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The economic room for technologically and nutritionally more advanced diets will increase in the future. The processing of animal feed currently has a number of beneficial effects including the improvements in feed efficiency and to find the right balance between animal health and efficiency. In the feed mill diagrams, a large diversity of equipment and systems can be found. This diversity is already present for each different unit operations: in the case of particle size reduction, there is a large choice in special equipment and the way the different steps are set up into a grinding system. For agglomeration e.g. these may vary from having large flexibility in more basic production of different feed forms, up to applying sophisticated equipment (expanders, compactors) to improve nutrient digestibility and pellet quality to strive towards high quality feeds. Farms are becoming larger and in certain countries farmer are using on-farm processing of feed ingredients in addition to purchased concentrates. There is a small but growing trend in organic farming to include the use of other ingredients for animal diets such as grass for sows, fermented ingredients, etc. and some are of the opinion that a new business model will emerge in agriculture where the objective has to be a balance between economy, ecology and society, called 'sustainable precision husbandry'.

Whole wheat (WW) is mainly fed to broilers along with a pelleted feed, which allows birds to select particles leading to inconsistent results. WW inclusion in a pellet may require larger pellets to maintain coarse structure and pellet quality. The effect of WW vs ground wheat (GW) inclusion and pellet diameter (4 vs 6 mm) on pellet quality and performance was investigated, using a 2x2 factorial design with 6 replicates per treatment (9 Ross 308 males per pen). An additional group was fed a reference diet (RD) containing GW in a 3 mm pellet diameter. From day 0-7, all birds received a crumble starter diet (250 g/kg GW). From day 8-14, one group received the RD and the other 4 groups a 4 mm pelleted diet, which included either GW or WW. From day 15-34, half of these 4 groups received the 6 mm pelleted diets (GW or WW). Formulations of all diets from day 8-34 were similar (350 g/kg wheat). Pellet durability, tested using a Ligno tester, was the highest in the RD (75.5%), tested with sieve size 2.1 mm. When tested with sieve size 3.6 mm, GW 6 mm had the highest durability (59.7%) and the lowest durabilities were found using both sieves in WW 6 mm diets (60.8% and 36.6% for 2.1 and 3.6 mm, respectively). Feed intake (FI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) was higher for GW vs WW diets from day 8-14 (53.6 vs 51.1 g/d, P=0.032 and 1.314 vs 1.269, P=0.038, respectively). For RD the lowest FCR (1.240, P=0.031) and highest bodyweight gain (BWG) (44.0g, P=0.010) was found. From day 15-34, FI and BWG was also higher for GW vs WW diets (154.9 vs 148.6 g, P

An experiment was conducted to determine protein quality in processed protein sources using the content of AA, o-methylisourea (OMIU)-reactive Lys, Maillard reaction products (MRP), and cross-link products; the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of CP and AA; and growth performance in growing pigs as criteria. Differences in protein quality were created by secondary toasting (at 95°C for 30 min) of soybean meal (SBM) and rapeseed meal (RSM) in the presence of lignosulfonate resulting in processed SBM (pSBM) and processed RSM (pRSM). The processing treatment was used as a model for overprocessed protein sources. Ten growing pigs were each fed 1 of the 4 diets containing SBM, pSBM, RSM, or pRSM in each of 3 periods. Ileal chyme was collected at the end of each period and analyzed for CP, AA, and OMIU-reactive Lys. Diets were analyzed for furosine and carboxymethyllysine (CML) as an indicator for MRP and lysinoalanine (LAL), which is a cross-link product. The SBM and RSM diets contained furosine, CML, and LAL, indicating that the Maillard reaction and cross-linking had taken place in SBM and RSM, presumably during the oil extraction/desolventizing process. The amounts of furosine, CML, and LAL were elevated in pSBM and pRSM due to further processing. Processing resulted in a reduction in total and OMIU-reactive Lys contents and a decrease in G:F from 0.52 to 0.42 for SBM and 0.46 to 0.39 for RSM (P = 0.006), SID of CP from 83.9 to 71.6% for SBM and 74.9 to 64.6% for RSM (P

