There is, once more, a need for an advanced textbook in animal biochemistry and nutrition that covers the specialist requirements of final year undergraduates and new postgraduate students.
The existing books have long become out of date, and currently my students are directed to reviews published within the proceedings of various symposia and workshops.
However, this approach is less than satisfactory as the reviews are distributed in diverse books and journals that are both physically and financially out of reach of these students. Increasingly these days, libraries resort to restricted lending of journals containing up-to-date reviews and, furthermore, the common practice of holding single copies of conference proceedings is of limited value to the large groups of students we have to teach.
Moreover, students still have the problem of consulting different issues of journals and conference proceedings to acquire a comprehensive picture. In Farm Animal Metabolism and Nutrition, I have attempted to overcome most if not all of these limitations by providing a graduated and structured series of critical reviews by international experts, at an affordable price.
Current programmed for final year undergraduate and MSc courses at Edinburgh form the basis of the topics selected for this book.
In addition, my choice of subjects has been based on experience in teaching final year students at Edinburgh who have at times expressed difficulty with or particular interest in specialist topics.
The needs of our commercial clients have not been ignored either, as will be seen from my choice of authors and review topics. In the rapidly changing and expansive fields of farm animal metabolism and nutrition, the limitations of existing general texts are all too evident. No single author can be expected to keep abreast of innovation in all aspects of these fields. I have attempted to overcome these problems by selecting authors who are actively publishing refereed papers and who have an enviable track record in their respective specialisms.
Furthermore, my collaborating authors have been selected from major teaching and research establishments around the world. Farm Animal Metabolism and Nutrition is divided into three sections to reflect major developments.
The first section comprises eight chapters within the theme of ‘Absorption and Metabolism of Nutrients’. The second section on ‘Feed Evaluation Methodologies’ contains six chapters, while the third section on ‘Intake and Utilization’ is based on five chapters. Every book attracts both favorable comments and criticism.
Fortunately for me, most reviews of my previous titles have been positive, and these have been much appreciated. While I accept the occasional negative review as an occupational hazard, I am keen to learn from past failings. As regards Farm Animal Metabolism and Nutrition, I accept that important areas have not been reviewed.
Clearly, for example, the whole issue of quantitative nutrition comprising analytical and predictive models also needs attention, but this may well form the basis of a further volume. In the meantime, current books in the CAB International stable should serve to bridge this gap. Selected titles will be found on the rear cover of this book. As always, I am indebted to my team of authors who have made this book possible and who have invested so much of their valuable time in writing, proofreading and preparing the index, sometimes under difficult conditions. Their enthusiasm for the entire project has been salutary and I hope that the book will provide inspiration to students the world over.
Finally, this book contains references
to various commercial products including
computer software, which are given in
good faith. No endorsement of these
products is implied or should be attributed
to the editor or CAB International, and we
cannot assume responsibility for the consequences of their use
