Diet and Environmental Stress Impacts on Farm Animal Production
A special issue of Biology (ISSN 2079-7737). This special issue belongs to the section "Zoology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2025) | Viewed by 1985
Special Issue Editors
Interests: animal production; feed types; feed preparation; feed additives; diet quality and palatability; climate variability; housing environment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: animal production; feed types; feed preparation; feed additives; diet quality and palatability; climate variability; housing environment
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Livestock diets are not just about feeding but ensuring that each animal within a given environment receives a balanced profile of nutrients to meet its maintenance and production needs. A consistent availability of certain feedstuffs leads to more profitable and sustainable agriculture. The growing demand for sustainable animal production has put considerable pressure on feed manufacturing companies, animal breeding companies, equipment and infrastructure developers, and farmers on the ground to consider the welfare of animals pertaining to quality standards in dietary formulation and additive supplementation, housing conditions, as well as water availability. Housing environment, handling facilities, and stocking density in both intensive and extensive systems can induce stress in animals. Stress is a sensory reaction that initiates the fight-or-flight response, composed of both endocrine and neurologic factors that affect animal liveability. Nutritionally, reliable sources for quality water are critical in making sure that an animal eats, digests its feed, remains productive, and maintains its well-being. When an animal is deprived of water, environmental and physiological stressors predispose the animal to poor health at different stages of the supply chain. Climate change hazards result in several stressors emanating from drought, floods, disease outbreaks, agronomic-ecological effects on crop growth and post-harvest quality, temperature variability, and land carrying capacity.
The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Dietary strategies for relieving stress in farm animals;
- Diet–environment nexus in preventing stress in farm animals;
- Feed preparation and additive supplementation under different farming environments;
- Feed manufacturing technologies to optimize digestive physiology and animal productivity;
- Climate variability effects on crop quality, milling, and feed raw materials mixing precision;
- Welfare effects on animal feeding behavior and productivity.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Thobela Nkukwana
Prof. Dr. Michael Chimonyo
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- animal production
- feed types
- feed preparation
- feed additives
- diet quality and palatability
- climate variability
- housing environment
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