Dr. Sheizal Minhas and2 Dr. Jujhar Singh Sidhu
1,2 Animal Nutrition Department
Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University , Ludhiana
In poultry farming, feed costs account for about 65-70 percent of the total cost. Therefore, feed management should be given priority. There are two main aspects of feed management, first, to reduce feed costs and second, to increase production through balanced diet. Balanced diet is very important for maintaining the health and productivity of birds. Deficiency of one or more nutrients can lead to reduced egg production or it can cause illness or death in poultry.
Nutrients consumed by chickens are used for two purposes, maintenance and production. Maintenance requirements are those that the chicken needs to stay alive and healthy, including maintaining the function of organ systems (immune system , heart and lungs , digestive system, etc.). Once the chicken’s maintenance requirements are met, the excess nutrients consumed are used by the chicken for production. A diet that does not contain the proper balance of nutrients will likely result in low egg production. Therefore, it is important to provide chickens with a good quality, complete and properly balanced diet to increase egg production.
This article discusses the importance of nutrients for layers and nutrient considerations while creating a feeding program.
A balanced diet is mainly divided into 5 parts.
- Protein
Protein is required for bodily functions such as tissue repair, disease prevention and production (especially growth and egg production), so nutritionists pay special attention to protein when making diets. Protein is made up of amino acids. The properties of protein depend on the structure of the amino acids. There are 20types of amino acids found in protein. They are divided into two parts. Essential and non-essential. All amino acids are essential for bodily functions, but those amino acids that the bird can synthesize endogenousy are called non-essential, and those amino acids that the bird obtains only through diet are called essential amino acids. Lysine , methionine , threonine , glycine , valine , leucine, isoleucine,tryptophan, histidine , arginine , phenylalanine are examples of essential amino acids for poultry. To supplement protein in chicken feed,soybean meal, canola meal, guar meal, sesame meal, fish meal, meat meal, mealworms etc. are mainly used.
- Energy
Energy is mainly obtained from two sources in poultry feed – carbohydrateand fat.
- Carbohydrate: It is the readily available source of energy and alsorequired for utilization of fat for energy production. Main source of carbohydrate for poultry is starch, mainly obtained from grains like corn, wheat , millet , rice , barley etc. Birds convert excess energy in the form of carbohydrates into fat and store it in the body.
- Fat : Fat in the body is a reserved form of energy and also provides insulation to the bird. Fatty acids such as linoleic acid and linoleicacid are essential in the diet, as the body cannot synthesize them. Fat contains 2.25 times more energy than starch. Fat is naturally present in many food items such as rice bran , full fat soy , peanuts, etc., but sometimes a pure form of fat such as oil has to be used to increase the amount of energy in the ration.
- Minerals
Minerals are required forskeletal development, eggshell formation, metabolic regulation, and immune defense in poultry.In the body of chickensmore than 25 minerals are found, of which 7elements are known as macrominerals as they are required at higher concentration in the diet (>100 mg/Kg),such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium,chlorine andsulfurand its obtained through diet.Calcium is essential for the formation of bones and eggshells.Oyster shell,Limestone are rich sources of calcium.Phosphorus is available from rice bran , wheat bran, bone meal, and dicalcium phosphate. Commonly used salt supplies sodium and chlorine in the body. Many minerals are used in large quantities, especially calcium and phosphorus, and some minerals such as copper, zinc, iron, cobalt,manganese etc. are required in trace amounts. Trace minerals are also dietary essential for the maintenance and egg production in layers.
- Vitamins
Vitamins are essential for healthy growth and egg production. There are two types of vitamins.
- Fat-soluble
- Soluble in water
The fat-soluble vitamins are A , D , E , and K. The water-soluble vitamins are all the B-complex vitamins and vitamin C. Most vitamins are naturally found in the diet of chickens. Chickens can synthesize vitamin C as needed. Vitamin A, B2and D3must be supplemented in the rationfor better production performance especially in intensive system of rearing poultry.B complex supplementation prevents many deficiency disorders and improves disease resistance.
5. Water
Water is a very important for poulty, butthis is usually overlooked. Water plays an important role in digesting food, moving the digested food through the digestive system, removing waste from the body, maintaining body temperature and metabolism. About 60-75 percent of a chicken’s weight is water. The amount of water in the body decreases with age. Water is provided ad libitum to the birds. The quality of water should also be good, as shown in Table No. 1.
Table 1: Required amount of various elements in water
| Serial No. | Elements | Maximum ( ppm) | Required ( ppm) |
| Total soluble solids | 400 | <100 | |
| Salt | 1000 | <500 | |
| pH | 6.0-8.0 | 6.8-7.2 | |
| Calcium | 500 | 200 | |
| Bicarbonate | 500 | 200 | |
| Fluoride | 2 | 0.5 | |
| Ammonia | 50 | 0 | |
| Pesticide residue | 0.004 | 0 | |
| lead | 0.05 | 0 |
Diet composition
Whenever chicken feed is prepared, the following aspects should be considered.
- Requirements of various elements according to age and production.
- Availability of food items according to your region, weather and season.
- Quality of feed ingredients.
