2.3.1. Balanced feeding

In view of the fact that feed accounts for more than 60% of poultry production costs, birds should be provided with high quality feed.

Purposes of feeding

- Covering the maintenance and production requirements of birds in energy, protein (amino acids: lysine, methionine and threonine), minerals (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium), vitamins and trace elements (iron, copper, zinc, cobalt, manganese, iodine, selenium) so as to optimize production levels at the lowest possible cost.

- The smaller the feed conversion rate (FCR), the more effective the feed.

- Balanced feeding not only makes it possible to achieve high performance in production, it also makes a great contribution to the health of the birds enabling them to better defend themselves naturally against diseases and aggression of all types, especially heat stroke.

Recommendations

It is always more advantageous to pay more for quality feed than to devote one's financial resources to pharmaceutical remedies to help the stock to combat diseases which they might not have contracted if they had been well nourished.

- Eliminate the causes of under-feeding as much as possible, as they reduce birds performance.

· Poultryman forgetting to fill feeders and/or drinkers.
· Inadequate numbers of feeders and/or drinkers.
· Heat stroke
· Defective environmental conditions (insufficient ventilation, excessive birds density)
· Diseases
· During vaccination.

- Do not order your feed at the last minute.

- Keep a record of the date of order, the quantity and type of feed ordered as well as the delivery date and price.

- Check that the type and quantity of feed is what you ordered.

- If you have poultry of different ages in your unit, make sure that the feed is correctly distributed, with no mix-up.

- Feeds should be kept in a safe place under cover; do not pile up new lots on old, as the latter might get out of date. The maximum storage period is two months from the date of manufacture.

- Watch out for rodents and other pests which are not only responsible for wastage but can also contaminate your unit with their droppings.

- Watch out also for theft of feed which will greatly depress your feed conversion rate and your profitability.

Figure

PRODUCTION OF COMPOUND FEED · QUALITY OF RAW MATERIALS (ANALYSES) · BALANCED FEED FORMULATION · PRECISION OF WEIGHING OPERATION · HOMOGENEOUS MIXING · STORAGE IN GOOD CONDITIONS

Buying or preparing feed

Poultry farmers have two options: either they buy feed from a local manufacturer (or dealer) or they prepare it themselves. The ideal solution is the first insofar as the farmer is able to get supplies from a manufacturer (or dealer) enjoying a reputation for quality and reliability amongst farmers.

Enquiries with a few other poultry farmers operating on a reasonably large scale will usually establish the reputation of any given manufacturer.

It can happen that the farmer has to make up feed for his birds himself, such as when there is no reliable manufacturer in the region or the manufacturer is reliable but, holding a monopoly, he sells his feed at a price the farmer considers prohibitive in relation to the cost of raw materials.

Expected Feed consumption Table

Stock		Age	Feed	Consumption
- Broiler		0-2 weeks	starter	0.350 kg
		3-4 weeks	grower	0.850 kg
		5-8 weeks	finisher	3.010 kg
Total consumption at 56 days (about 2 kg live weight)				4.210 kg
- Pullet		0-8 weeks	starter	1.800 kg
		9-20 weeks	grower	6.100 kg
Total consumption at 20 weeks				7.900 kg
- Layers (52 week laying cycle)
	· Light layer			40.000 kg
	· Middleweight layer			44.000 kg
	· Heavy layer breeder			50.000 kg

These figures are likely to vary depending on the composition of the feed and environmental conditions.

In practice it will be noted that to finish a broiler, 4 kg of feed and 7-9 litres of water will be required; to finish a pullet, the requirement will be 8 kg of feed and 18 to 20 litres of water; finally, a layer's intake will be about 40 kg of feed and 100 to 115 litres of water.

We should remember that manuals published by breed producers provide tables giving the average daily water and feed consumption depending on the age of the poultry. These tables are very useful for the purpose of mass medication, such treatment usually being given in drinking water over a period of several days, as advised by the vet.

Drinking water

Vital to the bird's metabolism, drinking water must be of good quality. It must meet physical, chemical and bacteriological requirements. Water distributed to poultry must be fresh and not stagnate for hours in dirty, overheated drinkers. This is why distribution of running water with the addition of a nipple system is the most effective method of supplying drinking water. Water consumption rises with ambient temperature; it may be double or triple that of feed, depending on ambient temperature.

