Handbook of Poultry Farming and Feed Formulation

Modern broiler industry focuses on lowering production costs andincreasing body weight with added value by producing customeroriented ready products. Feed formulation is both a science and anart, requiring knowledge of feed and poultry, and some patience andinnovation when using formulae. Typical formulations indicate theamounts of each ingredient that should be included in the diet, andthen provide the concentration of nutrients (composition) in thediet. The nutrient composition of the diet will indicate theadequacy of the diet for the particular class of poultry for whichit is prepared. It is common to show the energy value inmetabolisable energy (kcal or MJ ME/kg feed) and protein content ofthe diet but comprehensive information on concentrations of mineralelements and digestible amino acids are also provided.Digestible amino acids often include not just the first limitingamino acid, methionine, but also most of the ten essential aminoacids. A number of databases are available to provideinformation on the digestible amino acid contents of variouspoultry feed ingredients. Even though more than twenty amino acidshave been identified, only ten are considered essential in poultryfeed. There are different categories of feed mixes produced fordairy and poultry. For dairy, they are calf, heifer, bull andmilking cow feeds, while for poultry they are starter, grower,layer and broiler feeds.