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References:
1. Factor Resulting in Inadequate Vitamin Dietary Intake. (2018). Dsm.com. Retrieved 23 August 2018, from https://www.dsm.com/markets/anh/en_US/Compendium/vitamin_basics/factor_resulting_in_inadequate_vitamin_dietary_intake.html
1. Factor Resulting in Inadequate Vitamin Dietary Intake. (2018). Dsm.com. Retrieved 23 August 2018, from https://www.dsm.com/markets/anh/en_US/Compendium/vitamin_basics/factor_resulting_in_inadequate_vitamin_dietary_intake.html
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