avitech technical bulletin
A U G U S T 2 0 0 5
FORMULATING FEED FOR BROILER PERFORMANCE
Every year the marketing age of 1. N u t r i t i v e v a l u e o f r a w Soya de-oiled cake
broilers decreases by an average of materials l Bulk Density: 570-640 g/1000 cc
0.75 days for the same 2. Amino acid digestibility l Desired Physical Properties
performance. This trend is likely to 3. Amino acid and calorie ratio n Colour - Light tan to light
continue in the same direction for 4. Selection of suitable fat source brown
the coming years. Nutrition plays a 5. Calcium requirement of birds n Odour - Fresh, not musty,
vital role in enabling this 6. Electrolyte balancing not sour or burned
improvement. As the feed cost 7. Immuno-modulation n Texture - Homogeneous,
represents an expensive input 8. Summer management free flowing, no lumps or
cakes, without coarse
(~70-80% of broiler production particles or dusty
cost), the poultry producer should 1. Nutritive value of l Urease activity: 0.05-0.20-pH
be aware of the dynamics of the unit change
raw materials
feed in its influence on final product l Moisture (max): 12%
Raw materials are purchased
quantity and quality. l Protein solubility (0.2% KOH):
based on price, availability and 73-85%
Formulating feed ideally nutritive value. Nutritive value of l Protein Dispersibility Index:
requires in-depth knowledge of raw materials varies from time-to- 15-30%
several parameters such as the time, source-to-source and batch- l Contaminants: Particularly
energy level to be maintained in the check for urea, non-protein
to-batch.
diet, balancing the amino acid nitrogen and/or ammonia
profile and electrolytes of feed etc., It is a very important task to l Crude Protein (min.): 44.0%
which, otherwise, if not properly assess the nutritive value each time l Fiber (max.): 7.0%
monitored, could negatively to ensure that the feed being l Ash (max.): 6.0%
influence the performance and manufactured is of desired quality. l Silica (max.): 1.0%
profitability of the business. It is essential to have preset quality l ME (kcal/kg): ~ 2,375
Further, in light of environmental parameters for each and every raw
Fish / Fish meal
challenges and disease outbreaks, material, based on which purchase
l Moisture (max.): 10.0%
it is even more challenging to of raw material should be made.
l Sand and silica (max.): 5.0%
extract the total genetic capability of Upon purchase of raw material it l Salt (max.): 3.0%
the birds. needs to be analysed for quality l Urea: Nil
Nutritionists should look at parameters after collecting a l Check for Decomposition /
several critical parameters whilst representative sample. The ideal Rancidity
formulating broiler feed. Important quality parameters for some key l Contamination with leather
amongst these are: raw materials are as mentioned. meal
l Bacterial load formulating feeds or feed by using digestible amino acids will
l Crude Protein (varies depen- formulations are based on total economise feed cost for equal
ding on the variety of the fish) amino acids only. Since the raw performance.
l Ether extract (varies depending materials vary in digestibility, it is
on the variety of the fish)
necessary to consider digestible 3. Amino acid and
Maize amino acids whilst formulating the calorie ratio
l Moisture (max.): 12.0% feed to ensure optimum perfor- Environmental temperature
l Check for Aflatoxins mance. From Table 1, it is clear and the energy content of the feed
l Thiram that formulations based on are key determinants for the feed
l Grain size digestible amino acids will deliver intake of the bird. Other nutrients
better results as in many cases the are normally adjusted based on the
2. Amino acid digestibility actual digestibility is much lower feed intake of the bird. There exists
In general, an average of 90% than the assumed level of 90%. a relationship between energy and
digestibility is considered whilst Further, feed formulations made digestible amino acids, which if
Table 1: Digestibility coefficient (%) of amino acids for selected raw materials
Ingredients Lysine Methionine Cystine Arginine Threonine Tryptopan
Maize 81 91 85 89 84 86
Jowar 95 88 90 84 94 90
Broken Rice 67 81 90 83 65 70
Bajra 90 90 90 91 94 90
Rice Polish 75 78 68 87 70 77
DORB 77 77 90 88 65 86
SFDOC 77 94 78 96 76 78
Soya 88 94 82 92 87 90
FM 88 92 73 92 89 87
RSM 68 86 90 89 90 88
Oil Fish 88 92 73 92 89 87
MBM 79 85 58 85 79 82
MGM 88 97 86 96 92 82
FF Soya 90 90 82 91 91 82
Note: DORB: de-oiled rice bran, SFDOC: sunflower de-oiled cake, FM: fish meal, RSM: rapeseed meal, MBM:
meat cum bone meal, MGM: maize gluten meal, FF soya: full fat soya.
