layers feed formulation handboo1

Layers Feed Formulation HandbookINTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................2

NUTRIENT REQUIREMENTS.........................................................................................................3

1) Protein requirements.................................................................................................................3

2) Vitamins..........................................................................................................................................4

3) Minerals..........................................................................................................................................6

INGREDIENTS FOR POULTRY DIETS.........................................................................................7

Selecting feed stuffs – Factors for Consideration................................................................7

MANAGEMENT OF LAYERS...........................................................................................................9

MAKING THE FEEDS.......................................................................................................................10

FEED FORMULATION FOR LAYERS.........................................................................................11

Some tips on how to feed your Layers...................................................................................12

References............................................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION

Layers Feed Formulation – Hand Book 2

Layers chickens are part of the exotic breeds of the poultry family. They are known

for their faster maturity and higher output in terms of egg production. The

common breeds are the Light Sussex, the yellow skinned Rhode Island Red, white

leghorn and the black Australorp.

To start poultry rearing business, a number of things need to be fulfilled for

effective approach to the venture. Depending on the size type and of chicken one

choose to rear, there is need to gather all necessary equipment and materials and

have them in clean and good working condition. Farmers planning to keep about

200 chicks are advised to have the following materials in place:

• A secure, draft free brooding room with a source of constant heat and good

ventilation.

• 4 small water feeders for first 2 weeks, gradually

increasing in number as the chicks grow.

• 4 grain feeders - gradually increasing in number as

the chicks grow

• Clean, dry bedding material – wood shavings or

straw.

• A packet or two of Coccid (available from any agro

vet shop).

• Chick mash produced by a reliable feed

manufacturer.

• Two bottles of E.M. (Effective Micro-organisms)

Minerals & Allied Ltd I Formulation Center


Perhaps more importantly to consider

is the source of feed materials to meet

the daily dietary requirements of each

particular chick. Each farmer needs to

know where to source for his or her

feeds in a manner that will bring

down the total cost of feeding the

entire poultry. While most farmers

access their feeds from the agrovets

stores near them, one can make such

feed at the convenience of their home

provided the necessary raw materials

and the know-how to formulate the

proper feeds are available. (The

Organic Farmer, 2007)

On the realization of this gap, this

handbook aims to empower all the

farmers in this line of business as well

as other potential farmers who may

wish to venture in poultry production

for profit. Such empowerment shall

discuss on the ‘how’ to formulate

Poultry feeds particularly for the

Layers type of breed.

When a farmer formulates their own

feeds for their poultry, they not only

reduce on the cost of purchasing

feeds from agrovets stores, but also

produce feeds to meet the specific

nutrient requirements for the varied

ages of their poultry.

Young birds need warmer

temperatures until their body

temperature at 10 day of age. These

young birds can tolerate heat stress

better .Broilers are 4 week and

turkeys over 10 weeks of age are most

susceptible to heat stress. It is

impossible to set the energy

requirement in terms of unit/kg diet

because birds adjust their field intake

to achieve the daily energy intake.

NUTRIENT REQUIREMENTS

1) Protein requirements

Dietary energy content must be

specified to maintain the proper ratio

of protein to energy so that birds can

consume an adequate amount of

protein. The protein requirement or

amino acid requirements can be

defined accurately only in relation to

the energy density. Also, the degree

of fat deposition in meat producing

birds can be affected by the

relationship. Some combinations of

fats and carbohydrates have a protein

– sparing effect.



Essential amino acids

Methionine and lysine are among the

essential amino acids required for the

growth and development of poultry.

As the description suggests essential

amino acids appear to lack in some

types of food thereby the term

‘limiting amino acid’. They must

therefore be supplemented to the

chicken’s diet by means of formulated

feed products.

Methionine is the first – limiting

amino acid in grain and soya bean

meal diets, but lysine is likely to

become the first limiting amino acid if

soya meal is replaced by another

plant protein supplement such as

cotton seed meal.

