The study of poultry nutrition involves many terms not commonly used in daily communication. Please add terms and their definitions.
A - B
Abscess: A collection of pus in any part of the body.
Absorption: The movement of nutrients or other substances from the digestive tract or through the skin into the blood and/or lymph system.
Acetic acid: One of the volatile fatty acids with the formula CH3COOH. Commonly found in silage, rumen contents, and vinegar.
Additive: An ingredient or a combination of ingredients added, usually in small quantities, to a basic feed mix for the purpose of fortifying the basic mix with certain essential nutrients and/or medicines.
Adipose: Of a fatty nature.
Ad libitum: As desired by the animal.
Adrenal: Near the kidney.
Aerial part: The above-ground part of a plant.
Aerobic: Living or functioning in the presence of air or molecular oxygen.
Alanine: One of the nonessential amino acids.
Alimentary: Having to do with feed or food.
Alimentary tract:Same as digestive tract.
Amino acid: Any one of a class of organic compounds which contain both the amino (NH2) group and the carboxyl (COOH) group.
Ammoniated: Combined or impregnated with ammonia or an am¬monium compound.
Amylase: Any one of several enzymes which effect a hydrolysis of starch to maltose. Examples are pancreatic amylase (amylopsin) and salivary amylase (ptyalin).
Anabolism: The conversion of simple substances into more complex substances by living cells. Constructive metabolism.
Anaerobic: Living or functioning in the absence of air or molecular oxygen.
Anemic: Lacking in size and/or number of red blood cells.
Animal protein factor: What was once an unidentified growth factor essential for poultry and swine and present in protein feeds of animal origin. It is now known to be the same as vitamin B,2.
Antacid: A substance that counteracts acidity.
Antibiotic: A substance produced by one microorganism which has an inhibiting effect on the growth of another.
Antibody: Substance produced in the body that acts against disease.
Antioxidant: A material capable of chemically protecting other substances from oxidation.
Anus: The posterior end and opening of the digestive tract.
Arachidonic acid: A 20-carbon unsaturated fatty acid having four double bonds.
Arginine: One of the essential amino acids.
Artificially dried: Dried by other than natural means. Dehydrated.
Ascorbic acid: Same as vitamin C, the antiscorbutic vitamin. AS FED As consumed by the animal.
Ash: The incombustible residue remaining after incineration at 600° C for several hours.
Aspartic acid: One of the nonessential amino acids.
Asphyxia: Suffocation or the suspension of animation as the result of suffocation.
Aspirated: Removal of light materials from heavier material by use of air.
Atrophy: A wasting away of a part of the body.
Avidin: A protein in egg albumen which can combine with biotin to render the latter unavailable to the animal.
Bacteria: Very small, unicellular plant organisms.
BALANCED Containing essential nutrients in the proper proportions.
BALANCED DAILY RATION Such a combination of feeds as will pro¬vide the essential nutrients in such amounts as will properly nourish a given animal for a 24-hour period.
BALANCED RATION Such a combination of feeds as will provide the essential nutrients in the proper proportions.
BASAL METABOLISM The heat production of an animal during physical, digestive, and emotional rest.
BILE A greenish-yellow fluid formed in the liver, stored in the gall bladder (except in the horse which has no gall bladder), and secreted via the bile duct into the upper small intestine. It functions in digestion.
BIOCHEMISTRY The chemistry of living things.
BIOLOGICAL FUNCTION The role played by a chemical compound in living organisms.
BIOLOGICAL VALUE The efficiency with which a protein furnishes the proper proportions of the essential amino acids. A protein which has a high biological value is said to be of good quality.
BIOSYNTHESIS The formation of chemical substances from other chemical substances in a living organism.
BIOTIN One of the B vitamins.
BOILING POINT The temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid equals the atmospheric pressure.
BOLTED Separated from parent material by means of a bolting cloth.
BOMB CALORIMETER An instrument used for determining the gross energy content of a material.
BRAN The pericarp or seed coat of grain removed during processing.
BUFFER Any substance that can counteract changes in free acid or alkali concentration.
BUSHEL A certain volume equal to 2150.42 cubic inches (approximately 1.25 cubic feet).
BUTYRIC ACID One of the volatile fatty acids with the formula CH3CH2CH2COOH. Commonly found in rumen contents and poor quality silage.
CAECUM Same as cecum.
CALCIFICATION Process by which organic tissue becomes hardened by a deposit of calcium salts.
