Layers Feed Formulation Handbook

Layers Feed Formulation Handbook............................................................................1

INTRODUCTION Layers chickens are part of the exotic breeds of the poultry family. They are known for their faster maturity and higher output in terms of egg production. The common breeds are the Light Sussex, the yellow skinned Rhode Island Red, white leghorn and the number of black Australorp. business, a things need To start poultry rearing

to be for effective

fulfilled approach to the venture.

Depending on the size type and of chicken one choose to rear, there is need to gather all necessary equipment and materials

Layers Feed Formulation Hand Book 2 and have them in clean and good working condition. Farmers planning to keep about 200 chicks are advised to have the following materials in place: A secure, draft free brooding room with a source of constant heat and good ventilation. 4 small water feeders for first 2 weeks, gradually increasing in number as the chicks grow. 4 grain feeders - gradually increasing in number as the chicks grow Clean, dry bedding material wood shavings or straw. A packet or two of Coccid (available from any agro vet shop). Chick mash produced by a reliable feed manufacturer. Two bottles of E.M. (Effective Micro-organisms) On the realization of this gap, this handbook aims to empower all the farmers in this line of business as well as other potential farmers who may wish to venture in poultry production for profit. Such empowerment shall discuss on the how to formulate Poultry feeds particularly for the Layers type of breed. When a farmer formulates their own feeds for their poultry, they not only reduce on the cost of purchasing feeds from agrovets stores, but also produce feeds to meet the specific nutrient requirements for the varied ages of their poultry. Young birds need until their warmer body temperatures

Perhaps more importantly to consider is the source of feed materials to meet the daily dietary requirements of each particular chick. Each farmer needs to know where to source for his or her feeds in a manner that will bring down the total cost of feeding the entire poultry. While most farmers access their feeds from the agrovets stores near them, one can make such feed at the convenience of their home provided the necessary raw materials and the know-how to formulate the proper feeds are available. (The Organic Farmer, 2007)

temperature at 10 day of age. These Minerals & Allied Ltd I Formulation Center

Layers Feed Formulation Hand Book 3 young birds can tolerate heat stress better .Broilers are 4 week and turkeys over 10 weeks to to of set age the are most It is energy susceptible impossible heat stress. supplemented to the chickens diet by means of formulated feed products. Methionine is the first limiting amino acid in grain and soya bean meal diets, but lysine is likely to become the first limiting amino acid if soya meal is replaced by another plant protein supplement such as cotton seed meal.

requirement in terms of unit/kg diet because birds adjust their field intake to achieve the daily energy intake. NUTRIENT REQUIREMENTS 1) Protein requirements Dietary energy content must be specified to maintain the proper ratio of protein to energy so that birds can consume protein. amino an adequate amount can of be The protein requirement or acid requirements

defined accurately only in relation to the energy density. Also, the degree of fat deposition in meat producing birds can be affected by the relationship. Some effect. Essential amino acids Methionine and lysine are among the essential amino acids required for the growth and development of poultry. As the description suggests essential amino acids appear to lack in some types of food thereby the term limiting amino acid. They must therefore be combinations of fats and carbohydrates have a protein sparing

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Layers Feed Formulation Hand Book 4

2)

Vitamins

vitamin

and

trace

mineral

supplementation contribution to the overall feed cost are not much, but vitamins and minerals play major roles in the metabolic functions of poultry,

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Layers Feed Formulation Hand Book 5 because content, of the variations and in the premixes are formulated to ensure adequacy.

availability,

stability,

Vitamin Requirements by the Different Types of Birds

Table 1. Vitamin requirements by the different types of bird

Vitamins

Units

Starting chickens (0-6) weeks

Growin g chicken s (8-18) weeks

Eggtype laying hens

Broiler and egg type breede rs

Startin g turkey s (0-8) weeks

Growing and finishing turkeys (8 weeks to market) 7.0 2.5 8.0 6.0 4.0 45.0 10.0

Turkey breeder s

A D E B Riboflavin Niacin dPantotheni c acid Choline Menadione (K) Folic acid Thiamin Pyridoxinw d-Biolin

MIU MIU TIU Mg g g g

7.0 2.0 6.0 10.0 6.0 30.0 10.0

7.0 2.0 6.0 10.0 6.0 30.0 10.0

6.0 2.0 5.0 6.0 4.0 16.0 6.0

8.0 2.0 10.0 10.0 5.0 20.0 9.0

9.0 3.0 11.0 6.0 6.0 85.0 14.0

9.0 3.0 30.0 8.0 5.0 30.0 17.0

g g g g g mg

450.0 1.0 0.6 1.0 3.0 50.0

450.0 1.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 30.0

250.0 0.3 0.2 1.0 1.0 30.0

350.0 0.6 0.5 1.0 2.0 100.0

600.0 0.6 1.0 1.0 3.0 100.0

550.0 0.6 0.7 1.0 2.0 50.0

400.0 0.6 1.2 2.0 3.0 100.0

Vitamin D is expressed in ICU, which is based on the activity of D3 because birds do not use vitamin D2. Vitamin E requirements vary greatly depending on dietary lipids, selenium and antioxidant.