2) Vitamins

A vitamin and trace mineral

supplementation contribution to the

overall feed cost are not much, but

vitamins and minerals play major

roles in the metabolic functions of

poultry, because of the variations in

the content, availability, and stability,

premixes are formulated to ensure

adequacy.

Starting

chickens

(0-6)

weeks

Growin

g

chicken

s (8-18)

weeks

Egg-

type

laying

hens

Broiler

and

egg

type

breede

rs

Startin

g

turkey

s (0-8)

weeks

Growing

and

finishing

turkeys

(8 weeks

to

market)

7.0 7.0 6.0 8.0 9.0 7.0

2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 2.5

6.0 6.0 5.0 10.0 11.0 8.0

10.0 10.0 6.0 10.0 6.0 6.0

6.0 6.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 4.0

30.0 30.0 16.0 20.0 85.0 45.0

10.0 10.0 6.0 9.0 14.0 10.0



g 450.0 450.0 250.0 350.0 600.0

g 1.0 1.0 0.3 0.6 0.6

g 0.6 0.5 0.2 0.5 1.0

g 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0

g 3.0 1.5 1.0 2.0 3.0

mg 50.0 30.0 30.0 100.0 100.0



Vitamin Requirements by the Different Types of Birds

Table 1. Vitamin requirements by the different types of bird

Vitamin D is expressed in ICU, which is based on the activity of D3 because birds

do not use vitamin D2. Vitamin E requirements vary greatly depending on dietary

lipids, selenium and antioxidant.

3) Minerals

Calcium perhaps, the most difficult one to define its requirements, and the problem

cannot be solved by simply adding a generous amount simply because excess Ca

interferes with utilization of P, Mg, Mn and Zn and it can reduce palatability of the

diet. Trace minerals ones completed with amino acids or protein have increased in

commercial use in recent years because of higher availability, eg; Zn-met & Se-

Met.

Mineral Unit

s

Starting

chickens

(0-6)

weeks

Growin

g

chicke

ns (8-

18)

weeks

Egg-

type

laying

hens

Broile

r and

egg

type

breede

rs

Starti

ng

turkey

s (0-8)

weeks

Growing

and

finishing

turkeys

(8 weeks

to

market)

Turkey

breede

rs

Manganes

e

mg 25.0 25.0 50.0 75.0 50.0 50.0 75.0

Zinc mg 25.0 25.0 50.0 75.0 50.0 50.0 75.0

Iron mg 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0

Copper mg 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0

Iodine mg 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Sodium mg 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.1 0.1 0.1

Table 2. Mineral requirements by the different types of birds



INGREDIENTS FOR POULTRY DIETS

Selecting feed stuffs – Factors for Consideration

a) Nutrient availability - Nutrient availability of feed ingredients are affected by

the fiber content, fat content and amino acid balance.

b) Palatability - Mostly affected by the moisture content, contaminants, and feed

preparation.

c) The content of growth inhibits or undesirable chemicals or pigments

d) The cost and market availability of feed stuffs.

Energy sources

Grains are most important and widely

used. Also wheat, barley and oats are

being used, but interior to corn in the

relative value. Grains by products,

including various mills by products:

e.g. bran, maize germ, pollard,

brewery by – products etc.

Molasses can be used as a source of

energy but have an adverse laxative

effect, thus should be limited to not

more than 2% of the diet.

Protein/Amino Acid Sources

Plant sources

a) Soya bean meal: Most widely

used because of its ability to

provide indispensable amino

acids; high in digestibility and

low in toxic or undesirable

substances.

b) Cotton seed meal:

i) Generally not used for layer

diets because of:

Gossypol, which can cause a

mottling and greenish cost

to egg yolks, and

Impacts pink colour to white

eggs used to replace up to

50% of the soya bean meal

in grower diets.

c) Sunflower seed meal: Can

cause weakening of egg shells

in layers. Should not exceed 3-

5% of the poultry diet.



d) Alfalfa meal and corn gluten

meal: Used extensively, bath

for their high content of

corotenoids, both should be

limited to not more than 10%.