The chemical composition of drinking water must meet standard criteria. Water may be brackish (with plenty of chlorides), sulphurous (plenty of sulphate ions), hard (plenty of calcium and magnesium ions), etc. In some cases, the animal nutritionist must bear in mind the particularities of the drinking water when considering mineral supplementation.

The water must be clean in bacteriological terms. Wells are frequently contaminated by bacterial agents of the colon bacillus, salmonella or other type coming from the underground infiltration of animal or human excreta and this can mean that some units are doomed to permanent failure simply because the drinking water is unfit for consumption.

Before setting up a poultry unit on a site supplied by one or several wells, it is advisable to have the water analyzed by a laboratory competent to conduct this type of analysis. A favourable report does not obviate the need for regular testing (perhaps once a year) to check water quality.

DRINKING WATER · AD LIB · CLEAN · FRESH

2.3.2. Raw materials

More than 90% of the raw materials used in manufacturing compound feed are of plant or animal origin. Amongst these are maize, sorghum, millet, wheat or rice bran, groundnut or cottonseed cake, molasses, etc. which are of vegetable origin and fish meal, meat meal, bone meal, etc. which are of animal origin.

The remaining 10% are raw materials of mineral origin (salt, limestone, calcium phosphate, trace elements) or organic origin (vitamins, methionine, lysine and other synthetic amino acids, antibiotics, coccidiostats, anti-oxidants, etc).

The main characteristic of compound feed is its relatively constant humidity (between 9 and 12% maximum) content, with the exception of molasses. The compound feed industry therefore uses so-called “dry” constituents. Fresh products with a humidity content over 15%, such as the residues of various industries; brewer's grains, brewer's or distiller's yeast, waste from the citrus extraction industry, residues of industrial tomato processing, fish or abattoir waste, etc cannot be used without prior dehydration.

It must be borne in mind that the composition of these raw materials, i.e. their nutritional content such as: protein, fat, carbohydrate, cellulose, mineral substances, etc, is essentially variable. It must be remembered that any product of biological origin will not be standard as a manufactured product might be.

The composition of maize is different from that of wheat or millet. Maize composition may vary in the same production region depending on the variety grown and, with the same variety, from one region to another, depending on climatic conditions, type of soil and subsoil, fertilizing, harvesting and storage conditions, etc.

Mention should be made of premixes and mineral/vitamin concentrate. The latter contain premixes and mineral substances such as salt, limestone and calcium phosphate, while premixes contain vitamins, trace elements, anti-oxidants and sometimes prophylactic doses of medication (antibiotics, coccidiostats) and sometimes growth factors, anti-fungal agents and synthetic amino-acids.

Depending on their composition, premixes are used in feed at doses varying between 0.25 and 2%, while vitamin/mineral concentrates are used in proportions between 2 and 5%. Each premix or vitamin/mineral concentrate pack must bear a label indicating: the date of manufacture or use-by date, the nature of the ingredients and the proportion to be used in feed. The desired results will only be obtained by keeping strictly to the proportions recommended by the supplier. Responsible suppliers will provide feed manufacturers and users with effective technical assistance (analysis, formulation, feeding programmes, husbandry advice etc).

It may be worth mentioning that very strict rules must be observed by the supplier in relation to the composition of premixes or vitamin/mineral concentrates, in terms of the nature and quantity of ingredients; there are European regulations on the subject which are constantly updated by special commissions.

2.3.3. The feed milling plant

Feed milling comprises the following phases:

Receipt of raw materials

This operation consists of receiving the raw materials in bags or bulk. Bulk materials will be stored in silos which must be cleaned before filling. Storage in silos means that the materials can be kept for a long time (several months). For shorter periods, bulk materials may be stored in hangars on the ground in the absence of storage units, avoiding waste and contamination. In tropical regions, silos must be ventilated effectively to avoid fermentation causing degradation of the stored material and even explosions.

Raw materials received in bags will be stored in clean hangars. The bags will not be put on the ground but on openwork floors; they will be piled up properly at a reasonable height in order to avoid collapses causing bursting and wastage. In order to avoid confusion, lots of raw materials will be separated by access corridors which are sufficiently wide to allow handling equipment to .pass. Each lot must bear a sign indicating its nature, origin and date of receipt.

