Book excerpt: If you have ever wondered why animals prefer some foods and not others, how poor feeding management can cause conditions such as laminitis, rumenitis or diarrhoea, or how to construct a diet to optimise animal performance and health, then this book will introduce you to the fundamentals of animal nutrition and their practical implementation. With its evidence-based approach and emphasis on the practical throughout, this is a valuable textbook for undergraduate and graduate animal science students studying the feeding of farm animals. It is also an essential reference for early practitioners, veterinarians, farm managers and advisers in animal feed companies.