CALORIC Pertaining to heat or energy.
CALORIE The amount of energy as heat required to raise one gram of water 1°C (precisely from 14.5°C to 15.5°C).
CALORIMETER An instrument for measuring heat.
CALORIMETRY The science of measuring heat.
CARBOHYDRATE Organic substances that contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with the hydrogen and oxygen present in the same proportions as in water.
CARCASS The body of an animal less the viscera and usually the head, skin, and lower leg.
CARCINOGEN Any cancer-producing substance.
CARCINOGENIC Cancer-producing.
CARDIOVASCULAR Pertaining to the heart and blood vessels.
CARIES Areas of tooth decay.
CAROTENE A yellow organic compound that is a precursor of vitamin A.
CARRIER An edible material which is used to facilitate the addition of micronutrients to a ration.
CARTILAGE The gristle or connective tissue attached to the ends of bones.
CASEIN The protein precipitated from milk by acid and/or rennin.
CATABOLISM The conversion of complex substances into more simple compounds by living cells. Destructive metabolism.
CATALYST A substance that speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction but is not itself used up in the reaction.
CECUM An intestinal pouch located at the junction of the large and small intestine. Also caecum.
CELL The structural and functional microscopic unit of plant and animal organisms.
CELL PLATELET A small, colorless, disk-shaped cell in the blood con¬cerned with blood coagulation.
CELLULOSE A polysaccharide having the formula (C«H,0Os)n. Found in the fibrous portion of plants. Low in digestibility.
CELSIUS Same as Centigrade.
CENTIGRADE A thermometer scale in which water freezes at 0° and boils at 100°. Same as Celsius.
CHLOROPHYLL The green coloring matter present in growing plants.
CHOLESTEROL The most common member of the sterol group.
CHOLINE One of the B vitamins.
CHOPPED Reduced in particle size by cutting.
CHROMATOGRAPHY A technique for separating complex mixtures of chemical substances.
CITRULLINE One of the nonessential amino acids.
CLIPPED With oat grain, the more fibrous end has been removed.
COAGULATED Curdled, clotted, or congealed.
COAGULATION The change from a fluid state to a thickened jelly, curd, or clot.
COENZYME A partner required by some enzymes to produce enzymatic activity.
COLLAGEN The main supportive protein of connective tissue.
COLOSTRUM MILK The milk secreted during the first few days of lacta¬tion.
COMBUSTION The combination of substances with oxygen accompanied by the liberation of heat.
COMMERCIAL FEED Any material produced by a commercial company and distributed for use as a feed or feed component.
COMPLETE RATION A single feed mixture into which has been included all of the dietary essentials, except water, of a given class of livestock.
CONCENTRATE Any feed low (under about 20%) in crude fiber and high (over about 60%) in TDN on an air-dry basis. Opposite of roughage. Also, a concentrated source of one or more nutrients used to enhance the nutritional adequacy of a supplement mix.
CONGENITAL Existing at birth.
CONGESTION Excessive accumulation of blood in a part of the body.
CONVULSION A violent involuntary contraction or series of contractions of the voluntary muscles.
CORONARY Of or relating to the heart.
CREATININE A nitrogenous compound arising from protein metabolism and secreted in the urine.
CRIMPED Having been passed between rollers with corrugated surfaces.
CRUDE FAT That part of a feed which is soluble in ether. Also referred to as ether extract. 600 / Glossary of Terms
CRUDE FIBER The more fibrous, less digestible portion of a feed. Con¬sists primarily of cellulose and lignin.
CRUDE PROTEIN Total ammoniacal nitrogen x 6.25, based on the fact that feed protein on the average contains 16.0% nitrogen.
CURD The semi-solid mass that is formed when milk comes in contact with an acid or the enzyme rennin. It consists mainly of the protein casein.
CYANOCOBALAMIN Same as vitamin Bl2.
CYSTINE One of the nonessential amino acids. It is sulfur containing and may be used to meet in part the need for methionine.
CYSTITIS Inflammation of the bladder.
DEFICIENCY DISEASE A disease resulting from an inadequate dietary intake of some nutrient.
DEFLUORINATED Having had the fluorine content reduced to a level which is nontoxic under normal use.
DEHYDRATED Having had most of the moisture removed through ar¬tificial drying.
DERMATITIS Inflammation of the skin.
DESICCATE To dry completely.
DEXTRIN An intermediate polysaccharide product obtained during starch hydrolysis.
