Most people don't think too hard about what's in animal feed until something goes wrong. A flock that's not laying like it should. Cattle that aren't putting on weight the way the numbers said they would. Pigs that seem off, nothing dramatic, just not right. That's usually when the questions start.
But here's what we've seen after doing this since 1947: by the time problems show up in production, the feed decision that caused them was made weeks or months earlier. Choosing the right animal feed isn't reactive. It's one of the most proactive things a farmer, a retailer, or a local supplier can do for the animals in their care.
This guide is our plain-language breakdown of what animal feed actually is, what goes into it, what the different types mean in practice, and how to think through which one belongs in your barn or on your shelf.
What Animal Feed Actually Is
At its most basic level, animal feed is any material given to livestock or poultry to provide nutrients for growth, reproduction, maintenance, or production. That definition covers a lot of ground, from fresh pasture to a precision-formulated pelleted layer ration.
What separates a well-made commercial feed from a bag of grain tossed in a feeder is formulation. A truly complete feed is engineered to hit specific targets for protein, energy, fiber, vitamins, and minerals in proportions that make sense for a particular species at a particular life stage. Getting that balance right is what the animal feed manufacturing process is actually about. It's not just mixing ingredients together. It's knowing what each ingredient contributes, how ingredients interact with each other, and how the finished product holds up through processing, storage, and use.
That's harder to do well than it sounds. And it's a big part of why who manufactures your feed matters as much as what's printed on the guaranteed analysis panel.
The Main Types of Animal Feed
Walk through any feed store and the categories can blur together fast. Here's how to actually think about them.
Complete feeds
A complete feed is exactly what it claims to be. Every nutrient the animal needs is in the bag, in the right ratio, for the right life stage. The producer doesn't need to balance anything else into the ration. They just feed it.
Complete feeds are the most common choice in poultry production, and for good reason. A layer ration, a broiler starter, a turkey grower: these products are built from the ground up to match the nutritional demands of a specific bird at a specific point in its production cycle. Get on the right one, feed it correctly, and the formula does most of the work.
Concentrates
Concentrates are nutrient-dense feeds, usually high in protein and energy, that are designed to work alongside a forage base rather than replace it. They're common in cattle and dairy operations where roughage like hay or silage is already part of the diet. The concentrate fills the nutritional gaps that forage alone can't close, particularly when animals are under higher production pressure.
Penn State Extension notes that concentrates are low-fiber, high-energy feeds used to raise energy levels in a ration for dairy cattle and compensate for deficiencies that remain beyond what forage provides. That's a useful framing. The forage handles gut fill and fiber. The concentrate handles precision nutrition.
Supplements and premixes
These are targeted products designed to correct specific nutritional gaps. A mineral supplement. A vitamin premix. A protein booster for an operation mixing its own rations from on-farm grain. They're not complete feeds. They're additions to an existing feeding program that fill a defined role.
Used correctly, supplements are genuinely useful. Used without a clear reason, they can create imbalances or give producers a false sense that a weak base ration is covered.
Forages
Hay, pasture, silage: these are the roughage base for most ruminant diets. Cattle, sheep, and goats have digestive systems built to ferment fiber. Forage is where that system does its best work. The challenge is that forage quality varies enormously by region, season, and management. That variation is part of what makes concentrate and supplement decisions complicated for ruminant operations.
What Goes Into Animal Feed: The Key Ingredients
The ingredient list on a bag of feed can look like a foreign language if you haven't spent time around it. Here's what the main categories actually mean.
Energy sources
Corn is the most common energy ingredient in commercial livestock and poultry feed in the United States. It's calorie-dense, palatable, and widely available. Other grains like wheat, sorghum, and barley show up depending on region and price. These ingredients are the fuel that drives growth, egg production, and daily activity.
Protein sources
Soybean meal is the workhorse of protein in most commercial feed formulations. It's highly digestible, has a favorable amino acid profile, and is consistently available at scale. Canola meal, distillers grains, and fish meal show up in certain applications. In poultry feed specifically, the amino acid balance matters as much as the crude protein percentage. Methionine and lysine are the two limiting amino acids most closely managed in poultry formulation.
Vitamins and minerals
These are the ingredients that don't show up in big percentages on the guaranteed analysis but quietly drive immune function, reproductive health, bone development, and eggshell quality. They're added through a premix, a concentrated blend of vitamins and trace minerals that gets included in the mix at a precise rate. Getting this right requires equipment calibration and mixing accuracy that most farm operations can't replicate on their own.
Fiber sources
Ingredients like wheat middlings, soybean hulls, and oat hulls contribute fiber to rations where gut health and feed passage rate need to be managed. In poultry this is less prominent than in ruminant rations, but it still plays a role in feed form and digestive function.