The central bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) is one of the most popular pet lizards. However, little is known regarding their nutrient requirement, or their natural diet. Therefore, the stomach contents of 14 free-roaming P. vitticeps were determined by flushing. These stomach contents were described taxonomically, and analyzed for crude protein content as well as fatty acid content and composition. Most of the dry matter intake was in the form of animal material (61%) stemming from nine arthropod orders. The most abundant were alates of the termite Drepanotermes sp., accounting for 95% of the total number of prey items and more than half of the total dry matter (DM) intake. Plant material contributed 16% of the total DM intake. The diets were high in crude protein (41–50% DM) and the total fatty acid content was 14–27% of the DM intake. The main fatty acid was C18:1n9c (51–56% of total fatty acids), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (n3 and n6) comprised 6–8% of the total fat intake. Our data suggest that P. vitticeps is an opportunistic predator, which exploits the seasonal availability of prey. Based on our data and other studies, a diet consisting of several insect species, supplemented with leafy vegetables, rich in n3 FA's, would best resemble the expected natural diet of P. vitticeps.

Effects of two pellet diameters for piglets pre and post weaning on feed intake, BW, and feed-related behaviour were studied in 3 experiments. In experiment 1, 19 litters were provided with pellets of 2 and 12-mm in diameter in a choice-feeding setup from d 4 of lactation onward. From d 4 to 18, piglets preferred the 12-mm diameter pellet over the 2-mm diameter pellet (519 vs. 168 g/pen; P

In search for sustainable alternatives for fish meal and overseas vegetable protein sources some selected protein sources were evaluated. These included oil seed co-products, grain legumes and their concentrates, insects, leaf and aquatic proteins, etc. These sources differ substantially in terms of protein yield, environmental sustainability, nutritional value and availability. Products with a low dry matter content, i.e. lucerne, leaves, aquatic proteins are considered to be less sustainable due to the high energy costs for drying. Some values, however, are lacking for some of the protein sources. Within the category of oil seeds, European produced soybean meal seems to be the most promising alternative for soybean meal from beans imported from South America. Nutritional value and especially protein digestibility of soybean meal is very good. Protein yield of soybean meal produced in Europe should be further increased to make this crop feasible for the farmer. To realize this, varieties have to be selected with an ultra-short growth season. Within the category of grain legumes, peas seem the most promising alternative for soybean meal, at least for the short-term. The protein yield is reasonably high, but should be further improved. In long-term, leaf proteins and aquatic proteins probably might contribute to reduce soybean imports. Therefore, more knowledge regarding protein separating techniques and nutritional value of these products is necessary. Leafs, aquatic and insect protein sources are not in direct competition with the land use of other crops. Enhancing the protein content of these plant protein sources by processing needs further development; especially products such as duckweed and algae seems promising, but sustainability aspects should be studied. We also realize, that the nutritional value of products such as leaf proteins, some aquatic proteins and insects is not known sufficiently. For these sources, aspects of cell wall degradation, feed safety and legislation should definitely be covered. At this moment it is not possible to draw sound conclusions with respect to the environmental sustainability of the selected protein sources.

The Maillard reaction, which can occur during heat processing of pet foods or ingredients, is known to reduce the bioavailability of essential amino acids such as lysine due to the formation of early and advanced Maillard reaction products (MRP) that are unavailable for utilisation by the body. Determination of the difference between total and reactive lysine by chemical methods provides an indication of the amount of early MRP present in foods, feeds and ingredients. Previous research reported that the difference between total and reactive lysine in pet foods can be up to 61·8 %, and foods for growing dogs may be at risk of supplying less lysine than the animal may require. The endogenous analogues of advanced MRP, advanced glycation endproducts, have been associated with age-related diseases in humans, such as diabetes and impaired renal function. It is unknown to what extent advanced MRP are present in pet foods, and if dietary MRP can be associated with the development of diseases such as diabetes and impaired renal function in pet animals. Avoidance of ingredients with high levels of MRP and processing conditions known to favour the Maillard reaction may be useful strategies to prevent the formation of MRP in manufactured pet food. Future work should further focus on understanding the effects of ingredient choice and processing conditions on the formation of early and advanced MRP, and possible effects on animal health.