- The nutritional content and price of ingredients.
Making ration for Layers
To prepare the ration, a poultry farmer must first check for which category of bird the feed is being prepared. The nutritional requirements of egg-laying chickens and broilers are different. The nutritional requirement oflayers as per the BIS 2024 recommendation are given in Table 2.
Table 2: Nutritional requirements of layersbase on B.I.S. 2024.
| Layer feed | |||||
| Age | 0-8 Weeks | 9-18weeks | 19-45 weeks | 46-72 weeks | |
| Moisture(% maximum) | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | |
| Crude Protein (% minimum) | 20 | 16 | 18 | 16 | |
| Metabolizable Energy (Kcal/Kg,min) | 2800 | 2500 | 2600 | 2400 | |
| Fiber (% max) | 7 | 9 | 9 | 10 | |
| Fat content (% minimum) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Acid Insoluble ash (% max) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4.5 | |
| Calcium (% min) | 1 | 1 (9-16 week) 2 (17-18 week) | 3.75 | 4 | |
| Available Phosphorus (% min) | 0.45 | 0.4 | 0.35 | 0.33 | |
| Lysine (% min) | 1 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.65 | |
| Methionine (% min) | 0.4 | 0.35 | 0.35 | 0.3 | |
| Salt (% max) | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | |
| Vitamin A (IU/kg) min | 9000 | 8000 | 8000 | 8000 | |
| Vitamin D3 (IU/kg) min | 1800 | 1600 | 1600 | 1600 | |
| Choline (mg/kg, min) | 500 | 200 | 400 | 400 | |
| Linoleic acid (% min) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Copper (mg/kg, min) | 12 | 9 | 9 | 9 | |
Various types of grains, husks, cakes or meals etc. are used in the ration. The selection of these commodities depends on the quantity , availability , quality and price of the nutrients in them. The recommended maximum usage of various feed ingredients is given in Table3.
Table3:Quantity of various commodities in ration
| Inclusion rate (%) Maximum | ||
| Age | Chicks | Growing and laying eggs |
| Corn | 70 | 45 |
| Wheat | 35 | 30 |
| Millet | 30 | 60 |
| Rice polishing | 20 | 30 |
| Oil-free rice bran | 10 | 25 |
| Peanut | 30 | 20 |
| Soybean meal | 35 | 25 |
| Mustard seed meal | 5 | 5 |
| Sunflower seed meal | 10 | 20 |
| Corn gluten | 10 | 10 |
| Fish meal | 10 | 10 |
| Meat scraps | 5 | 5 |
| Bone meal | 2 | 2 |
| Dicalcium phosphate | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Limestone chips | 2 | 8 |
| Salt | 0.5 | 0.5 |
Feed Additive
Feed additives are added to the diet of young chicks , growing chicks and laying hens. They can provide nutition such as amino acids, vitamins and minerals,but these substances can also be non-nutitive as described below. They affect the growth rate of the birds , their resistance to diseases and the quality of the eggs.
Coccidiostat
This works on the symptoms of bloody stools in chicks or hens.Birds raised in the litter system (where chicks are raised on the ground) are more susceptible to this disease because the disease is transmitted from the litter as the birds are constantly in contact with the litter. To prevent coccidiosis, litter should be changed frequently and coccidiostats should be included in the diet.Coccidiostats should be used in rotation so that they do not become ineffective with continuous use.
Mold inhibitors
The quality of various products used in feed is not uniform. Due to high humidity and long storage, there is a risk of mold growth in the materials used in feed. Therefore, to prevent mold growth, mold inhibitors like formic acid, propionic acid etc., or toxin binders like activated charcoal or sodium bentonite are added to the feed.It helps in increasing shelf life of feed.
Preservatives
Germs also increase in feed over time. Due to moisture in the feed orkeeping the feed bags in a damp place, germs multiply quickly and birds can get diarrhea and other diseases. Mild acid mixtures usually organic acids like citric acid, propionic acid etc., at low concentrations act as preservatives, these are mixed in 50 to 100 grams per quintal of feed. The pH in the feed decreases to some extent and germs cannot flourish at low pH.
Antibiotics and its alternatives
Antibiotics improve growth, improve egg production andreduces the feed cost of production.There is increased concern about antibiotic resistance of harmful microbes. Alternatives are being utilized such as probiotics, prebiotics, essential oils, phytoactives etc. in diet to substitute antibiotics while mainating the production performance.
Table 4: An example of a ration for egg-laying hens
| Serial No. | Names of ingredients | Quantity of ingredients (kg) |
| 1 | Corn | 37 |
| 2 | Bajra | 27 |
| 3 | Oil-free rice bran | 1.6 |
| 4 | Groundnut meal | 8 |
| 5 | Soybean meal | 3 |
| 6 | Guar meal | 2 |
| 7 | De-oiled mustard cake | 3 |
| 8 | DDGS | 5 |
| 9 | Fish meal | 6 |
| 10 | Dicalcium Phosphate (DCP) | 1.4 |
| 11 | Limestone powder | 0.4 |
| 12 | Limestone chips | 5 |
| 13 | Poultry Premix | 0.6 |
| Total | 100 |