PREMIXES AND/OR VITAMIN AND MINERAL CONCENTRATES · ATTENTION TO USE-BY DATE (3 TO 6 MONTHS DEPENDING ON COMPOSITION) · TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FROM SUPPLIER · USING THE RIGHT PROPORTION (NOT LESS THAN 0.2% FOR PREMIXES AND 2% FOR VITAMIN AND MINERAL CONCENTRATES)

Care will be taken to respect the “first in, first out” principle, which means using the materials in the order that they came in; keeping the raw materials away from adverse weather conditions, sun, pests etc.

Measuring out may be done before or after grinding.

This operation consists of measuring out the quantities of each ingredient according to a formula established by a nutritionist, in accordance with the nutritional requirements of the birds for which the feed is destined.

Weighing in bags is not advised: this is a slow operation with much room for error and wastage.

A metering hopper (mechanical or electronic) is a simple, reliable system enabling bags and bulk materials to be combined; errors are limited and the system is suitable for small units (maximum 5 tonnes/hour).

Grinding

This operation consists of reducing coarse materials to finer fragments with the aid of a grinder. The output of a production unit is often determined by that of the grinder. The output of the grinder depends on the nature (hardness) of the raw materials to be crushed and the diameter of the perforations of the sieve.

Before grinding, cereals collected in the field must be cleaned to remove foreign grains, some of which could be harmful to the health of the stock.

Before going to the grinder, all materials must go through the magnetic separator to eliminate any ferrous elements which could damage the crusher.

Mixing

This operation consists of mixing all the ingredients in the formula: meal and ground ingredients for varying periods as recommended by the supplier of the mixer. A mixture should ideally be homogeneous so that each feed intake by the birds contains all the necessary nutrients. As the size of the particles and the density of the different ingredients is far from identical, the mixing process must be long enough to make the mixture as homogenous as possible.

There are vertical and horizontal mixers. The mixing period varies from 20 to 30 minutes with a vertical mixing screw turning in a shaft; 10 to 15 minutes with a conical screw turning freely; and 5 to 10 minutes with a double action mixing screw (rotary and circular). The duration of mixing for a horizontal mixer with one or two double belt screws is from 3 to 10 minutes.

Extending the mixing period beyond the limits recommended by the builder causes demixing, i.e. the mixture becomes heterogeneous again, separating out according to the density and size of the particles.

The interior of mixers must have easy access (manhole) for regular cleaning. Premixes, vitamin/mineral concentrate and any other additives in powder form will be added directly to the mixer using a hopper designed for the purpose.

An injection of molasses (maximum 6%) or fats may be made into the mixer with appropriate equipment (tank, heater, pump, flow metre, distribution ramp).

Packing

This operation consists of weighing and bagging feed into specially designed 3 or 4 ply paper bags. For long distance transport, new jute bags are stronger. Reusing bags is proscribed for hygiene reasons (transmitting disease from one unit to another).

The feed may also be stored in silos awaiting delivery by bulk lorry. Requires weighbridge to weigh lorries before and after loading.

Pelleting

This operation consists of passing a mealy mixture through an extrusion plate to obtain pellets of variable diameter according to the diameter of the exit holes. Pelleting is done after mixing and requires a range of very expensive equipment (feeder hopper, conditioning tank, press, cooler).

Apart from the high initial investment (almost as much as all the other equipment of the feed factory together), pelleting involves high energy costs, skilled operators and expensive maintenance.

It does have advantages as well. It allows more homogeneous feeding of birds (no selective feeding), reduces wastage, slightly increases the digestibility of the feed, allows healthier feed to be manufactured (reducing the number of germs present) and looks more attractive to buyers.

Choice of site

Usually, choice of the site for a feed factory depends on a balance between raw material supply (areas for producing or storing cereals or cake, closeness of ports, etc) and feed outlets (poultry farming areas). Access routes (roads, railway, rivers) must be taken into consideration when choosing a site.

Production capacity

Units produce anything from 1 ton per day to 15/20 tons per hour.

In the Sahelian zone, depending on circumstances, 2 to 4 tons per hour units producing 400 to 800 tons per month seem more than adequate. Such units can be containerized and easily connected to the electricity grid.

