Breeder Feed:

It should be noted that there is a clear difference in the nutrition of the breeds of meat production and breeds of egg production.

Breeds of egg production:

  • Hisex
  • Dekalb
  • Hy-Line
  • Lohmann
  • ISA

Breeds of meat production:

  • Ross
  • Cobb
  • Hubbard
  • Arbor Acres

The information mentioned is to give an idea in breeder nutrition generally. 

Feeding methods:

  • Nutrient requirements should be appropriate according to strain and genotype.
  • Some physical characteristics related to diet (size, homogeneity and hardness) are rarely identified accurately. Feed mill have developed in crushing and sieving technology to achieve suitable feed size with flock age.
  • Feed size is an important factor especially when comparing crushed, granulated or pellet feed.

1- Breeding period (brooding – growth):

  • During that period, feed is restricted, and it is best to prolong the feeding period and provide the feed in crushed form on a regular basis. It is important that the feed be homogeneous and contain only a small percentage of the large and small granules.

2- Production period:

  • It is better to consume the feed within (3-4 hours) and this helps the chickens to organize the feeding periods, egg laying and mating throughout the day. It is not desirable to prolong the period of feeding for the possibility of laying eggs on the ground or that the males feed with the females or the rate of mating decreases afternoon.
  • It is important to feed on palatable crushed feeds with coarse grains. Mineral elements and vitamins can also be presented in the form of granules (instead of the usual fine powder) to help in reducing losses from volatilization and separation.

for males, determining the feeding time is achieved through the feed distribution system more than providing the feed itself.

for starters, growers, and pre-production feeds for hens, when they are granular or pellet, they should be made from crushed grains of equal size.

In hot conditions, the use of crushed feeds as coarse grains is better than granulated feed in terms of calories and palatability, and it is also allowed to add complementary fats if necessary.

Feed programs and diet structure:

1) Starter 0 days – 5 weeks:

  • The program for determining feed for females and males depends on the traditional diets, which are presented in crushed form (and heat treated), and it is important to obtain a standard weight and a suitable skeleton at this age.

2) Grower 6-18 weeks:

  • The fasting periods during this period reach their climax and using crushed diet with low energy, this is considered the best for obtaining feeding periods ranging from 40 to 60 minutes.

3) Pre-production 19-23 weeks:

  • Pre-layered diets are formulated to achieve growth and hoarding of flesh by increasing protein and essential amino acids in feed.
  • However, during hot weather, the use of growing feed at the age of 18 weeks may affect the weekly weight gain and may not be appropriate, so pre-production feeds can be used early from 1-2 weeks before.
  • The level of calcium is slightly increased (1.4%) compared to growth diets in order to obtain a balance in the mineral elements that contribute to avoiding kidney failure and the deterioration of the floor condition.

4) Production more than 24 weeks:

  • During this period, the energy level, protein and mineral elements must be covered requirements of birds.
  • Increase the levels of vitamins by 20% at the beginning of production more than normal level.

A) Nutrition from the age of 20 weeks until the first egg:

  • Hens are usually transferred to production wards at the age of 19-20 weeks. When the feed restricted feeding system is applied until the end of the rearing period, it is preferable to continue this system until the first egg.
  • The same feeding programs for females must be applied to males to prevent any stress on them.
  • Even laying the first egg, the feed quantities for the birds must be adjusted based on the weekly body weight (where the weekly weight gain is in the range of 140 grams).

 

B) Nutrition from laying the first egg to the production peak:

  • Transfer birds for feeding on production feed and the daily feeding system takes place during a week period starting from the first egg laying in flocks with good homogeneity. Upon reaching production of 5%, the feed is calculated and calculated for the birds based on the (strain catalog) and specifications of bird productivity.
  • Estimating the rate of feed increase for birds depends on the homogeneity of the herd in terms of body weight and sexual maturity. In flocks with good homogeneity, the increase in feeds is daily with increased egg production and must reach the daily feed intake up to peak when daily egg production reaches 40%, while for flocks with bad homogeneity, the feed peak is reached when producing 60% daily eggs.
  • Feed distributes to birds after half an hour of illuminating the house in the early (this helps to reduce the percentage of eggs on the ground ), as this works to satisfy the appetites of birds after the fasting period during the night, and then complete feeding during the morning period or immediately after period climax egg-laying.
  • In order to stimulate and stimulate the birds, a portion of the feed can be delayed to present it during the evening period, three hours before the end of the lighting period, making sure that this amount of feed is sufficient for regular distribution on the feeder. Modern technology (technical equipment) is very important if the aim is to reduce the feed consumption time and to improve and increase the activity of the herd during the evening to improve mating behavior and this must be taken into consideration, especially during hot weather.

C) Feeding from the top of production to the end of production:

  • After the peak of production, growth must be controlled, as this is very necessary to reduce the formation of abdominal fat, so it is necessary to reduce the feed increases very quickly after the top of production.
  • The daily feed increase continues until the peak of production, after which the amount of feed is reduced until the end of production and the first reduction in the amount of feed is during the week following the peak of production and at the rate of 2-3 grams/chicken/week and then the feed is reduced based on the rate of production, egg weight and body weight (Reduction is usually in the range of 0.5-1 g / chicken/week).
  • Sometimes there is a need to reduce feed severely by 2 g /hen/week for 3-4 weeks after peak production in order to control the weight of birds.
  • Adding feed in batches for the herds that did not achieve the peak of production (less than 80% of production), which causes overweight of birds and affects production continuity without any significant improvement in production.
  • It is necessary to follow and control body weight weekly until the end of production.
  • The body weight to the end of production must be consistent with the growth curve of the strain.
  • Any sudden increase in body weight, causing the deposition of unwanted fats, which affects production.

Male diets:

  • Although this suggestion of providing special diets for males during the production period for the purpose of controlling body weight, this can be achieved by monitoring the amount of feed and following the body weight. It is preferable to provide limited diets that are low in protein and calcium to achieve activity and vitality for males as well as homogeneity.

Notes of feeding in hot climates:

  • The necessity of reducing the feed intake time and the amount of feed consumed and can be reached by feeding on crushed feeds in large coarses and this is the most acceptable for birds.
  • Distributing diets in moderate climate condition periods (morning and evening).
  • Increased synthetic amino acids (methionine and lysine) by 10%.
  • Increasing the addition of sodium bicarbonate, taking consideration of the percentage of sodium in added table salt.
  • Increase the addition of vitamin C.