Animal sources

Fish meal and Omena often used at

5% are 3% of the diet respectively,

but high in fat and tend to create a

fishy flavor in meat and eggs when

used in large amounts.

Mineral sources

Calcium is common supplement from

ground limestone, crushed oyster

shells, a bone meal dicalcium

phosphate. Phosphorous common

supplements are bone meal, dicalcium

phosphate, mono sodium phosphate

and role phosphate. Common salt to

add 0.2 – 0.5%, too much salt will

result in increased water consumption

and wet droppings.

Vitamin sources

Unlike in the past, a wide variety of

feedstuffs are not included in poultry

diets for their vitamins content.

Vitamins premixes are commonly used

to satisfy the vitamins needs.

For laying hens calcium requirements

varies with the age, ambient

temperature, rate of lay, and egg size,

but a general recommendation is 3.4g

calcium per day and 3.8g calcium per

day after 40 week of age. Grits can

improve feed efficiency slightly, but

not when finely ground feeds are fed

should be fed in special feeders every

3 week mixed in a complete feed at

0.25% of one diet, or sprinkled on top

of the feed at a rate of 51b per 1000

hens every week.

There is a need to challenge the flock

to lay more eggs by adding 2 more

pounds of feed per 100 birds, if the

flock does not respond by the 4th day

return to the amount fed prior to

these challenge can be repeated as

often as necessary depending on the

flock’s response. If your flock has

peaked in egg production and begun a

gradual decline in lay then;

1) Sometimes will produce more

efficiently on less feed or;

2) Passed peak and showing a

normal decrease (4 to 6 %).

The objective of feeding laying hens is

to produce a dozen eggs of good

quality at the lowest possible field

cost. For light weight layers a target

should be a field efficiently of 3.5 to

4.0 1b or less of feed/dozen eggs.



MANAGEMENT OF LAYERS

Management of layers is important towards achieving maximum output of eggs

yield. Analysts say that the most economical period for a layers breed is from 24

weeks to 72 weeks of age. Birds will however,

continue to lay eggs even after 72 weeks but

at rate that cannot guarantee maximum profit

to the farmer. Birds are considered to have

started laying when at least 5% of them

are laying. For such laying birds,

specialized feeds are required to make

them achieve their nutritional

requirement.

This handbook serves to train and educate farmers and potential farmers on

how to formulate their own feeds to see their layers keep them in business

while expanding their growth potential. What one needs to know is the

ingredients required for making a particular feed as well the amounts

needed to sustain a bird’s nutritional requirements with the expectation of

increased egg production. For inorganic poultry farming, it’s important to

supplement the layers mash provided to attain the wholesome quality of

eggs. Such supplementation includes dried lucerne meal, amaranthus

leaves and grains and both dried grass and green grass. It is important to

keep the feeds dry to prevent diseases such as coccidiosis that require

moist conditions.

Providing about 10 grams of whole grains per day per bird helps keep it

busy and allows scratching and dust-bathing, natural behaviors that a bird

need not to be prohibited from. Bathing enable the poultry to keep

overturning the litter thereby keeping it dry while at the same time

spending quality time with other chicken.



There is no feed restriction for a laying bird but on average one bird should

consume about 150 gm per day. This therefore means for a farmer with 200

laying birds, 30 kg of layers mash should be provided daily. Such feeding

should be accompanied with plenty of clean water failure to which birds

stop feeding ensuing in reduced egg output and cannibalism (Wainaina,

2007)

MAKING THE FEEDS

Farmers can easily formulate

chicken feeds on their own provided

they acquire the right skills and

knowledge to do so. They can

develop high quality feeds with the

correct ingredients mixed in the

right proportions to produce high

quality layers breed.