maintained, will enable adjustment Table 2: Amino acid to energy ratio (% of Lysine/1000
of crude protein levels in the diet, kcal energy) in different age of broilers
thereby reducing the feed cost Attributes Starter Grower Finisher
w i t h o u t c o m p r o m i s i n g p e r-
Digestible Lysine % 1.210 1.120 1.040
formance.
Energy (kcal / kg of feed) 3000.000 3100.000 3200.000
Optimum live performance, Ratio (% of Lysine/1000 kcal energy) 0.404 0.361 0.325
maximum protein retention and
reduced carcass fat content can
only be obtained if a proper ratio Table 3: Ideal amino acid ratio (% of digestible Lysine)
between energy and digestible
amino acids is maintained. Digestible Amino acids Prestarter / Starter Finisher
However these ratios vary between
Methionine 45 44
different growing periods, i.e.
Starter, Grower and Finisher. Met+Cys 73 75
Nutritionists employ different
energy levels ranging from 2800 to Arginine 104 106
3300 kcal/kg of feed whilst
formulating broiler feeds. As energy Threonine 66 67
increases it is imperative to increase
the digestible lysine content. Tryptophan 16 16
The energy amino acid ratio as
As a general guideline the ratio l The essential fatty acids for
depicted in Table 2 has been found
between unsaturated and poultry are Linoleic acid and
helpful in extracting the maximum
saturated fatty acids should be Linolenic acid, based on which,
genetic capacity of broilers in the
'more than one' for better meat fat source may be decided
Indian context.
quality. l The oil should be procured
In order to arrive at an ideal fresh
amino acid profile, the other critical Depending on the following l An Antioxidant should be used
amino acids need to be balanced factors, the poultry feed manu- for the oil source to avoid
with reference to lysine (Table 3) facturer should select the fat rancidity
after maintaining the energy and source to be included in poultry
Some fats and their fatty acid
digestible lysine ratio. feed:
composition are given in Table 4
l Fatty Acid Composition
and energy provided by them in
4. Animal Fat/ Vegetable l Availability
Table 5.
Fat l Quality
l Metabolizable energy content Feed grade fats and oils usually
Fat from animal source as well as
l Price contain water and other non-fat
from vegetable source are used in
feeds. An ideal fatty acid profile materials; adjustments in fatty acid
Some points regarding fat usage and ME concentrations should be
should be maintained in the diet to
in diet are as follow: made accordingly. ME level of diet
improve the keeping quality and
l Crude Oils are preferred in is subjected to variation depending
meat quality. Ideal ratios of
poultry over refined oils on level of fat inclusion in diet,
unsaturated and saturated fatty
l Vegetable source is preferred ingredient composition and age of
acids ensure the desired fatty acid
over animal source poultry.
profile and ultimately better results.
Table 4: Fatty acid profile of different fats (as percentage l Estimation of calcium in the
of total fats) raw materials like Maize,
SoyaDOC, Fish/Fish meal,
Fats 16:00 16:01 18:00 18:01 18:02 18:03
MBM
Palmitic Palmitoleic Stearic Oleic Linoleic Linolenic
l Calculation of calcium content
Palm oil 45.1 0.1 4.7 38.8 9.4 0.3 in the feed additives
Rice bran oil 16.4 0.3 2.4 43.8 34.0 1.4 l Estimation of calcium in DCP,
Mustard oil 2.8 0.2 1.3 23.8 14.6 7.3 Calcite / Marble powder
Soya bean oil 11.0 0.1 4.0 23.4 53.2 7.8 l Estimation of calcium in the
Sunflower oil 6.8 0.1 8.7 18.6 63.2 0.5 final feeds
Tallow 25.5 3.4 21.6 38.7 2.2 0.6 Understanding the calcium
Lard (Pig fat) 24.8 3.4 12.3 45.1 9.9 0.1 content of feeds and manipulating
it to improve production dynamics
is important towards enhancing
Table 5: Energy provided by different sources of fat productivity.
