SPECIAL STORY 76 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE September 2023 reduce litter performance and applying the same strategy to nursery piglets (n=765) significantly reduced their performance (Figure 4). Moreover, the authors observed that the reduced vitamin supplementation decreased circulating and stored vitamin levels in both sows – with potential negative impact on long-term reproductive performance – and nursery piglets. CORRECT VITAMIN FORMULATION ADDS VALUE TO FEED To meet the highest quality standards, nutritional and legal requirements for animal feed production, premix producers and feed manufacturers need to handle additives safely and with great precision. Vitamins are rarely added as pure substances to feed because they are often degraded due to instability towards oxygen, light or temperature: as such they are not suited to the rigors of the feed manufacturing processes and their handling properties can be poor. Therefore, they must be properly formulated as feed additives to be added into premix, feed or drinking water before the animal access them. It is about mixing grams or milligrams in one ton of feed with animals eating grams feed per day: certainly not an easy task. The best way to do it is following strict product formulation fundamentals where the high safety and quality of both the active substance and raw materials, combined with appropriate formulation technology, result in product forms consistently delivering an optimal combination of desirable characteristics. For maximum efficacy feed additives like vitamins should be formulated for: • low dust and best handling: safe for workers • good flowability: more efficient dosing operations and less product losses • best homogeneity in premix and feed • superior stability in premix and feed: right daily intake of nutrients by animals • high bioavailability: allowing an efficient absorption and best biological use by the animal • manufactured with the lowest environmental footprint for more sustainable farming The final goal is to achieve the best balance between handling, mixing, stability and bioavailability depending on the specific application challenges that each nutrient may face. Table 4 illustrates a recent example on an important industry concern: large overages (up to 100%) may be required to match vitamin A nutritional requirements in poultry feed if not-stable enough vitamin products are used, as seen in this trial run by an independent premixer in Scandinavia. IMPROVING SUSTAINABILITY ALONGSIDE PERFORMANCE The right levels of high-quality, sustainable micro-nutrients provided to feed millers, integrators and farmers can help them improve animal health, wellbeing, and performance, while also protecting the environment, succeeding in a dynamic and ever-changing global market, enhancing both profits and environmental sustainability. Figure 4. Effect of OVN™ levels on performance of 7 to 30 kg piglets’ (Source: Hinson et al., 2022)
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