Basic Needs
Fresh Feed
Fresh Water
Fresh Air
Light
Darkness
Thermal Environment
Protection
Space
Feeding your birds
Poultry Nutrition
• Carbohydrates
• Protein
• Fat
• Vitamins
• Minerals
• Water
• Oxygen
What are the needs of the bird??
7 major nutrient classes
The chick requires: 13 vitamins
13-16 inorganic elements (minerals)
13 Amino Acids
1 Essential Fatty Acid
Source of Energy
With the exception of water, these nutrients are provided by the ingredients
that make-up the diet. Ingredients are classified as:
• Cereal Grains
• Animal Proteins
• Vegetables Proteins
• Vegetable Fats
• Animal Fats
• Micro Minerals
• Macro Minerals
• Vitamin Premixes
Some Feedstuffs that supply Amino Acids to the Diet
Animal Proteins
Vegetable Proteins
Microbiological Ingredients
Synthetic AA
Purified AA or Proteins
Examples:
Corn, which is low in lysine
Soybean meal, which is low in methionine
By themselves neither corn nor soybean meal can
provide enough essential amino acids to maximize
performance.
But when the two are combined, they provide
adequate amounts of the essential amino acids and
are said to complement each other.
What about Carb’s and Fat?
Supply Energy* - Needed for heat and movement
Carb”s
Sugars
Starches
Gums
Etc.
Cereal Grains – Corn, Oats, Barley, Rice, etc.
*Chickens need about 1,300 to 1,500kcal/lb of energy daily!!
1 calorie is the energy required to raise 1gm of water 1o
C,
From 14.5 to 15.5o
C.
1 kcal is 1000 calories.
Not really an essential nutrient,
other than Linoleic acid (18:2 fatty acid).
Animal fats – solid, relatively inexpensive.
Problems with digestion by young birds.
Vegetable oils - liquid, expensive
Pellet quality, dustiness of feed
Fats and Oils
Corn Oil or other Vegetable Oils
Animal Fats
Energy
important because it governs feed intake
high energy ---> low feed intake
low energy ---> high feed intake
Sources of energy - everything in the diet other than minerals.
Metabolizable energy (ME) =
Energy intake as feed minus energy appearing in urine and feces.
Feed Energy
Digestible E.
Fecal E. Metabolizable E.
Urinary + Gaseous E. Net E.
Heat E. Production E.
+
Maintenance E
What about them Vitamins?
With the exception of Vitamin C, Poultry Require all the vitamins!
Fat Soluable - A, D*, E, K
*Poultry cannot use just any form of D, must be D3, cholcalciferol!
Water Soluable: Thiamine (B1)
Riboflavin (B2)
Pyridoxine (B6)
Cyanocobalamin (B12)
Pantothenic Acid
Folic Acid
Choline**
Biotin
Niacin
** very high requirement by poultry, unlike 4 footed animals,
Very little is synthesized by the chick. Generous safety
factor 2-10x requirement.
Storage loss -> time, temperature, humidity
Vitamins act a catalysts for many reactions, and re required in small
quantities. They can occur as vitamins per se or as precursors
(provitamins).
Time for Minerals
Macro Minerals Calcium Chlorine
Phosphorous Magnesium
Potassium Sulfur
Sodium
Micro Minerals Iron Zinc
Copper Chromium
Cobalt Fluorine
Manganese Selenium
Iodine Molybdenium
Broiler Starter Feeds
The objective of the starter/brooding period (0 to 10 days of age) is to establish
good appetite and achieve maximum early growth. The target is to achieve a
seven-day body weight of 170 g or above. Broiler Starter should be given for ten
days. The Starter represents a small proportion of the total feed cost and decisions
on Starter formulation should be based on performance and profitability rather
than cost.
The digestible amino acid levels in the feed are important aspects and must be
considered when purchasing feed. (See Table 1)
In wheat-feeding areas the use of some maize may be beneficial.
Total fat levels should be kept low (<5%) and saturated fats should be avoided,
especially in combination with wheat.
Broiler Grower Feeds
Broiler Grower feed will normally be fed for 14 to 16 days.
The transition from Starter feed to Grower feed will involve a change of
texture from crumbs to pellets.
There is a continuing need for a good quality Grower feed to maximize
performance.
Broiler Finisher Feeds
Broiler Finisher feeds account for the major cost of feeding and economic
principles should be applied to the design of these feeds.
Changes in body composition can be rapid during this period and excessive
fat deposition and loss of breast meat yield need to be carefully considered.
Table 1.
Nutrient Specifications for As-Hatched Broilers Grown to 4.4-5.5 lb liveweight.
From Ross 308 mgmt guide 2007
Table 2, Examples of Broiler Diets.
Pasture Management
Alfalfa is good, but the soils of New England are acid and require a
lot of lime and soil treatment. Ladino clover has been found to be a
productive plant of high palatability for poultry.
Types of legumes and grasses for Pasture Forage:
White and red clover or Ladino clover,
Orchard grass,
Kentucky blue grass,
Perennial rye grass and,
Alfalfa
University research shows that chickens get only 10-15% of dry
matter for their diet from the pasture itself, and turkeys up to 30%,
so supplementation with other feeds is important, such as corn, or
wheat and soybean meal, and vitamins and minerals.
http://www.free-rangepoultry.com/
Example Pasture Mixtures: (per acre)
1. 12 lbs of Kentucky Bluegrass
6 lbs of perennial rye grass
2 lbs of Ladino clover
From Cornell
2. 6 lbs of Kentucky bluegrass
10 lbs of perennial ryegrass
4 lbs of Canada bluegrass
2 lbs of Redtop
2 lbs of Ladino clover
1 lb of White clover
From Penn State
3. 8 lbs Kentucky Bluegrass
8 lbs Timothy
3 lbs Alsike clover
2 lbs Ladino clover
From Univ. of Maryland
4. 2.5 lbs Ladino Clover
5 lbs Domestic rye grass
( seed with clover in the spring)
6 lbs Kentucky bluegrass
(Seed in fall)
4 lbs timothy
(2 lbs in the fall)
Here are some mixtures from 1947, when pasture was at a peak.
Keep pasture mowed to increase new growth of fresh plant.
The mixture (table 4) was chosen to be representative of a
robust pasture for poultry and is similar to those specified in the
literature.
It proved to be hard wearing for meat birds during a wet
summer, and the birds were observed to eat it.
Some herbs (rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), sage
(Salvia officinalis), oregano (Origanum vulgare) and thyme
(Thymus vulgaris)) have powerful antioxidant capabilities
and moderate antimicrobial activities (Adams, 1999).
It maybe desirable, therefore, to include herbs in the mix if such
a practice permitted a reduced reliance on the feeding of
synthetic antioxidants, and if immune responses were to be
enhanced.
Symposium on ‘Nutrition of farm animals outdoors: Intake of nutrients from pasture by poultry. Andrew Walker
and Sue Gordon IN: Proceedings of the Nutrition Society (2003), 6
