Importance of good feed in poultry
An important part of raising chickens is feeding – feeding makes up the major cost of production and good nutrition is reflected in the bird’s performance and its products.
- Feed consumption plays a critical role in any production system, as it is a vital prerequisite for flocks to achieve maximum productivity and development.
The current genetic selection provides us with birds with greater productivity. Although part of the improvements includes the reduction in the conversion rate, we will not reach the maximum productive potential if we do not adapt the daily supply of nutrients.
- Bird weight
- Daily productivity
- Bird health
- Environmental temperature
- Feather condition
- The daily maintenance needs in terms of energy constitute 60% of the total
Poultry feed is food for farm poultry, including chickens, ducks, geese, and other domestic birds.
Before the twentieth century, poultry was mostly kept on general farms, and foraged for much of their feed, eating insects, grain spilled by cattle and horses, and plants around the farm. This was often supplemented by grain, household scraps, calcium supplements such as oyster shells, and garden waste.
As farming became more specialized, many farms kept flocks too large to be fed in this way, and nutritionally complete poultry feed was developed. Modern feeds for poultry consist largely of grain, protein supplements such as soybean oil meal, mineral supplements, and vitamin supplements. The quantity of feed, and the nutritional requirements of the feed, depending on the weight and age of the poultry, their rate of growth, their rate of egg production, the weather (cold or wet weather causes higher energy expenditure), and the amount of nutrition the poultry obtain from foraging. This results in a wide variety of feed formulations. The substitution of less expensive local ingredients introduces additional variations.
Healthy poultry requires a sufficient amount of protein and carbohydrates, along with the necessary vitamins, dietary minerals, and an adequate supply of water. Lactose fermentation of feed can aid in supplying vitamins and minerals to poultry. Egg laying hens require 4 grams per day of calcium of which 2 grams are used in the egg. Oyster shells are often used as a source of dietary calcium. Certain diets also require the use of grit, tiny rocks such as pieces of granite, in the feed. Grit aids in digestion by grinding food as it passes through the gizzard. Grit is not needed if the commercial feed is used. Calcium iodate is used as a supplement to iodine.
The feed must remain clean and dry; contaminated feed can infect poultry. Damp feed encourages fungal growth. Mycotoxin poisoning, as an example, is “one of the most common and certainly most under-reported causes of toxicoses in poultry”. Diseases can be avoided with proper maintenance of the feed and feeder. A feeder is a device that supplies the feed to the poultry. For privately raised chickens or chickens as pets, the feed can be delivered through jars, troughs, or tube feeders. The use of poultry feed can also be supplemented with food found through foraging. In industrial agriculture, machinery is used to automate the feeding process, reducing the cost and increasing the scale of farming. For commercial poultry farming, feed serves as the largest cost of the operation.
कम बर्बादीप्रभावकारी र तल्लो फीड रूपान्तरणपशु पंछीले पाचनमा 30% कम ऊर्जा प्रयोग गर्छसधारिएको स्वच्छ्ता
