Understanding Your Market Needs

  • Calcium is an essential nutrient for the development of most animals. For example it helps to strengthen bones and improves the solidity of eggs. Carmeuse calcium carbonate delivers the best product quality and consistency, ensuring minerals and nutritional supplements for a well-balanced animal feed.

COMPOUND FEED

The daily ration of feedingstuffs for an animal is defined by the European Regulation 1831/2003 on animal nutrition additives as “the average total quantity of feedingstuffs, calculated on a moisture content of 12%, required daily by an animal of a given species, age category and yield, to satisfy all its needs.” Compound feed means mixtures of feed materials, which may or may not contain additives, for oral animal feeding in the form of complete or complementary feed.

MINERALS AND NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS

Feed providing protein, energy and fibre is essential, but it does not meet all the needs of animals. Cattle and poultry all need minerals such as calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. Their needs for these minerals are even greater in certain maturity periods, such as during milk production.

Why is calcium so important?

  • It plays a major role in the absorption of nutrients (modification of the cell permeability), as well as in blood clotting.
  • It is a key mineral for egg-shell formation in poultry laying flocks.
  • It helps cattle to grow strongly by encouraging good bone development.


Risks due to a lack of calcium

  • Skeletal and bone problems.
  • Reduced appetite.
  • Increased sensitivity to parasitic diseases.

Solutions to Meet Your Needs

COMPOUND FEED

Compound feed is complementary feed that includes minerals. Calcium is a key element of these minerals. Compound feed generally contains 2 to 4% of minerals, vitamins and additives. Carmeuse offers a high-quality calcium carbonate aimed at meeting cattle’s calcium needs.

MINERALS AND NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS

Nutritionists and research institutes have developed tables defining animals’ needs by their type and age. To meet these needs and feed requirements (mainly fodder for livestock), they offer mineral compounds with vitamin supplements or premixes. These premixes often contain 40 to 70% high-quality calcium carbonate.
Carmeuse focuses on the quality of the calcium carbonate delivered in its vitamin and mineral supplements.
 
Distribution methods for calcium carbonate

  • Alone, in the form of powder or pellets in feeding troughs.
  • Or compacted in the form of lick-blocks together with minerals, mineral nutrients and vitamins.


Compacted and homogeneous products allow: 

  • Reduced losses to wind and at the bottom of feeding troughs.
  • Coarser meals from 0.2 to 1.5 mm.
  • A minimum calcium content of 38%.
  • A limited ratio of hydrochloric insoluble elements.
  • Regular physico-chemical analyses.

Key fact:
Thanks to balanced feed, meat produced today contains less fat.
 

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