PROTEIN AND ENERGY INGREDIENTS IN CATFISH FEEDING

No one feed ingredient can supply all of the nutrients and energy catfish need for best growth. Commercial catfish feeds contain a mixture of feedstuffs and vitamin and mineral premixes that provide the right essential nutrients as well as the energy necessary to use the nutrients. The amount of each feed ingredient depends on several factors, including nutrient requirements, ingredient cost, availability of each ingredient, and processing characteristics.


Protein and Energy Supplements

Feedstuffs containing 20 percent crude protein or more are considered protein supplements. Protein supplements may be classified as animal or plant proteins. Animal proteins used in animal feeds come from inedible tissues from meat packing or rendering plants, milk products, and marine sources. Those used in catfish feed include marine fish meals, catfish offal meal, meat and bone/blood meal, and poultry byproduct meal.

Animal proteins are generally considered to be higher quality than plant proteins. Animal protein is essential in the diet of fry and small fingerling catfish. Fish meal prepared from whole fish appears to be a better protein supplement than other animal proteins. But fish meal does not appear to be essential in the diet of catfish after they reach a size of 6 to 7 inches. Animal proteins can be replaced by plant proteins in catfish food fish feeds without affecting growth and feed efficiency.

The main plant protein sources used in catfish feeds are oilseed meals, such as soybean meal, cottonseed meal, and peanut meal. Some other oilseed meals could be used but are not generally available on a timely basis and at an economical cost per unit of protein. A brief description of various animal and plant protein sources that can be used in catfish feeds is given in the chart on the next page.

Energy supplements are feedstuffs that contain less than 20 percent crude protein. The include grain and grain byproducts and animal fat or vegetable oil. It is important to include nonprotein energy sources in catfish diets because they are the most economical source of energy, and they prevent dietary protein from being used for energy. Energy sources typically used in commercial catfish feeds include corn, corn screenings, wheat grain, wheat middlings, rice bran, milo, animal fat, and fish oil.