Unit 7 Essential Nutrients for Poultry

• Key to Successful Poultry Production

  1. Good Nutrition
  2. Superior Genetics
  3. Good Management
• Essential substances present in different types of feed which perform various life-sustaining functions in the body.

  Nutrients
• Poultry require more than 40 nutrients, which are classified into six major groups.
• The groups of nutrients are:

  • Proteins

  • Carbohydrates

  • Fats

  • Vitamins

  • Minerals

  • Water
• Considered as the building blocks of the body and are essential for proper growth and for building health

  Proteins
• Grains generally contain 8-9% of crude protein
• Amount of protein varies depending on type of poultry, age and level of performance.
• There is a higher demand for protein at the early stages of

  development.
• Amino acids are the basic units that make up proteins
• Plant Sources

  • Soybean Meal

  • Cottonseed Meal

  • Linseed Meal

  • Alfalfa meal and Corn Gluten Meal
• Animal Sources

  • Fish Meal

  • Meat Products (blood meal, hydrolyzed poultry feathers)
• soybean meal up to 30%
• soybeans up to 15% (heated to remove antinutrients)
• canola meal or whole seed up to 10%
• corn gluten up to 15%
• peas, lupin, flax up to 10%
• flax (linseed) meal - 15 % (20% in layers)
• safflower meal, sunflower meal up to 10%
• meat meal, fish meal up to 10%
• blood meal, feather meal up to 2%
• Supplies of energy or fuel to maintain body heat, to keep body systems running continuously and to perform various functions.

  Carbohydrates and Fats
• Corn, Wheat, Barley, Oats, Rice

  Grains
• Grain by-products

  corn gluten and bran
• Energy Sources

  • Grains
  • Grain by-products
  • Molasses
• Fats and Oils

  • Tallow, lard, coconut oil, palm oil

  • (after 3 weeks up to 5%) poultry fat, fish oil,

  • restaurant grease up to 3% (after 3 weeks 6%)
• • Complex compounds which play an important role in

  metabolism

  • Help in growth, prevention of leg weakness and

  thickness of egg shells

  Vitamins
• 2 groups of Vitamins

  • Fat-soluble Vitamins– Vitamins A, D, E and K

  • Water-soluble vitamins– B complex group and Vitamin C
• • Aid in the formation of bone, egg shells and clotting of

  blood

  • Usually added/supplemented to the ration to overcome

  possible deficiency symptoms

  Minerals
• 3 Classifications of Minerals

  • Macrominerals
  • Microminerals
  • Trace Minerals
• Macrominerals

  Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium

  and Magnesium
• Microminerals

  Iron, Manganese, Zinc, Copper and Iodine
• Trace Minerals

  Cobalt, Flourine, Selenium, Molybdenum
• Mineral Sources

  • Calcium
  • Phosphorus
  • Salt
• ground limestone, crushed oyster shells, bone meal

  and dicalcium phosphate

  Calcium
• bone meal, dicalcium phosphate, monosodium

  phosphate and rock phosphate

  Phosphorus
• • Influenced by environmental temperature, relative humidity, salt

  and protein levels in the diet, birds’ productivity and its ability to

  resorb water in the kidney.

  • Must be made available at all times.

  Water
• • A substance or mixture of substances other than the bulk and

  basic feedstuffs.

  • Used in small quantities, usually at less than 1% level in the

  compounded feeds to improve the performance of the birds

  Feed Additives
• Other Functions of Additives

  • Prevent various deficiency diseases, other diseases of

  nutritional origin, and certain bacterial and parasitic diseases;

  • Improve the nutritive value of the feed and feed efficiency;

  • Prevent spoilage of feed because of microbes, rancidity and

  other physical conditions;

  • Enhance colour, flavour, palatability and general appearance

  of the feed and make it more attractive to both the farmer

  and the bird.
• Other Functions of Additives

  • Help to prevent caking, dustiness and loss of feed during

  storage, handling and feeding.

  • Improve the quality of the egg yolk colour, shell thickness

  and meat quality.

  • Have sparing action on certain nutrients and prevent

  nutritional imbalance.

  • Certain non-nutrient feed additives cause thinning of the gut

  wall and thereby facilitate better absorption of nutrients.
• 2 Categories of Feed Additives

  • Nutrient Additives

  • Non-nutrient Additives