INTRODUCTION TO POULTRY FARMING AND FEED FORMULATION

Poultry refers to a group of birds reared for a useful purpose. They include:

 Chickens

 Ducks

 Turkeys

 Goose

TWO MAJOR INDUSTRIES IN POULTRY

 Egg industry

 Meat industry

 Other branches are

 Chicks production

 Production of point of lay pullets

 Feeds production

 Manufacturing of poultry equipment

 Processing and marketing

COMMON TERMS USED FOR DIFFERENT AGES OF BIRDS

CHICKEN

 Chicks: young of both males & females

 Hen: Adult female

 Pullet: Young female

 Cock: Adult male

TURKEY

 Poult- Young Turkey of either sex

 Tom: Adult male turkey

 Hen- Adult female turkey

HOUSING

The type of housing must be suited to the climatic conditions of the locality. An ideal poultry

house must be open- sided and built along East- West axis direction so as to avoid direct rays of

the sun into the House. The wall should be made of wire nets to allow air current get in contact

with the birds so as to reduce high temperature and heat stress.

FEED FORMULATION

This involves compounding feed using different proportions of feed stuffs in the correct amount

to meet the nutrients requirements of the birds.

BASIC INFORMATION NEEDED FOR FEED FORMULATION

1. Nutrients requirements of the animals

2. Feed stuffs analysis data

information about the uses of ingredients

The ingredients we use in feed formulations are incorporated into the feed in two ways

- As fed basis

- Dry matter basis

In feed formulation, we base our formulation on least cost.

This involve making enquiries about the availability of the ingredients locally and the prices.

The best feed may support growth and good performance but may not be economically pocket

friendly as well as the cheapest feed may be unproductive.

So, despite adopting the use of least cost ingredients, attention should be paid to the nutrients

requirements of the birds.

Factors to consider In feed formulation

 Age of animal

 Sex

 Availability of raw-materials

 Storage.

 Nutritional requirement

1. Age of the animal

protein requirement, energy, fiber, calcium requirements all vary with age.The quantity of

protein that a day old chick will required according to standard is different from the

requirement of pullet, rooster, layer etc .

The energy requirements of a turkey is also different from broilers and layers This implies

that, broiler feed finisher can not be used for layers or rabbits or turkey.So if you decide to

use broiler finisher for turkey tom,( male turkey), They will just be gathering strength,

weight and look gigantic which is the essence of finisher but when it comes to mating, the

semen production will be very very low for artificial insemination and similarly, the female

turkey( hen) would be avoiding mating because the weight is too much. That's one of the

reasons why you see male and female turkey fighting instead of mating. Also, If you decide

to use finisher mash for layer mash, it will delay their laying time. It could result into

presence if yolk in their faeces.It could result into prolapse. So it's very important to choose

tour feed right because each feed is formulated on the basis on nutrients requirements of

the birds

2. Sex

The feed requirement in term of quantity for male bird ( rooster/ turkey) is different from

the requirement for female birds. Similarly, the nutrients requirements also vary

3. Availability of raw materials

from outlets.

Even if ingredients are available, most of them are adulterated and if you don't know how

to test the quality. When you make your feed, your birds will not grow and perform well as

you expect

4. Storage

The way you store your feed ingredients and feeds really matters.

If you don't store them well, you will just notice when you want to start using it , it's

already decayed. And most of us would start blaming the company that their feeds r not OK,

whereas we are at fault.

When you buy your feeds, get a pallet, place your feeds on top of it. They you are fine.

But implication if it is that, the toxins present in the feed will find their ways into the GIT of

the birds and start causing havoc, then you will be complaining of aspergillosis, gumboro

and CRD. Another thing that we farmers do due to our ignorance is forcefully using spoilt or

decayed feed for our birds with the mindset of not wanting to waste ur money.

So that money you didn't want to waste by forcefully using spoilt feed, you will spend it on

drugs. That's if you don't loose half of your flock

5. Nutritional requirement:
 The protein, energy , fiber, calcium ( mineral), additives requirements of birds and livestock

vary. That's why companies produce

 Starter

 Grower

 Finisher

They aren't fooling anyone or trying to drain us but it's simply because they know the

nutrients requirements at diff stages vary.

6. Weather

This is a very very important factor that feed companies consider in feed formulations but

most farmers aren't aware of it.

