Cattle and Bison are Better Than You At Feed Mixing

After two decades of studying how animals choose what to eat, Fred Provenza and his colleagues at Utah State University had a whole new understanding of palatability and the ability of animals to choose the right foods. Their research showed that animals aren't born knowing what to eat, but that they learn from their mothers, their herd mates and from personal experience. They also discovered that animals can adjust their diets to meet their individual needs for protein and energy. But what is this information good for?  Well, they decided to test what they'd learned in their research to see if people were actually as good as we think we are at choosing the right feeds for our animals, or if the animals do a better job, given the chance. They took two groups of cattle for their test.  One group was fed a Total Mixed Ratio(TMR) that was supposed to help them gain