Feed for chicken farming

Chickens originated in Southeast Asia and were introduced to the rest of the world by sailors and traders.

Feeds account for more than 80 per cent of production costs. Poultry are particularly sensitive to dietary quality because they grow quickly and make relatively little use of bulky fibrous feeds such as pasture or hay. In addition, poultry have specific requirements for essential amino acids, in particular lysine and methionine.

Healthy poultry require a sufficient amount of protein and carbohydrates along with the necessary vitamins, dietary minerals and an adequate supply of water.

In the industry, the feed is pelleted so the bird can eat more at one time. Chickens are nibblers and make frequent trips to the feed trough for small meals, which requires energy. Pelleting reduces the amount of energy required for a bird to feed.

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 underreported causes of toxicosis in poultry’.

Poultry feed ingredients include energy concentrates such as corn, oats, wheat, barley, sorghum, and milling by-products. Protein concentrates include soybean meal and other oilseed meals (peanut, sesame, safflower, sunflower, etc.), cottonseed meal, animal protein sources (meat and bone meal, dried whey, fish meal, etc.), grain legumes such as dry beans and field peas, and alfalfa. Grains are usually ground to improve digestibility.

Poultry diets are commonly corn–soybean meal-based displaying a high energy concentration and low fiber levels. Nevertheless, many feedstuffs having high fiber content have been commonly included in poultry diet, especially in extensive poultry production systems.

Wheat usually is one of the best grains for poultry feeding, although a proportion of course grains in some form should always be included in the ration, along with wheat.

Corn is a very desirable grain fed whole, cracked or ground. Ripe corn on the cob may be fed to hens and turkeys. Shelled corn may be used with other grains as scratch feed. Corn chop could be included in any of the dry mash rations listed in this circular.
Feed for chicken farming