3) Minerals Calcium perhaps, the most difficult one to define its requirements, and the problem cannot be solved by simply adding a generous amount simply because excess Ca interferes with utilization of P, Mg, Mn and Zn and it can reduce palatability of the diet. Trace minerals ones completed with amino acids or protein have increased in commercial use in recent years because of higher availability, eg; Zn-met & Se- Met. Minerals & Allied Ltd I Formulation Center

Layers Feed Formulation Hand Book 6

Mineral

Unit s

Starting chickens (0-6) weeks

Growin g chicke ns 18) weeks

Eggtype laying

Broiler and egg type breede rs

Starti ng turkey weeks

Growing and finishing (8 weeks to market) 50.0 50.0 50.0 5.0 0.2 0.1

Turkey breede rs

(8- hens

s (0-8) turkeys

Manganese Zinc Iron Copper Iodine Sodium

mg mg mg mg mg mg

25.0 25.0 50.0 5.0 0.2 0.05

25.0 25.0 50.0 5.0 0.2 0.05

50.0 50.0 50.0 5.0 0.2 0.05

75.0 75.0 50.0 5.0 0.2 0.05

50.0 50.0 50.0 5.0 0.2 0.1

75.0 75.0 50.0 5.0 0.2 0.1

Table 2. Mineral requirements by the different types of birds

INGREDIENTS FOR POULTRY DIETS Selecting feed stuffs Factors for Consideration a) Nutrient availability - Nutrient availability of feed ingredients are affected by the fiber content, fat content and amino acid balance. b) Palatability - Mostly affected by the moisture content, contaminants, and feed preparation. c) The content of growth inhibits or undesirable chemicals or pigments d) The cost and market availability of feed stuffs. Energy sources Minerals & Allied Ltd I Formulation Center Grains are most important and widely used. Also wheat, barley and oats are

Layers Feed Formulation Hand Book 7 being used, but interior to corn in the relative value. Grains by products, including various mills by products: e.g. bran, maize germ, pollard, brewery by products etc. Molasses can be used as a source of energy but have an adverse laxative effect, thus should be limited to not more than 2% of the diet. Protein/Amino Acid Sources Plant sources a) Soya bean meal: Most widely used because of its ability to provide low in indispensable toxic or amino acids; high in digestibility and undesirable substances. Mineral sources Calcium is common supplement from b) Cotton seed meal: i) Generally not used for layer diets because of: Gossypol, which can cause a mottling and greenish cost to egg yolks, and Impacts pink colour to white eggs used to replace up to ground shells, limestone, a bone crushed meal oyster common dicalcium 50% of the soya bean meal in grower diets. c) Sunflower seed meal: Can cause weakening of egg shells in layers. Should not exceed 3-5% of the poultry diet. d) Alfalfa meal and corn gluten meal: Used extensively, bath for their high content both should of be corotenoids,

limited to not more than 10%. Animal sources Fish meal and Omena often used at 5% are 3% of the diet respectively, but high in fat and tend to create a fishy flavor in meat and eggs when used in large amounts.

phosphate.

Phosphorous

supplements are bone meal, dicalcium phosphate, mono sodium phosphate and role phosphate. Common salt to add 0.2 0.5%, too much salt will result in increased water consumption and wet droppings.

Vitamin sources Unlike in the past, a wide variety of feedstuffs are not included in poultry Minerals & Allied Ltd I Formulation Center diets for their vitamins content.

Layers Feed Formulation Hand Book 8 Vitamins premixes are commonly used to satisfy the vitamins needs. For laying hens calcium requirements varies with the age, ambient temperature, rate of lay, and egg size, but a general recommendation is 3.4g calcium per day and 3.8g calcium per day after 40 week of age. Grits can improve feed efficiency slightly, but not when finely ground feeds are fed should be fed in special feeders every 3 week mixed in a complete feed at 0.25% of one diet, or sprinkled on top of the feed at a rate of 51b per 1000 hens every week. There is a need to challenge the flock to lay more eggs by adding 2 more pounds of feed per 100 birds, if the flock does not respond by the 4th day return to the amount fed prior to these MANAGEMENT OF LAYERS Management of layers is important towards achieving maximum output of eggs yield. Analysts say that the most economical period for a layers breed is from 24 weeks to 72 weeks of age. Birds will however, continue to lay eggs even after 72 weeks but at rate that cannot guarantee maximum profit to the farmer. Birds are considered to have started The objective of feeding laying hens is to produce a dozen eggs of good quality at the lowest possible field cost. For light weight layers a target should be a field efficiently of 3.5 to 4.0 1b or less of feed/dozen eggs. 1) Sometimes will produce more efficiently on less feed or; 2) Passed peak and showing a normal decrease (4 to 6 %). challenge can be repeated as often as necessary depending on the flocks response. If your flock has peaked in egg production and begun a gradual decline in lay then;

laying when at least 5% of them are laying. For such laying birds, specialized feeds are required to make them achieve their nutritional requirement.