Fats ME (kcal / kg) Ether Extract
6. Electrolyte balancing
Palm oil 8,300 100
Rice bran oil 8,500 100 Electrolyte balance is rep-
Mustard oil 8,500 100 resented by Na+K-Cl balance in
Soya bean oil 8,800 100 the diet. Electrolyte balance is
Sunflower oil 8,800 100 expressed in terms of mEq.
Tallow 7,100 - 8,500 100 Balancing of electrolytes in the
Lard (Pig fat) 7,100 - 8,000 100 poultry feed is essential in order to
spare the bird from utilizing energy
feeds. However, like other in attempting to do the same in
5. Calcium requirement
nutrients, the calcium content of metabolizing the feed. Apart from
of birds salts such as Sodium Chloride,
raw materials varies widely.
Next to energy, birds adjust Sodium Bi-carbonate and
Excess calcium will bind to
their feed intake based on calcium Potassium Chloride etc.,
phosphorus (2 molecules of
requirement. In other words, birds Electrolytes (Sodium, Potassium
calcium will bind to one molecule
will eat more feed for want of and Chloride) are also derived
of phosphorus) and make
calcium-a phenomenon also from feed raw materials.
phosphorus unavailable to birds,
referred to as calcium hunger. The Electrolytes are further derived
which is a costly input to the feed
rapid growth of broilers requires from feed additives like Chloride
manufacturers. Further, majority
large quantities of feed to be from Lysine Hydrochloride,
of the feed additives used in the
consumed and hence feed Choline Chloride etc. An
poultry feed are based on a
manufacturers maintain the assessment and adjustment in the
calcium carbonate carrier, which
calcium level at a marginal level. In electrolytes balance is important
also contributes significant
addition to Calcite / Marble powder whilst formulating feeds.
amount of calcium to the diet.
and DCP, raw materials used in the
feed also supply calcium to the Keeping this in sight, an Electrolyte balance (Na+K-Cl)
birds. It is common to utilise the assessment of calcium in the raw of poultry feed should be
published values of calcium levels materials and final feed has to be maintained between 200 to 250
of raw materials during formulating performed: mEq per kg of feed.
7. Immuno-modulation feed intake and thus reduction in chloride 0.5 kg / MT feed in
specific dynamic heat of prestarter and starter diets is
The current trend of intensive
metabolism improves the also useful
poultry keeping and omnipresent l Feed electrolyte balance
tolerance of birds towards hot
disease threats require specific should be maintained more
weather. Moreover, changes in the
attention towards improving the than 250 mEq especially in the
macro and micro formulation
immune status of the bird through summer. (The bicarbonate ions
increase the passage time of
nutrition. A number of dietary coming from sodium
nutrients in the intestine. Some
components can have direct and / bicarbonate should also be
points to be considered during
or indirect implication on the considered while balancing)
summer management are:
intensity and efficacy of the immune l Increase in the energy content l Usage of Vitamin C (coated) at
responses. Some are capable of of the feed is required to a minimum dose of 100g / MT
increasing the immune responses take care of the reduction in of feed is advisable
while others are detrimental to it. the feed intake in spite of the l Chelated trace minerals usage
There is no doubt that broilers on fact that in summer, the is advisable
well balanced diets are l Increase in the fibre content of
maintenance energy require-
immunologically competent and the feed is useful in slowing
ment for the bird is compa-
able to cope up better with disease ratively less. The increase in down the intestinal motility
challenges. It is imperative that energy is best achieved by (which is normally higher in the
most nutrients necessary for adding fat (oil) that stimulates summer). Including at least 2-
optimal growth (energy, amino feed intake and further 3% SFDOC to increase the fibre
acids, etc.) are also necessary for improves the palatability of in all types of feed will deliver
