Upholding-broiler-production-by-minimizing-feed-cost

Investigating the alternative choices at hand to reduce feed costs is unavoidable to Uphold broiler production and to get through the difficulties of the ingredient price surges and volatility continuing in the market.

By: Khozaiba Yasmeen, Muaz Ameen, Asma Zafar, Shafaq Urooj, Uzma Javed, Sidra Kanwal, Samia Afzal. University of agriculture Faisalabad.

We have faced several problems and uncertainties as a result of the epidemic. The animal sector has struggled due to a variety of factors including restrictions in our daily lives, enormous feed price increases, a labor shortage, and logistical issues. However, after resolving all of these issues, there is now reason to be hopeful, thanks to vaccination and continued cooperation in preventing the spread of COVID-19. People are finally starting to see their life after the pandemic as getting back to normal and spending more time with loved ones. However, we can’t ignore the fact that the cattle and poultry industries are still on high alert. In addition to the continuous rise in feed grain prices, farmers are facing risks from increases in the pricing of micronutrients and freight rates.

Challenge

One key challenge is the difficulty in selecting a feed composition. The growing cost of feed ingredients is forcing us to make formula changes, such as replacing new ingredients for the high-priced conventional maize and soybeans that used to make up the majority of chicken feed. Nutritionists have included DDGS, palm kernel meal, rapeseed meal, or copra meal, however there is worry that a possibly detrimental fragment, NSP (non-starch polysaccharides), has been included as well.

NSP is a structural carbohydrate present in maize, soybeans, and other feed grains that has been shown to interfere with feed digestion in monogastric animals by blocking digestive enzymes from the nutrients therein. NSP may disrupt the gut barrier and health by increasing intestinal viscosity. Further problems arising from the excretion of undigested meal should be noted for both environmental and economic consequences. NSP degrading enzymes, which have been widely used in the market to break down nsps, increase feed nutrient digestion and reduce environmental effect.

A solution that targets main NSP components such xylans, beta-glucans, galactomannans, and alpha-galactosidase might be an excellent choice for feed formulas that include alternate feed sources in addition to maize and soybean. Other factors to consider include thermo-, ph-, and in vivo efficacy, given that the feed production process is subjected to extreme temperatures, and the poultry gastrointestinal tract is subjected to a stressful environment with varying ph levels, both of which can affect NSP enzyme effectiveness before they reach the lower digestive tract.

Substitute feed resources accessible for poultry

In all three poultry production methods, a large variety of alternate diets are available for feeding. Traditional family poultry systems and the semi-commercial system will have the most potential for efficiently utilizing these feedstuffs. Only a portion of the feed is obtained from commercial compounders under the semi-commercial method, allowing for on-farm mixing or dilution of purchased feeds with locally available, alternative feedstuffs. Alternative feedstuffs can be utilized to enhance the scavenge feed base in low-input family poultry systems that are locally accessible.

Enzymes and feed cost

When compared to the amounts required for broilers (4 g/kg or more), the layers’ diet should have higher enzyme dosages. This is due to the fact that the layers require more enzymes in their diet to compensate for the loss of indigenous enzyme production as they mature. Exogenous enzymes may be required due to unknown circumstances that limit the enzyme’s usage at advanced ages. In a study, maize and soybean-based meals were treated with various enzyme formulations. The diets included high-energy (2,753 Kcal/kg) and low-energy (2,638 Kcal/kg) components and were fed to laying hens for 26 weeks (from 41 to 67 weeks of age). In both cases, the cost of feed was reduced by $9.8 per pound.

Probabilities for use of natural enzyme sources

Using natural enzyme sources might provide even more cost savings. Cellulase, xylanase, and glucanase, for example, might be found in dried figs. These enzymes can help people who eat a lot of barley or other grains and have trouble digesting them. With these diets, the increased viscosity of the stomach contents inhibits digestibility and utilization. The performance of broiler hens fed diets supplemented with either artificial enzyme premixes or dried fig meal was compared in research. Feeding the dried figs boosted growth rate and feed efficiency by 7% and 12%, respectively. Water usage and mortality were both lowered by 3% and 1.8 percent, respectively. Feed costs were cut by $9.8 per ton in both cases, and the feed cost per 1000 kg of eggs produced was reduced by $21.2. Egg production, total egg mass, and feed conversion have all been proven to be affected in another research. It was also shown that supplementing corn-soybean meal diets with enzymes not only increases the accessible energy of beans but also helps to reduce digestive issues linked to the carbohydrate source. The rise in egg production profitability is due to the improvement induced by the enzyme preparation, which outweighs the expenses of its application.

Multi-NSP enzyme

Endo-Power is a multi-NSP enzyme product based on Pathway Intermediates’ research-focused capability and quality management system, which is backed by the ISO/IEC 17025 certified research lab and poultry research farm, as well as a number of prestigious research labs and universities around the world. Scientific data and decades of customer experience demonstrate their efficacy in lowering feed costs and enhancing chicken digestibility. Pathway has increased their product line by introducing an OMRI-listed organic production product. The efficiency of Endo-Power was studied in a broiler trial using 250 Ross 3008 male chickens. For 42 days, the birds were fed either a regular diet (PC), a lower-energy diet (NC), or a diet of NC with Endo-Power. The NC diet consisted of 50 calories per day.

Saving cost

To get over the problems of component price changes and market instability, it’s inevitable to look at the other options available to cut feed expenses. Adoption of many alternative feed components is also complicated by NSPS. Endo-Power is a scientifically proven approach for dealing with unexpected NSP issues and achieving cost savings during these unpredictable times of rising grain prices.

Conclusion

Poultry innovators have limited control over feed prices. So, they continue to work on higher efficiency by experimenting with feed mixes, lowering rates of death and via better farm management and medication, and trying to improve other operational parameters such as hatchability, average daily weight gain, and lowering selection gaps. These methods may be necessary, but they lead to a decrease in quality. Specialized systems as well as facilities, are trying to increase output, improve quality, and boost yields. Unconventional feed sources are locally available and very cheap, and they may be used to the utmost extent possible without affecting the birds. We can switch to using the alternative feed components once the demand for traditional feedstuffs rises.

Authors: Khozaiba Yasmeen, Muaz Ameen, Asma Zafar, Shafaq Urooj, Uzma Javed, Sidra Kanwal, Samia Afzal. University of agriculture Faisalabad.