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Layers Feed Formulation Hand Book 9

This handbook serves to train and educate farmers and potential farmers on how to formulate their own feeds to see their layers keep them in business while expanding their growth potential. What one needs to know is the ingredients required for making a particular feed as well the amounts needed to sustain a birds nutritional requirements with the expectation of increased egg production. For inorganic poultry farming, its important to supplement the layers mash provided to attain the wholesome quality of eggs. Such supplementation includes dried lucerne meal, amaranthus leaves and grains and both dried grass and green grass. It is important to keep the feeds dry to prevent diseases such as coccidiosis that require moist conditions. Providing about 10 grams of whole grains per day per bird helps keep it busy and allows scratching and dust-bathing, natural behaviors that a bird need not to be prohibited from. Bathing enable the poultry to keep overturning the litter thereby keeping it dry while at the same time spending quality time with other chicken. There is no feed restriction for a laying bird but on average one bird should consume about 150 gm per day. This therefore means for a farmer with 200 laying birds, 30 kg of layers mash should be provided daily. Such feeding should be accompanied with plenty of clean water failure to which birds stop feeding ensuing in reduced egg output and cannibalism (Wainaina, 2007)

MAKING THE FEEDS Farmers can easily formulate chicken feeds on their own provided they acquire the right skills and knowledge to do so. They can develop high

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Layers Feed Formulation Hand Book 10 quality feeds with the correct ingredients mixed in the right proportions to produce high quality layers breed. With the increasing cost of fuel, food prices and labor, the cost of barely everything has shot upwards. This therefore means farmers who choose to make the feeds by themselves saves by large extent what should have been extra costs by the manufacturer and the distributors. Feed products for Layers should contain at least 18% crude protein to meet the high nutritional requirement for proteins in a layer breed. Equipped with the knowledge of the percentage DCP of each of the feed mixtures, a farmer can through simple calculation achieve the 18% standard by calculating the content in Kg of each feed mixture to add. The table below outlines the formulation levels in Kg for each particular feed mix. By way of simple calculation, a farmer is able to One of the most common method is the usually referred to as the Pearson Square method. The mechanism behind this formulation is the use of Digestible Crude Protein (DCP) as the basic protein requirement of the feed. Common soya ingredients include or of of whole omena to the crude maize, maize germ, cotton seed cake, beans, sunflower farmer amount of each the (fishmeal). understand protein The needs establish the total content of protein in the overall mixture of his 70 kg bag. Before mixing the feed, whole maize including the other ingredients has to be broken into the right sizes through crushing or milling to make it palatable for the chickens. (The Organic Farmer, 2012) contain (8.23% DCP), Soya (45% DCP), Omena (55% DCP), Maize bran (7% DCP) and sunflower (35% DCP).

content

ingredients used in feed making. Just to mention a few, whole maize would Minerals & Allied Ltd I Formulation Center

FEED FORMULATION FOR LAYERS Table 3. Formulation of layers feeds Materials Maize meal Pollard Maize germ Bran Omena cotton premix DCP Lime Sodium chloride TOTAL Source: Minerals & Allied Ltd Chick mash 200Kg 300Kg 240 Kg 65 Kg 80Kg 90Kg 2kg 3 kg 15kg 4kg 999kg Growers mash 25 Kg 250 Kg 280 Kg 125 Kg 30 Kg 140kg 1kg 3kg 17 kg 4kg 1000 kg Layers mash 180Kg 180Kg 180 Kg 140Kg 90 Kg 120kg 2kg 3kg 101 kg 4kg 1000 kg

NB, Biostrong contains vitamins, chelated minerals,mycotoxins binders and other feed additives. DCP-Dicalciulm phosphate. Incase a certain raw materials is not available, please call us for formulae adjustment.

The above feed stuffs should be mixed homogeneously to have a uniform diet. In the absence of a mechanical mixer, one should first measure the required amounts then mix a small amount and adding small quantities at a time all the while mixing thoroughly. You should have a diet in the optimum texture so that the animal eats with ease
Some tips on how to feed your Layers

An egg-laying chicken requires 150 g of feed per day (provide clean water at all times). 1 chick requires 2.2 kg of feed for 8 weeks (thus 100 chicks = 2.2 kg x 100=220 kg. Chicks should be allowed to feed continuously and given adequate clean water

at all times). If they finish their daily rations, give them fruit and vegetables cuttings to feed on. 1 pullet (young chicken about to start laying) should be fed 4.5 kg of feed for two and a half months until the first egg is seen. It should then be put on layer diet. Supplement with vegetables, edible plant leaves or fruits peelings in addition to the daily feed rations. All ingredients used must be of high quality and palatable. Never use rotten maize (Maozo). Chickens are very susceptible to aflatoxins poisoning.

When using omena as an ingredient, ensure it is free of sand and seashells. If you use maize germ, it should be completely dry. Feed should be thoroughly mixed to ensure the ingredients are uniformly distributed. It is preferable to use a drum mixer instead of a spade for mixing.

Note that even after giving them the formulated feeds, chickens should be put on free range to scavenge for other micronutrients not provided for in the feeds (The Organic Farmer, 2012)