optimal immuno-competence. The feed. Fat also reduces the rate better results. (This will
following factors have to be looked of passage of ingesta within contribute at least 0.3 to 0.4%
into for improving immunity the digestive system. (At the increases in the fibre of the
through nutrition: same time we need to reduce diet)
daily intake of energy by the l Inclusion of enzymes is
l A well-balanced feed with
bird) preferable during summer
adequate energy and amino
l Proportional increase in other months
acid profile Addition of Phytase (80 to 200
nutrients, proportionate to the l
l Proper dietary arginine g/ton) depending on the feed
increase in the energy level
concentration l Minimising the excess of formula is useful in reducing
l Proper sodium and chloride amino acids improves feed the stress to the birds
levels intake
l Levels of vitamin A, E and C l A diet with lower protein levels
Micro nutrient
l Optimum Methionine level and supplemented with
l Adequate Zinc, Manganese and limiting amino acids will help optimisation
Copper level in reducing stress to the kidney Various micro ingredients are
and also lowering of ammonia employed in poultry feed
Apart from these, various natural levels in poultry houses production in terms of additives /
and synthetic additives are l Ammonium chloride supple-
supplements to make up the
available to improve immunity. mentation through feed
deficiency (vitamins, trace minerals
improves weight gain.
l Sodium bicarbonate addition etc.,) to maximise the performance
8. Summer management (Antibiotic growth promoters,
in diet is beneficial
Feed formulation requires l Micro minerals may be over Lysophospholipids etc.) or to
significant adjustment during the normal requirement . combat disease challenges
summer season. The reduction in l Inclusion of potassium .5 kg / (Anticoccidials, Antibiotics etc.). An
ideal combination of micro Nutritionists at Avitech recom-mend the following nutritional standards for
ingredients will depend upon the broilers to extract the genetic potential of broilers (Table 6).
type of raw materials used in the
Table 6: Nutritional Standards for Broilers, 2005 (Avitech)
feed, environmental challenges
and the growth pressure. Parameters Prestarter Starter Finisher
Optimizing the micro ingredient Crude Protein % 23.00 22.00 21.00
formulation with right level of ME (kcal / kg) % 3000.00 3100.00 3200.00
additives is important in max- Dig Lysine % 1.21 1.12 1.01
imising the genetic potential of the Dig Methionine % 0.54 0.50 0.45
bird. Dig M+C % 0.88 0.81 0.76
Dig Arginine % 1.25 1.16 1.07
Modifying the growth Dig Threonine % 0.80 0.74 0.68
response curve Dig Tryptophan % 0.19 0.18 0.16
Calcium % 0.90 0.85 0.80
At a given feed formulation,
Available phosphorus % 0.50 0.48 0.46
broilers respond to one particular
Sodium (min.) % 0.16 0.16 0.16
growth curve. Nutritionist optimizes
Potassium (min.) % 0.55 0.55 0.55
the growth pattern towards a
Chloride (max.) % 0.30 0.30 0.30
desired growth curve B (as shown in
Na+K-Cl mEq 250.00 250.00 250.00
figure1) to maximise the economics
of broiler production.
should be given to develop the
body frame rather than developing
A
body mass.
Body
Weight B Further, the developing focus
of poultry business is towards
functional parameters and other
specific tasks such as:
Age in days l High breast meat yield
Dr. K. R. Gunasekar
Fig1. The growth response curve
l Reduced abdominal fat
l Improved texture and taste of Dr. K. R. Gunasekar is a senior
Technical Manager at Avitech
the meat
Animal Health Pvt. Ltd. He is a
For the given formulation, l Raising without antibiotics postgraduate in Veterinary
observations of the growth curve l Rearing broilers without Science from the Indian
will help in determining the Veterinary Research Institute. Dr.
lameness
Gunasekar leads Avitech’s
duration of each feed to be given to
performance team and
the bird. Ideally the prestarter or programme.
starter feed (Protein rich feed)
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