DIGESTIBLE ENERGY That part of the gross energy of a feed which does not appear in the feces.
DIGESTION The processes involved in the conversion of feed into absorb¬able forms.
DIGESTIVE TRACT The passage from the mouth to the anus through which feed passes following consumption as it is subjected to various digestive processes. Primarily the stomach and intestines.
DISACCHARIDE Any one of several so-called compound sugars which yield two monosaccharide molecules upon hydrolysis. Sucrose, maltose, and lac¬tose are the most common.
DISPENSABLE AMINO ACID Basically the same as nonessential amino acid.
DRY MATTER That part of feed which is not water. Sometimes referred to as dry substance or total solids. Is the sum of the crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, nitrogen-free extract, and ash.
DRY-RENDERED Having been heat processed for the removal of fat without the addition of water or steam.
DUODENUM The upper portion of the small intestine which extends from the stomach to the jejunum.
DYSTOCIA Difficult parturition.
EDEMA Swelling of a part of or of the entire body due to an accumulation of an excess of water.
ELEMENT Any one of the fundamental atoms of which all matter is com¬posed.
EMACIATED An excessively thin condition of the body.
EMULSIFY To disperse small drops of one liquid into another liquid.
ENDEMIC Occurring in low incidence but more or less constantly in a given population.
ENDOCRINE Pertaining to internal secretions.
ENDOGENOUS Originating from within the organism.
ENDOMETRIUM The mucous membrane that lines the uterus.
ENERGY The capacity to perform work.
ENSILAGE The same as silage.
ENSILED Having been subjected to anaerobic fermentation to form silage. ENTERITIS Inflammation of the intestines.
ENVIRONMENTAL Pertaining to surrounding influences.
ENZYMATIC Related to an enzyme.
ENZYME One of a class of organic compounds, formed by living cells, capable of producing or accelerating specific organic reactions. An organic catalyst.
EPIDEMIC When many individuals in a given region are attacked by some disease at the same time.
EPITHELIAL Refers to those cells that form the outer layer of the skin and other membranes.
ERGOSTEROL One of the sterols which upon exposure to ultraviolet light is converted to vitamin D2.
ESOPHAGUS The passageway leading from the mouth to the stomach. Sometimes called the gullet.
ESSENTIAL AMINO ACID Any one of several amino acids that are needed by animals and cannot be synthesized by them in the amount needed and so must be present in the protein of the feed as such.
ESTROGENS Estrus-producing hormones secreted by the ovaries.
ESTRUS The recurring periods of sexual receptivity in female mammals. The period of heat.
ETIOLOGY The causes of a disease or disorder.
EXCRETA The products of excretion—primarily feces and urine.
EXOGENOUS. Originating from outside of the organism.
EXPANDED As applied to feed—having been increased in volume as the result of a sudden reduction in surrounding pressure.
EXPELLER PROCESS A process for the mechanical extraction of oil from seeds, involving the use of a screw press.
EXTRINSIC FACTOR A factor coming from or originating from outside an organism.
EXTRUDED As applied to feed—having been forced through a die under pressure.
FACTOR In nutrition, any chemical substance found in feed.
FAHRENHEIT A thermometer scale in which water freezes at 32° and boils at 212°.
FAT The product formed when a fatty acid reacts with glycerol. The glyceryl ester of a fatty acid. Stearin, palmitin, and olein are examples.
FAT SOLUBLE Soluble in fats and fat solvents but generally not soluble in water.
FATTENING This is the deposition of unused energy in the form of fat within the body tissues.
FATTY ACID Any one of several organic compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen which combine with glycerol to form fat.
FAUNA The animal life present. Frequently used to refer to the overall protozoal population present.
FECES The excreta discharged from the digestive tract through the anus.
FEED Any material eaten by an animal as a part of its daily ration.
FEED GRADE Suitable for animal but not for human consumption.
FERMENTATION Chemical changes brought about by enzymes produced by various microorganisms.
FETUS The unborn young of animals.
FIBROUS High in content of cellulose and/or lignin.
FINISH To fatten a slaughter animal. Also, the degree of fatness of such an animal.
FISTULA An abnormal tube-like passage from some part of the body to another part or to the exterior—sometimes surgically inserted.
FLAKED Rolled or cut into flat pieces.
FLORA The plant life present. In nutrition it generally refers to the bacteria present in the digestive tract.
FODDER The entire above-ground part of nearly mature corn or sorghum in the fresh or cured form. </FO
