HOW TO MAKE QUALITY POULTRY FEEDS FOR YOUR CHICKEN.

When it comes to Quality poultry feeds for your chicken, there are of three types. Namely:

• Chick mash- feeds given to chicks once they are 1 day old to 8 weeks old(2 months). 
• Growers mash- feeds given to chicken from the age of 8 weeks old to 18 weeks.
• Layers mash- feeds given to chicken when they are mature and getting into production age of 18 weeks onward.

Amazingly, all these things can be done right at your farm. You don't need specialized equipment to make them. For the poultry feed formulation process, you must get the correct formula whether you are making chick mash, growers mash or layers mash. Once you have the right formulation, go ahead and source the ingredients. With the ingredients, you must always ensure that you identify different suppliers who focus on different ingredients. That way, you are able to purchase high quality feeds instead of using one supplier who often may not have the highest quality of all the ingredients.

What are the reasons why you should formulate your own poultry feeds for my chicken?

1. For high quality which is guaranteed for your own home-made poultry feeds.With the commercial feeds that you purchase from your regular vet.shops, there is no guarantee of the kind of feeds you're buying. Often, unfortunately for some,there are those who are courageous enough to package very low quality feeds in bags of brands which are famously known to be of very high quality and mostly  the problem at the end of the day, the farmer is the one who suffers. This is because he/she buys the product at a very high cost but gets very low quality feeds. Therefore, it is very important for farmers to be able to formulate their own feeds.  
2. For production  of high quality poultry feeds at a low cost. Remember when you buy commercial feeds and rely on them, you are giving back the person who made the feeds, the company which is distributing the feeds, the person who sells ingredients. You are actually the one who gives them profit and at the end of the day, that increases the cost of producing your chicken and of course when you sell your chicken, you find that your profit margin is very low. To increase your profit margin, one thing you have to have to do is to minimize on the cost of your feeds. Note that 80% of the cost of rearing your chicken actually goes towards feeding your chicken, goes towards feeding your chicken. Just by knowing how to formulate your own feeds and reducing cost of production, you'll actually increase your profit margin.

Ingredients of making quality poultry feeds for your chicks.

These ingredients are materials required for making high quality poultry feeds. They are classified as;

Carbohydrate source/ Energy giving source.- Provides your poultry birds with energy hence the term energy giving feeds. They include;

• Wheat Bran
• Wheat Pollard/ Pollard
• Maize germ
• Milled maize grain.

Protein source/Body-building feeds. They are responsible for tissue and muscle making for the poultry birds. These are;

• Soya meal-  Go for the one that has specifically prepared to contain low fat content. Whenever you are buying soya meal, make sure you specify you are buying to make poultry feeds to avoid being sold the one with too much fat in it.
• Cotton seed cake- Derived from cotton seeds.
• Sunflower seed cake
• Fishmeal/Omena- Don't use it excessively. "Ochang'aa" is preferably. Major disadvantage of using excessive omena to prepare poultry feeds is that it leaves the fishy taste on your chicken hence interfering with the quality of meat your chicken produces.  "Ochang'aa" is mostly preferred because it contains elements like shrimps, omena and shells. These elements are normally in smaller quantity/concentration and for this reason, "Ochang'aa" is a much better source of protein than omena.

Mineral source - Minerals are very vital to your chicken because they contribute to the formation of strong bones, feathers, scale and beak. There are 4  main elements to use for your poultry birds, eg;

• Limestone 
• Bone-meal- Constitutes of the bones from varies animals like cows and goats. They are dried to remove excessive oil and fat. They are then milled down to form the bone-meal. The bone-mean has quite big chunks used by chicken for grit factor. Grit is what helps the chicks to be able to grind down the feeds purely because chicken, unlike human beings, do not have teeth so bone-meal helps the chicken to grind down the feeds while inside gizzard(it's where grinding takes place).
• Cattle salt- This is just ordinary salt given to the cows. When formulating animal feeds(poultry feeds), we don't use iodized salt/table salt we use. Iodized salt is poisonous to chicken. Cattle salt is recommended because it does not contain high levels of iodine.
• D.C.P (Dicalcium Phosphate)-   Usually, the grey  D.C.P is what is used in making commercial feeds because it has bigger chunks which contributes to providence of grid factor to your chicken. Refined on(whitish in color) is not recommended.

Vitamins 

Premix is a good example of vitamins source for your birds. Usually in powder form. Depending on the type of feed you are making, buy the requisite premix. It is what provides vitamin element that your chicken require when making commercial feeds.

Additives -  Amino acid source.

Beside the above elements, your birds require amino acids (additives). Amino acids helps in breaking down of protein that is taken by the birds so as to be absorbed into the body and form various tissues. There are two main sources of amino acids namely;

•  Methionine
• Lysine

The two are very important as much as they do not fall into any nutritional category.

• Toxin binder-  refers to a substance added to poultry feed in minute quantities that is able to neutralize or immobilize harmful chemicals, mycotoxins or endotoxins (lipopolysaccharides) within a bird's gastrointestinal tract, thus avoiding negative consequences.
• Coccindiostat- Prevents your chicken from contracting coccindiosis.

Feeding formulation for new improved Kienyeji layers mash.

FEED INGREDIENTS	QUANTITY (KG)
Milled maize	90
Maize germ	300
Wheat Bran	130
Wheat Pollard/ Pollard	155
Fish meal	50
Soya bean	60
Sunflower seed-cake	80
Cotton seed-cake	40
Stock Limestone	70
Bone meal	17
DCP (Dicalcium phosphate)	2
Methionine	0.5
premix	2
Cattle salt	3
Toxin Binder	1
TOTAL	1000.5

The final thing is on the tools and the equipment. A simple mixer is what you need in order to mix your ingredients evenly. An electric mixer is the best though you can make your own manual mixer to serve the same purpose. Are you looking for land to carry out poultry farming? We as Baoriat Agencies have the greatest deals for you whether you want land for lease or sale, just call us on 0721-554-937 or visit us in Eldoret town, Kenya, Juma Hajee Building.

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Call: +254 721-554-937

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