Patent ID: 8062681

Claim:
A feed for ruminants comprising: a feed base selected from the group consisting of plant matter, animal matter, and combinations thereof, the feed base providing an amino acid content, the amino acid content including essential amino acids in a ratio such that there exists a deficiency of at least one limiting essential amino acid which is not present in sufficient amounts in the feed base or is not adsorbed in sufficient amounts by a ruminant to achieve optimal efficiency in amino acid metabolism; and a synthetic component including at least one oligomer of the formula (AA) n , wherein each AA is an amino acid independently selected from the group consisting of α-amino acids; n is at least 2, said oligomer contains only one type of limiting essential amino acid selected from the group consisting of methionine, histidine, threonine, isoleucine, leucine, tryptophan, valine, phenylalanine, arginine, said oligomer or mixture of oligomers having solubility of less than 50% determined as the weight of oligomer or oligomers that dissolves in an equal weight of water, and the synthetic component contains at least one limiting essential amino acid in an amount that at least partially offsets said amino acid deficiency.