A sound nutrition program is essential to a successful poultry operation. From an economic standpoint, feeding accounts for 60 to 70 percent of the cost of production. To maximize production at the least cost, producers should pay close attention to the nutritional requirements of the species. The word nutrient refers to a broad category of organic and inorganic compounds found in food that are essential for maximum growth, egg production and feed efficiency. Feed efficiency refers to the amount of food, in pounds, required to produce a pound of body weight, or in the case of egg production, pounds of feed required to produce a dozen eggs. Nutrients essential for building and maintaining a successful poultry flock include water, carbohydrates, fat, protein, vitamins, and minerals. This publication addresses the function of individual nutrients and notes variations in nutrient requirements among classes of poultry. It may be useful for small flock producers, hobbyists, and commercial producers.
Do you believe that adding a flavoring agent to your broiler or layer feed will improve performance? Your answer is probably no, or that you really hadn't thought about it. The early history of feed flavoring and taste research for poultry reads much the same way. Initially, poultry producers and some researchers felt that chickens had no real sense of taste and that flavor was of no consequence in poultry feeding. However, an examination of the literature, while not yielding a unanimous result on the effects of flavor, is conclusive that the bird has well defined taste mechanisms.
All plants are in some way useful and beneficial, so what makes a plant a "weed?" Modern agriculture involves the large-scale production of a single type of plant. Under these conditions any other type of plant is called a "weed" and is defined as "a plant out of place." Seeds from these "out of place" plants often get harvested along with grain crops, and can find their way into poultry feeds. Unfortunately, some of these weed seeds are toxic to poultry.
Most of the standards that we are attempting to apply to animal drinking water are taken from those set for humans, and even they have a rather short history. The Public Health Service Act of 1962 was some of the first human water quality legislation and dealt only with sanitary surveys of water involved in interstate commerce. It was the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 that made the Environmental Protection Agency responsible for establishing national drinking water regulations, overseeing the safety of public water systems and protecting underground water sources against contamination.
Meat meal is an animal feedstuff produced by recycling animal by-products. These by-products include meat trimmings, inedible parts and organs, fetuses, and certain condemned carcasses. They are cooked (rendered) to produce a nutritional and economical feed ingredient. Blood, hair, hoofs, horns, manure, stomach contents, and hide trimmings are not permitted to be added to the meal. When bones are added to the meat meal it becomes meat and bone meal.
The feed formulations in Tables 1a and 1b are designed for the flock owner who may wish to home-mix feeds or have them custom-blended for their birds. They also allow the incorporation of corn from sustainable agriculture or organic programs. These formulations are based on nutrient requirement recommendations and ingredient nutrient analyses of the National Research Council.
Fishmeal is a high protein feedstuff often included in poultry diets. It is usually marketed at 65% crude protein, but the crude protein content can vary from 57 to 77%, depending on the species of fish used. Several species of fish can be processed into fishmeal, but the most common is Menhaden. Menhaden accounts for about 90% of U.S. fishmeal production.
High quality fishmeal is recognized by animal nutritionists as an excellent source of protein, energy, minerals and vitamins. Worldwide, millions of tons of fishmeal are produced annually. The majority of the fishmeal produced is included in commercial diets for poultry, swine, dairy cattle, mink and fish.
Do you believe that adding a flavoring agent to your broiler or layer feed will improve performance? Your answer is probably no, or that you really hadn't thought about it. The early history of feed flavoring and taste research for poultry reads much the same way. Initially, poultry producers and some researchers felt that chickens had no real sense of taste and that flavor was of no consequence in poultry feeding. However, an examination of the literature, while not yielding a unanimous result on the effects of flavor, is conclusive that the bird has well defined taste mechanisms.
Water is probably the most important nutrient for poultry because a lack of adequate supply will adversely affect the bird's performance more quickly than a shortage of any other nutrient. This is why it is so important to keep an adequate supply of clean, fresh, cool water before the birds at all times.
At the request of the poultry industry, an awareness program for nutrient management was developed and delivered for contract poultry growers throughout the state. This program was planned through a multi-disciplinary group, the Water Quality/Nutrient Management Task Force, which is a comprehensive research and extension task force composed of extension specialists and researchers.
The United States Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency are mandated to develop a unified national strategy to minimize the water quality
