Systems of feeding poultry

Systems of feeding poultry

1. Systems of feeding Poultry Presented by: Dr J . BalaKesava Reddy, GVM/16-005, Department Of Animal Nutrition, NTR College Of Veterinary Science.

2. FEEDING SYSTEMS Most of the poultry rations first formulated were used to supplement locally produced cereal grains grown on the average small farm. But when birds were reared on commercial scale, birds were confined to indoors and thus the need for feed­ing formulated ration was felt. Thus feeding a for­mulated feed which is balanced in all the essen­tial nutrients needed for normal growth and pro­duction of birds is called complete feed. Com­plete feed does not require any supplementation.

3. Different feeding system for feeding of poul­try are given here under : Ad.libitum feeding Controlled Feeding : Forced Feeding Restricted Feeding Phase feeding

4. A) Ad.libitum feeding This system is also called free choice feed­ing. In this system feed is always available and the bird can eat at will. Ad.libitum feeding is practiced in broiler chicken where maximum body weight is the ultimate goal for rearing the birds. Ad.libitum feeding is easy to manage. Feed can be supplied for several days at a time and needs no monitoring or supervision of the bird's daily intake. In this system a bird regulates its total in­take (their intake of nutrients) themselves. Due to the higher cost of feed ad.libitum feed­ing system is not of very great interest.

5. B ) Controlled Feeding : ( a) Forced Feeding It is sometime attempted for a short while in first week when turkey poults do not learn or try to pick up their feed. Forced feeding may be em­ployed in other species if feed and water are de­nied for more than 36 hours to prevent body de­hydration. Mash water mixture, sweetened milk, skim milk etc. should be fed. A 25 ml syringe or a laboratory pipette fitted with a rubber catheter or smooth tube may be employed to force the slurry down the gullet.

6. C) Restricted Feeding Restricted feeding during the growing period means an actual reduction of nutrient intake below minimum requirement of birds. Feed intake is reduced either by limiting feed offered to 85-90% of normal fed intake or by diluting the conventional feed with fibrous material of low nutrient density or following skip a day feeding. In skip a day feeding feed is provided on the first day at 85-90% level of the 2 days ration ; on the 2 nd day birds are not given any feed and some whole grain may be spread on litter. Feed restriction is recommended until 21 or 22 weeks of age up to 5% egg production level

7. It is reported that low protein or low lysine diets are able to produce slightly more delay in sexual maturity than quantitative feed restriction. Pullet birds on restricted feeding requires 5-10 days longer to reach sexual maturity. There is a reduction in the number of small eggs laid at the commencement of production. Restricted feeding is also practiced in broiler, since excess weight of breeders affect fertility and egg production.

8. Allowing birds an unlimited supply of feed may with some strains result in heavy over con­sumption. The birds are liable to consume too much energy and this will be converted into body fat which in turns leads to a higher maintenance requirement. In addition birds become too fat and resulting in reduced egg production, and infertil­ity and mortality may be increased. Restricted feeding programmes are therefore, recommended for some strains of laying chicken. Restricted feed­ing is essential to delay sexual maturity and is thus essential during growing stage to retard liveweight gain from becoming too fat and allow­ing them to economize production.

9. In cases of broiler chicks preferably after 18 days are sub­jected to restricted feeding up to 30-35 days of age in order to check the prolific body growth resulting into physiological and metabolic disease syndromes like Ascites, Cardio-respiratory failure etc. In the majority of cases the recommended feeding programme of the breeder should be fol­lowed carefully and only departed from for very good reasons. Over restriction of feed is also harm­ful and can result in very late maturity and unsat­isfactory production . Restricted feeding programmes are often started with replacement broiler breeders at about eight weeks of age and continued throughout their laying life.

10. Advantages of Restricted Feeding: Delay sexual maturity from few days to 3 or 4 weeks. Reduces body weight and amount of body fat. Cost of raising pullets is reduced. There is a better livability during egg pro­duction. Egg weight is regulated producing larger eggs.