Recommendations

- The production unit must be adapted to the desired objects and not the other way around. Short and medium term needs must be met (3 to 5 years).

- Depreciation of production equipment only represents a very small part of the cost price of the feed, hence the frequent error of focusing attention on the cost of the equipment alone.

- Never lose sight of the fact that the more complete and accurate the data supplied to the builder of the equipment, the more appropriate the plant will be and hence the more profitable the investment.

The choice of a manufacturing design is always a compromise between simple, robust, unsophisticated, easy maintenance equipment with which human errors are common and more sophisticated, more costly, more fragile equipment which is more delicate to maintain but with which the risk of error is almost nil.

2.3.4. Quality Control

The enormous variation in the composition of raw materials requires quality control

- on receipt of raw materials;
- on manufacture of the feed.

Quality control of raw materials received

Quality control of materials is necessary in order to calculate precisely the properties of the feed which must satisfy the nutritional requirements of the stock to ensure optimum productivity. Such control is effected by means of a laboratory with the appropriate equipment and reagents for analysis. The latter is conducted in accordance with internationally recognised methods so that the results of one laboratory may, if necessary (for instance in the event of a dispute), be checked by another; this would make no sense if the methods used were not strictly identical. There are EU regulations covering methods of analysis for animal feedstuffs.

Analytic procedures may be divided into four categories:

- Routine analysis: humidity crude protein fats, cellulose, mineral substances, insoluble in HCl.

- Conventional analysis: calcium, phosphorous, chlorides.

- Special analysis: magnesium, sodium, potassium, oxidation of fats, cell-wall components, trace elements (iron, copper, cobalt, zinc, manganese, iodine), aflatoxins, gossypol, cyanides, available lysine, etc.

- Investigation tests: amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, toxins, etc.

These are in fact chemical tests requiring specific techniques in which the complexity of the equipment and the necessary skill level increase as one moves from routine to investigation tests.

This is why, in practice, a regional or sub-regional laboratory which can legitimately conduct quality control through routine analysis is a very important first step in improving feed quality. Near infra-red spectrometry is a recent technique which enables the composition of raw materials and finished products to be determined precisely in a few minutes.

As the analysis is conducted only on a sample of a few dozen grams, the latter must be representative of the lot from which it comes. This is why sampling must be conducted with care. One should preferably use a probe to take samples from various places in the lot; these will then be mixed together roughly and a sample taken for the laboratory.

The laboratory results will be sent to the nutritionist responsible for formulation, who will use them to establish the various formulas to be manufactured. Software is currently available to calculate feed formulas, bearing in mind the individual characteristics of each of the raw materials and their cost, as well as the nutritional constraints imposed by the nutritionist.

CHOICE OF FEED MILL · DEFINING THE TONNAGE TO BE PRODUCED · SIMPLE, ROBUST EQUIPMENT · VARIOUS OPTIONS: ADDITION OF MOLASSES, PELLETING, ETC TO BE LOOKED AT CAREFULLY · ASSISTANCE FROM SUPPLIER (ASSEMBLY, COMMISSIONING, SPARE PARTS ETC)

It goes without saying that this most valuable and efficient tool will not provide useful solutions unless the information provided is itself reliable, hence the necessity for continuous verification of the data used in calculating the formulas.

Quality control of manufactured feed

The manufactured feed is checked to ensure that its properties are in accordance with those calculated by the nutritionist. Manufacturing errors can thus be detected if there are inadmissible discrepancies. The manufacturer will have a record of the analyses of the manufactured feed which he can go through in the event of a dispute.

It is worth pointing out that while chemical analysis is a precious aid in manufacturing quality feed, it is no less true that it is not sufficient in itself. The appearance of the raw material also plays an important part in appreciating quality.

Sometimes, a simple visual, olfactory or organoleptic examination suffices to assess the sanitary status of a raw material (presence of weevils, cockroaches, worms, putrid or fetid smells, musty, sulphurous or rancid smells, abnormal colouring and so on are all indicators which might lead to a suspicion of defective quality).

The preliminary examinations can then be confirmed by microscopic, bacteriological or even chemical examination by a specialist external laboratory.