is one of the fastest growing and lucrative business in the agricultural sector.. with so many Nigerians diving into feed production for extensive or intensive purposes..

What is feed formulation?
This is the mixing or matching the nutrient requirements of a class of animal with the nutrients contents of the available ingredients (raw material)
Domestic birds have different stages of feed that are needed to be given to them at different stages.. The stages can be divided below.

(broiler) 2 stages of feed
from (0-4)weeks fall under broiler starter phase.
from (5-8)weeks and above fall under broiler finisher.

(harshry or layers) 3 stages of feed.
from (0-8)weeks fall under chick mash
from (9-17)weeks fall under grower mash
from (18)weeks and above fall under layers mash
Domestic birds are very sensitive to feed and it will be wrong if a different stage of feed is fed too the wrong stage of birds.. as this can affect there growth and productivity..
the kind and quality of feed given too poultry birds also matters a lot. as there growth and productivity mainly depends on the feed they get.
feeds account for about 60 to 70 per
cent of the total cost of producing
eggs or meat from poultry.

Of the total feed cost. about 95 percent is used to meet energy and protein requirements. 3 per cent for major mineral trace mineral and vitamin requirements, and 2 per cent for various feed additives. the ingredients should be selected based on the nutrients they can provide. the absence of anti-nutritional or toxic factors. their palatability or effect on voluntary feed intake, and
cost. it is also important to know which feed ingredients are needed and how they should be used in poultry. Except for a few feed manufacturers who keep to the standards in poultry feed formulations, many feed companies in the country make very poor quality feeds, a situation which has led huge losses. Poor quality feeds lead to a slow growth in chickens, low egg production, diseases or even death. Making poultry feeds on the farm is one of the best ways to maintain quality and cut the cost of production farmers who make their own feeds at home save between 30 to 50 per cent for every 70kg bag of chicken feed, depending on the source of their raw materials.
Processes of feed formulation.
1 selection of feed ingredients
2 milling/ grinding
3 weighing of feedstuff
4 mixing combination of feedstuff
5 bagging(packaging

The following are things to consider before formulating poultry feeds.. While formulating feeds, we are guided by the following factors:
 nutrient requirement for the bird.
 availability of the raw materials.
 price of the raw materials
 presence of anti-nutritive factor

The following are some basic poultry feed formation/ formulation material needed.. these materials can be locally sourced for in our vicinity..

ingredients:

grinded maize

maize offal

wheat offal

groundnut cake meal

soybean meal

soybean cake

fish meal

bone meal

table salt

vitamin premix

l-lysine

d-methionine

note: all these materials must be grinded and dried before measurements or scaling

… By
Apia Smart
Poultry Feed Consultant