As a farmer, making your own poultry feeds is one of the ways to maintain quality and cut the costs of production.
A feed manufacturer may fail to meet the quality standard for feeds thereby costing farmers quality as well as great losses.
Making your own feeds cuts up to 30% of feeding costs as well as improve poultry income.
Poor quality feeds stunt the poultry's growth, reduce egg and meat production as well as make the chickens prawn to disease.
Common ingredients for making the feeds are:
a) Whole maize
b) Maize germ
c) Cottonseed cake
d) Soya beans
e) Sunflower
f) Fish meal (omena)
In addition, farmers need to add additives (minerals,vitamins, and micronutrients) to ensure the chicken have a balanced nutrition feed.
Points to note on feed preparation
a) Always mix micronutrients (amino acids) first before mixing with the rest of the feeds.
b) Test to ensure your feeds are well balanced , contact Kalro - Naivasha for lab test and recommendations.
c) For mixing it is recommended to use drum mixers.
d) Buy quality fishmeal from reputable suppliers.
LAYERS MASH
Making a 70 kg bag of layers chick mash (1-4 weeks)
Growing chicks require feed with Digestible Crude Protein (DCP) of between 18 to 20 percent.
Core Ingredients
31.5kg of whole maize
9.1 kg of wheat bran
7.0kg of wheat pollard
16.8 kg of sunflower (or 16.8 kg of linseed)
1.5kg of fishmeal
1.75kg of lime
30g of salt
Additives
20g of premix Amino acids
70g of tryptophan 3.0g of lysine
10g of methionine
70 g of Threonine
50g of enzymes
60g of coccidiostat
50g of toxin binder
Making a 70 kg bag of growers mash (4 to 8 weeks)
Growers (pullets or young layers) should be provided with a feed having a protein content of between 16 and 18 percent.
Such feed makes the young layers to grow fast in preparation for egg laying.
Core Ingredients
10kg of whole maize
17kg of maize germ
13kg of wheat pollard
10kg of wheat bran
6kg of cottonseed cake
5kg of sunflower cake
3.4kg of soya meal
2.07kg of lime
700g of bone meal
3kg of fishmeal
14g of salt
Additives
1g of coccidiostat
18g of Pre-mix
1g of zinc bacitracitrach
7g of mycotoxin binder
Making a 70 kg bag of layers' mash (18 weeks and above)
Layer feed should contain a Digestible Crude Protein (DCP) content of between 16-18 per cent.
The feed should contain calcium for the formation of eggshells (Laying hens that do not get enough calcium will use the calcium stored in their own bone tissue to produce egg-shells).
Layer feed should be introduced at 18 weeks.
Core Ingredients
34kg of whole maize
12kg of Soya
8kg of fishmeal
10kg of maize bran, rice germ or wheat bran
6kg of lime
Additives
175g premix
70g lysine
35g methionine
70kg Threonine
35g tryptophan
50g toxin binder
BROILERS MASH
Formulating a 70kg bag of broiler feed
Broilers have different feed requirements in terms of energy, proteins and minerals during dif- ferent stages of their growth.
It is important that farmers adapt feed rations to these requirements for maximum production. Young broilers have a high protein requirement for the develop- ment of muscles, feathers, etc.
As the broilers grow, their energy requirements for the deposit of fat increase and their protein requirements decrease.
They therefore require high protein content in their starter rations than in the grower and finisher rations.
Broilers should have feed that has between 22 -24 per cent DCP. The following guidelines can help the farmer to make the right feed at each stage of growth:
Broiler starter chick mash (1-4 weeks) 70kg
Core Ingredients
40kg of whole maize
12kg of fishmeal (or omena)
14kg of soya bean meal
4kg of lime
Additives
70g of premix Amino acids
35g of lysine
35g of threonine
Preparing broiler finisher feed (70 kg)
Core Ingredients
10kg of whole maize
16.7kg of maize germ
13.3kg of wheat pollard 10 kg wheat bran
6 kg of cotton seed cake
4.7kg of sunflower cake
3kg of fishmeal
2kg of lime
3.4kg of soya meal
40g of bone meal
5g of salt
Additives
10g of grower PMX
5g of coccidiostat
5g of Zincbacitrach
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