Tips for Producing and Preserving High-Quality Feed

The journey toward producing beneficial, high-quality feed begins with selecting premium raw materials, but true success depends on protecting these ingredients from spoilage. Poor storage practices, such as placing bags in open warehouses exposed to moisture, rodents, and insects, lead to mold and increased levels of bacterial contamination (CFU/gm), which negatively impacts growth rates and production. Contamination levels 4 to 15 times higher than the permissible limit have been observed on some farms, but this can be easily avoided by storing feed in silos. This method ensures feed quality is maintained and waste is minimized, with the cost of the silo recouped in just three years. For your information, pelletized feed—compressed pellets containing all essential nutrients—offers numerous benefits: it reduces waste, increases feed conversion efficiency, and improves productivity. To ensure the best results, it is recommended to use high-quality pelletizing machines to produce compact pellets that withstand transport, and their quality must be checked upon arrival at the farm. There are other factors that lead to feed loss before it reaches the birds, such as the length of the chicken’s beak, which causes feed to be scattered on the ground. This can be minimized by trimming the beaks and not filling the feeders completely, especially in layer farms. Mice are among the most dangerous enemies of feed, as a single mouse can consume its own weight in feed daily and contaminate ten times that amount with its urine and droppings, rendering it unusable and causing significant losses. This necessitates storing feed in silos and implementing effective measures to control them. Additionally, the thinning of the feather coat in winter leads to increased feed consumption; therefore, controlling environmental conditions is essential to maintain appropriate consumption rates. Finally, it is recommended to use emulsifiers, which improve nutrient absorption, while conducting periodic testing of feed mixtures through specialized companies to ensure the best results at the lowest cost.