MAINTENANCE (diet)A diet that supplies the nutrients required to maintain vital functions (heart beat, respiration) and assure a constant body temperature.
MAINTENANCE (state)A physiological state in which the animal is neither gaining nor losing weight, performing work or expending nutrients for any type of production.
MAMMALSA class of vertebrate animals distinguished by self-regulating body temperature, hair, and in the female (a) milk producing gland(s).
MASTICATIONTo grind or crush (food) with or as if with the teeth to prepare it for swallowing and digestion (Syn: Chew).
MASTITISAn infammation of the udder (often caused by a microbial infection) resulting in pain and the secretion of milk with a high count of white blood cells (referred to as somatic cell count).
MCALAbbreviation for Megacalorie.
MEAL1. The episodes of feed ingestion throughout the day.
2. The edible seed or other edible part of a grain, coarsely ground (as opposed to flour which is finely ground).
MEAN (Statistics)The mean of a normal distribution is the most likely value (the value that has the lowest probability of being "wrong"). The mean is the best measure of central tendency of a normal distribution. With a normal distribution, approximately one-half of the samples have values lower than the mean and one-half have values higher than the mean.
MEGACALORIEOne million calories.
METABOLISMRefers to all of the changes that nutrients undergo after they are absorbed from the digestive tract. Metabolism is divided into anabolism and catabolism.
METABOLITEA product of metabolism of nutrients.
METABOLIZABLE PROTEINIn ruminant nutrion, metabolizable protein, often abbreviated MP, is the amount of digestible protein that reach the small intestine, which is the source of amino acids absorbed into the blood. The three main sources of MP include rumen undegraded protein (the dietary protein fraction that has not been degraded in the rumen), the microbial (bacterial) protein synthesized in the rumen from the fermentation process, and the endogenous protein (intestinal digestive enzymes and sloughed cells from the gastro-intestinal tract). The latter source is minimal.
METRITISInflammation of the uterus.
MICROBEAnimal or vegetal organism of microscopic dimension (syn Microorganism).
MICROORGANISM(see Microbe).
MILK FEVERCondition that occurs immediately or within the first day after calving. The cow has cold ears and a dry muzzle. This condition is due to a calcium imbalance. As opposed to what the name implies, there is no "fever", but rather a paralysis of the limbs.
MILL (a)1. A building equipped with the machinery for grinding grain into flour or meal. 2. A device or mechanism such as rotating millstones, that grinds grain.
MILL (to)To grind, pulverize or break down into smaller particle size in a mill.
MINERAL
MONOGASTRIC
MORBIDITY
Mortality
MULTIPAROUS (cow)