What is the difference between as-fed and dry-matter basis?

As-fed is the actual weight you scoop, including water. Dry matter removes the water so feeds can be compared fairly. Silage at 35 percent dry matter and dry hay at 88 percent look very different as-fed but are compared on a dry-matter basis, which is how rations are balanced.

What are crude protein and TDN?

Crude protein (CP) estimates total protein from nitrogen content and drives growth, milk, and reproduction. Total digestible nutrients (TDN) is an energy measure, the digestible fraction of a feed. Both are expressed as a percent of dry matter and both must meet the animal's requirement.

How does the tool combine feeds?

It converts each feed's as-fed amount to dry matter, sums dry matter, then weights each feed's CP and TDN by its dry-matter contribution to get the ration's overall CP percent and TDN percent. It compares those to your targets.

What if my ration is short on protein or energy?

Increase the high-CP or high-energy feed, add a supplement such as soybean meal for protein or grain for energy, or reduce a diluting feed like mature grass hay. Adjust amounts until the totals meet both the CP and TDN targets without exceeding dry-matter intake.

Is this a full nutritionist-grade formulation?

No. It balances the two headline nutrients, protein and energy, against intake. A complete ration also balances minerals, vitamins, fiber, and rumen-degradable protein. Use this for planning and rough checks, then consult a nutritionist for production diets.

Livestock Feed Ration Calculator

A balanced ruminant ration has to supply enough protein and energy within the amount of feed the animal will actually eat. This calculator lets you combine common feedstuffs from a built-in nutrient table and instantly see whether the mix meets your crude protein and energy targets on a dry-matter basis.

How it works

Feeds are first put on a level playing field by converting to dry matter, then the nutrient contributions are pooled:

DM of feed   = as-fed lb × (DM% / 100)
ration DM    = sum of all feed DM
ration CP%   = Σ(feed DM × feed CP%) / ration DM
ration TDN%  = Σ(feed DM × feed TDN%) / ration DM

The resulting ration CP percent and TDN percent are compared to the targets you set for the animal, and total dry matter is checked against the daily intake so you do not over- or under-feed.

Example and tips

Feeding 25 lb of corn silage (35 percent DM, 8 percent CP, 70 percent TDN) plus 12 lb of alfalfa hay (88 percent DM, 18 percent CP, 58 percent TDN) yields about 8.75 + 10.56 = 19.3 lb of dry matter at roughly 13 percent CP and 64 percent TDN. If a growing animal needs 14 percent CP, nudge up the alfalfa or add a little soybean meal. Always update the feed values with your own forage test results, since book values are only averages.