11. Restricted feeding programmes are fol­lowed by different methods: a ) Limited Everyday- Feeding Programme: The birds are given a measured amount of feed each day but less than they would eat if full fed . b) Skip-a-day Feeding: (Limited Access): In this programme birds are fed every other day and the amount of feed given on feed days must be regulated to twice the amount of feed allocated on the limited every day programme . c) Varying Nutrient Density: Another ap­proach to the restriction of nutrient intake is diluting the nutrient density of ration. This can be done either reducing the energy in­take, protein restricting, latter is based on the idea that laying birds have different nutri­tional needs at different phases of their pro­ductive life.

12. D) Phase Feeding Followed during laying phase Phase feeding refers to change in the protein level of laying diet during normal production cycle. Such changes are designed to regulate the intake of dietary protein to meet more closely the hen’s requirement at various stages of egg production. Reduce feed cost and also to help to maintain the egg size. The level of protein in layer ration may be reduced to 17,16,15% on 90,75 to90 and 65 to 75% of egg production , respectively, keeping the feed intake at 100 g level per day per bird.

13. In this the production cycle is divided into three stages (popularly called phases): Phase-I Phase-II Phase-III

14. Phase-I: During the first phase of 20 weeks period from the age of 22'weeks to 42 weeks, the birds are expected to reach from zero to peak egg Production of 85 percent or so. This further accompanied into increase in body weight by 500g and increase in size of eggs from 40 to 60g. Therefore, the first phase of reproduction is critical for maximum egg production and tissue develop­ment. Thus energy content of poultry rations should be adjusted to supply required quantity of protein.

15. Phase-II: It is the period from 42 weeks of age to 62 weeks when hens have attained mature body weight and egg production and has not gone below 60 percent level. The eggs produced are larger and efficiency of protein utilization is approximately 56 percent during this phase.

16. Phase-III: It ranges from 62 weeks to 76 weeks of age or till the spent out birds are dis­carded. During this phase egg production is less than 60 percent. Phase feeding can be applied for energy re­striction. The energy requirement for laying hens varies from 310 kcal ME/day in severe winter to 265 kcal in summer.

17. Thus phase feeding refers to changes in the laying hen's diet . To adjust to age and state of production. To adjust for season of year and for tempera­ture and climatic changes. To account for difference in body weight and nutrient requirement of different strains of birds. To adjust for one or more nutrients as other nutrients are changed for economic and availability reasons.

18. In phase feeding, high protein feed (usually 18-19%) is given from onset of egg production to peak production period. Therefore, a low level of protein (about 16%) is fed for the next 5 or 6 months, followed by still lower level (usually 15%) until the laying period is completed. Phase feed­ing thus helps to reach higher peak production and sustain it longer.

19. Effects of restricted feeding on physiological stress parameters in growing broiler breeders I.C . De Jong , S. Van Voorst , D.A. Ehlhardt & H.J. Blokhuis Age(In Days) Body weight (g) Age Feed intake (g/d) R AL R AL 21 336.6±2.2(84%) 399.0±4.2       28 452.1±2.3 710.5±7.3 21 to 28 42 89.3±1.0 35 573.5±2.9(51%) 1127.9±10.0 28 to 35 45 119.2±1.2 42 685.9±3.1 1520.0±11.6 35 to 42 49 132.5±1.7 49 806.4±3.9 2014.3±16.7 42 to 49 53 161.6±2.4 56 941.4±4.1 2393.9±18.6 49 to 56 57 168.1±2.5 63 1071.9±4.0 2735.5±23.7 56 to 63 60 178.9±2.6 70 1217.6±6.5 3110.6±27.1 63 to 70 60 194.6±2.7 77 1338.0±6.1 3412.8±24.9 70 to 77 60 186.9±1.8 84 1444.7±5.1 3616.0±128.4 77 to 84 60 180.1±1.5 British Poultry Science Published online: 28 Jun 2010 Body weight and food intake (mean ± SEM) of R (n=16 pens) and AL birds (n=16 pens) from 21 to 84 d of age

20. References: Practical Poultry Feeding & Nutrition. Applied Nutrition-Livestock , Poultry, Rabbits and Laboratory Animals- 3 rd Edition by   D.V.Reddy .

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