Feed Ingredients

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Feed ingredients for poultry diets are selected for the nutrients they can provide to poultry, the absence of antinutritional or toxic factors, their palatability or effect on voluntary feed intake and their cost.

The key nutrients that need to be supplied by the dietary ingredients are energy, protein, vitamins and minerals. More information on measuring the nutrient composition of ingredients and the process of formulating poultry feeds is available in the section on feed formulation. In Australian poultry diets, energy is mainly provided by cereal grains, sometimes supplemented with relatively small amounts of fats. Protein is provided from both vegetable and animal sources, such as oilseed meals, legumes and abattoir and fish processing by-products. Some vitamins and minerals are provided from most ingredients but these are generally supplemented through a premix added to the diet. Diets may also contain additives for specific purposes. These are discussed in more detail in the section on feed additives.

The nutrient value of feed ingredients for poultry will vary depending on the species, variety or cultivar, the season, the source location, processing and storage conditions and the class of poultry being fed. Different classes of poultry differ in their ability to digest and absorb various nutrients, while the other factors will affect the intrinsic nutrient value of the ingredient.

Cereal grains

The main cereal grains used in poultry diets in Australia are wheat, sorghum and barley. Other grains used to a lesser extent include rye, triticale and oats. Although the amounts and types of cereal grains included in poultry diets will depend largely on their current costs relative to their nutritive values, care must be taken to avoid making large changes to the cereal component of diets being fed to poultry as sudden changes can cause digestive upsets that may reduce productivity and predispose the birds to disease.

The quality of cereal grains will also depend on the seasonal and storage conditions. Poor growing or storage conditions can lead to grains with lower than expected energy content or contamination with toxin-producing organisms such as fungi and ergots.

Nutrient Composition of Cereal Grains

Ingredient	Crude protein (%)	Metabolisable energy (kcal/kg)	Calcium (%)	Available phosphorous (%)	Lysine (%)
Wheat	13.0	3153	0.05	0.20	0.5
Sorghum	9.0	3263	0.02	0.15	0.3
Barley	11.5	2795	0.10	0.20	0.4
Rye	12.5	2734	0.05	0.18	0.5
Triticale	15.4	3110	0.05	0.19	0.4
Oats	12.0	2756	0.10	0.20	0.4

 

Vegetable protein sources

The main vegetable protein sources used in Australian poultry diets are meal by-products resulting from commercial vegetable oil production, such as soybean, canola, cottonseed and sunflower meals and legumes, such as peas and lupins. Many oilseeds and legumes contain chemicals that can have detrimental effects when fed to poultry. These chemicals are called antinutritive factors. Some of these antinutritive factors can be destroyed by heat and so are not a problem in heat-treated meals. New cultivars of some oilseeds and legumes have been developed that are naturally low in antinutritive factors and so higher levels of the unprocessed grains can be included in poultry diets without ill-effect.

Nutrient Composition of Vegetable Protein Sources

Ingredient	Crude protein (%)	Metabolisable energy (kcal/kg)	Calcium (%)	Available phosphorous (%)	Lysine (%)
Soybean meal	48.0	2557	0.20	0.37	3.2
Canola meal	37.5	2000	0.66	0.47	2.2
Cottonseed meal	41.0	2350	0.15	0.48	1.7
Sunflower meal	46.8	2205	0.30	0.50	1.6
Peas	23.5	2550	0.10	0.20	1.6
Lupins	34.5	3000	0.20	0.20	1.7

Animal protein sources

The main animal protein sources used in poultry diets are meat meal, meat and bone meal, fish meal, poultry by-product meal, blood meal and feather meal. Further information on animal protein sources in poultry diets is available in the section on animal protein meals.

Nutrient Composition of Animal Protein Sources

Ingredient	Crude protein (%)	Metabolisable energy (kcal/kg)	Calcium (%)	Available phosphorous (%)	Lysine (%)
Meat meal	50.0	2500	8.00	4.00	3.6
Fish meal	60.0	2720	6.50	3.50	5.3
Poultry by-product meal	60.0	2950	3.50	2.10	3.4
Blood meal	80.0	2690	0.28	0.28	6.9
Feather meal	85.0	3016	0.20	0.75	1.7

Animal protein meals

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