During hot weather , they know how they formulate their feed by cutting down energy and

incorporating fiber to aid digestion. So, it's important you strategize , when you notice hot

weather is approaching, don't stock up feeds, buy normally. The birds are wise too , during

hot weather, especially in the afternoon they would go off feed. Another alternative

approach to this is to feed your birds very early in the morning or late in the evening.

COMMON FEED INGREDIENTS

 Maize, wheat: for energy

 Soya meal , GNC, PKC, BDG, Blood meal, Fish meal: source of protein.
  Vitamin E & C: immunity boosters.

 Oxy- tetracycline: Antibiotic

 Bone meal/ Oyster shell: calcium source

 Concentrate: feed additive

 Wheat offal: digestion

 L S P: for strong bone

 D C P: For calcium & phosphorus

 Methionine/Lysine: Fat metabolism.

 Toxirid: toxin binder and mould inhibitor

 Tylosin: CRD control

NUTRIENT SOURCE

 Energy source: This help the birds to be active e.g Maize, wheat

 Protein source: This aid growth and repair worn out tissues.They include; Soya meal,

GNC, BDG and PKC.

 Fiber: Help to keep animal healthy by keeping the bowel working and aid digestion.

 Minerals: they are essential for good health, strong bones and normal egg shell

formation e.g lime stone(calcium),Bone meal, D C P, Lysine and methionine.

 Vitamins: They are immune boosters. Help to grow and stay healthy e.g vitamin C & E

IMPORTANT PROTEIN SOURCES

 GNC: This is a major plant protein in Nigeria. It contains 45% Cp. But it's deficient in

lysine, Methionine and threonine.

is required by poultry birds, it has to be provided as an additive in feed formulation.

 Cotton seed cake: It's also a protein source containing 41-45% Cp. It's deficient in

leucine, Isoleucine, methionine, Lysine. It's high in fibre and therefore it's required to be

used in moderate inclusion level in combination with other protein source like Soy meal.

It contain Anti nutritional factors (ANF). However, It has to be subjected to treatment

before usage toe help to remove the ANF.

 PKC: This contains 18-25% Cp, It's deficient in Lysine, Methionine, Histidine, Threonine.

It has high fiber content and can cause indigestion. It has to be used in combination with

other protein source like soy meal/ GNC when formulating feed.

 Fish meal: It's very high in protein. It's an animal protein source containing 57-77% Cp ,

calcium, phosphorus, bit b12 etc.However, Fish meal shouldn't be used more than 10%

inclusion Level because high inclusion level impact fish smell and taste on eggs.

 Blood meal: This is also an important high protein source, it contains 80-82% Cp. It's less

digestible and so should not be used at high inclusion level.

FOCUS OF OUR FORMULATIONS AND THE CP% WE ARE UTILIZING

 Soy meal===42%cp

 GNC=======45%CP

 PKC========17%CP

 BDG=======25.3%CP

 Maize though it's an energy source, but it contains==9-11%CP. But we are utilizing 9%cp
  Wheat offal, contains btw, 10-20% CP

NOTE:

When buying feed ingredients, always ask for the moisture content or if possible, demand it

should be tested in your presence. The recommended moisture content is btw 9-11%. 12% is

manageable. Above 12% means the feed will grow mold when stored because the moisture

content of the feed will generate heat thereby favouring the growth of mold resulting in the

release of toxin in the feed. When birds consume this feed, they can get aspergillosis as a result.

PKC, BDG can not be use solely as protein source in the feed due to high fiber content that can

cause digestion problem. It can be used together with GNC or Soy. It should not be used more

than 15% inclusion level.

Soy meal, GNC can be used solely as a protein source in the feed without adding any other

source of protein.

Mineral source shouldn't be used at high inclusion level. They are recommended to be used in

very small quantity

Toxin binder: It's very important in feed , it helps to bind toxin that might be present in feed

resulting from production or feed stuffs. It prevent the growth of mold and increase shelf life of

the feed.

TO CHECK IF THE FORMULA BELOW WILL MEET UP TO REQUIREMENTS OF STARTER OF 100kg

Maize---------------------------61.73

Soy meal--------------------- 32.02

Solution

1). Maize has a cp% of 9

So, 61.73÷100×9 =5.56

2) Soy meal has a cp% of 42

So, 32.02÷100× 42=13.44

Sum up the answers

I.e: 5.56+13.44= 19

Therefore the above formula doesn't meet up to required standard of starter feed cp% BTW 21-

25.