With the increasing cost of fuel, food

prices and labor, the cost of barely

everything has shot upwards. This

therefore means farmers who choose

to make the feeds by themselves

saves by large extent what should

have been extra costs by the

manufacturer and the distributors.

One of the most common method is

the usually referred to as the Pearson

Square method. The mechanism

behind this formulation is the use of

Digestible Crude Protein (DCP) as the

basic protein requirement of the feed.

Common ingredients include whole

maize, maize germ, cotton seed cake,

soya beans, sunflower or omena

(fishmeal). The farmer needs to

understand the amount of crude

protein content of each of the

ingredients used in feed making. Just

to mention a few, whole maize would

contain (8.23% DCP), Soya (45%

DCP), Omena (55% DCP), Maize bran

(7% DCP) and sunflower (35% DCP).



Feed products for Layers should

contain at least 18% crude protein to

meet the high nutritional requirement

for proteins in a layer breed.

Equipped with the knowledge of the

percentage DCP of each of the feed

mixtures, a farmer can through simple

calculation achieve the 18% standard

by calculating the content in Kg of

each feed mixture to add. The table

below outlines the formulation levels

in Kg for each particular feed mix. By

way of simple calculation, a farmer is

able to establish the total content of

protein in the overall mixture of his

70 kg bag. Before mixing the feed,

whole maize including the other

ingredients has to be broken into the

right sizes through crushing or milling

to make it palatable for the chickens.

(The Organic Farmer, 2012)


FEED FORMULATION FOR LAYERS

Table 3. Formulation of layers feeds

Materials Chick mash Growers mash Layers mash

Maize meal 200Kg 25 Kg 180Kg

Pollard 300Kg 250 Kg 180Kg

Maize germ 240 Kg 280 Kg 180 Kg

Bran 65 Kg 125 Kg 140Kg

Omena 80Kg 30 Kg 90 Kg

cotton 90Kg 140kg 120kg

premix 2kg 1kg 2kg

DCP 3 kg 3kg 3kg

Lime 15kg 17 kg 101 kg

Sodium chloride 4kg 4kg 4kg

TOTAL 999kg 1000 kg 1000 kgSource: Minerals & Allied Ltd

NB, Biostrong contains vitamins, chelated minerals,mycotoxins binders and other feed additives.

DCP-Dicalciulm phosphate.

Incase a certain raw materials is not available, please call us for formulae adjustment.

The above feed stuffs should be mixed homogeneously to have a uniform diet. In the absence of

a mechanical mixer, one should first measure the required amounts then mix a small amount and

adding small quantities at a time all the while mixing thoroughly. You should have a diet in the

optimum texture so that the animal eats with ease

Some tips on how to feed your Layers

An egg-laying chicken requires 150 g of feed per day (provide clean water at all

times).

1 chick requires 2.2 kg of feed for 8 weeks (thus 100 chicks = 2.2 kg x 100=220

kg. Chicks should be allowed to feed continuously and given adequate clean

water at all times). If they finish their daily rations, give them fruit and

vegetables cuttings to feed on.

1 pullet (young chicken about to start laying) should be fed 4.5 kg of feed for

two and a half months until the first egg is seen. It should then be put on layer

diet. Supplement with vegetables, edible plant leaves or fruits peelings in

addition to the daily feed rations.

All ingredients used must be of high quality and palatable. Never use rotten

maize (Maozo). Chickens are very susceptible to aflatoxins poisoning.

When using omena as an ingredient, ensure it is free of sand and seashells. If

you use maize germ, it should be completely dry.

Feed should be thoroughly mixed to ensure the ingredients are uniformly

distributed. It is preferable to use a drum mixer instead of a spade for mixing.

Note that even after giving them the formulated feeds, chickens should be put

on free range to scavenge for other micronutrients not provided for in the feeds

(The Organic Farmer, 2012)

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layers feed formulation handboo1

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