Feed additives
This is a broad category that includes everything from mold inhibitors to probiotics to natural flavoring agents. Additives are regulated through a combination of federal and state oversight. AAFCO, the Association of American Feed Control Officials, sets the ingredient definitions and standards that most states rely on when reviewing feed labels and formulations. According to AAFCO, their ingredient definitions guide state, federal, and international feed regulators while supporting the health and safety of people and animals. A responsible animal feed manufacturer works within that framework at every step.
What the Animal Feed Manufacturing Process Involves
Understanding how feed gets made helps explain why quality varies so much between suppliers.
It starts with ingredient sourcing. The raw materials coming into a mill determine the ceiling on what the finished product can be. A chicken feed manufacturer pulling grain from trusted local growers with a multi-year relationship knows what they're getting. One buying from whoever has the lowest price this week is taking a different kind of gamble.
From there, ingredients are weighed and batched with precision equipment, ground to the right particle size for the species being fed, mixed until the formula is uniform throughout the batch, and in most cases pelleted under specific heat and pressure conditions. Each of those steps introduces variables. Temperature affects nutrient retention. Mix time affects uniformity. Pellet conditioning affects pathogen control.
How to Choose the Right Feed
Whether you're a retailer building out your feed aisle or a producer trying to nail down the right program, the selection process comes back to a few core questions.
What species and what life stage?
This is always the starting point. A laying hen, a broiler, a cow in late gestation, a finishing steer, and a growing pig all have different nutritional requirements. Complete feeds are formulated around these distinctions for a reason. Feeding the wrong product for the life stage doesn't just underperform. It can actively cause problems, like the high calcium in a layer ration damaging the kidneys of meat birds.
Is the feed truly complete, or does it need something added?
Read the label and understand what it's telling you. A complete feed doesn't need supplementation for most applications. A concentrate does. A premix definitely does. Knowing which category you're working in prevents expensive mistakes.
Who made it, and can you trust them?
This is the question that separates a commodity purchase from a real partnership. A good animal feed manufacturer should be able to tell you where their ingredients come from, what testing they run on incoming materials and finished product, and what their quality documentation looks like. If they can't or won't answer those questions clearly, that's worth knowing.
We've been building relationships with local growers and partners for decades. We were among the first in the country to produce certified organic poultry and livestock feed commercially, and that history required building sourcing and quality systems that hold up to scrutiny. Those same systems are behind every bag we produce, organic or conventional.
Frequently Asked Questions About Animal Feed
How do I read an animal feed label?
The guaranteed analysis tells you minimum and maximum levels of key nutrients: crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, and moisture. Ingredients are listed in order of predominance by weight. Life stage and species should be clearly stated. If those aren't obvious from the label, ask the manufacturer before you buy.
Why does the animal feed manufacturing process matter to me as a buyer?
Because quality gets built in during manufacturing, not after. A mill with good incoming ingredient testing, accurate batching equipment, proper mixing protocols, and thorough documentation produces a more consistent product than one cutting corners on any of those steps. The bag might look the same, but what's inside isn't.
Is organic animal feed significantly different from conventional feed?
The nutritional approach is similar, but the sourcing and compliance requirements are genuinely different. Certified organic feed must use only certified organic ingredients, and the entire supply chain must be documented to support third-party certification audits. It's not interchangeable with conventional feed for certified organic producers.
How important is it to buy from a local or regional animal feed manufacturer?
Proximity matters more than people realize. A local or regional chicken feed manufacturer or livestock feed producer typically sources grain from nearby growers, which means the ingredients are fresher, the supply chain is shorter, and the relationship between the mill and the source is often tighter. At Kreamer Feed, those local grower relationships have been built over generations. They directly affect what goes into the bag.
What should I do if my animals aren't performing well on their current feed?
Don't stack supplements on top of a potentially weak base ration. Start with a feed analysis to find out what the current product is actually delivering. From there, talk to the manufacturer. A good feed supplier will want to understand the issue and work through it with you, not just sell you more product.
Final Thoughts: Feed Is the Foundation
Everything else in a livestock or poultry operation gets built on top of what animals eat. Housing, genetics, veterinary care: all of that matters. But nutrition is the foundation, and a foundation that's off throws everything else out of alignment.
Choosing the right animal feed means understanding the types, knowing what's in them, asking the right questions of the people who make them, and matching the product to the specific animal and production goal in front of you. It's not complicated once you know what to look for. But it does require paying attention.
At Kreamer Feed, we've been in the business of getting this right since 1947. We manufacture feed for poultry and livestock with the same care and standards we built this company on, and we work with retailers, local suppliers, and farm families who expect feed to do what it says it will do.
If you have questions about what's right for your operation or your customers, we're here to talk it through.
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