ISSUE FOCUS FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE May 2024 49 energy needed by an animal to maintain its vital body functions. The animals also need extra feed for growth and production (e.g. milk, eggs or progeny). As an animal gets older its body weight and feed intake change, as do its nutritional needs. It is therefore important to carefully examine the precise nutritional needs of the animals and feed them a ration that is accurately formulated to achieve optimal technical results. And as soon as possible, switch to larger portions of cheaper feed with a lower mineral content. With broilers, for example, this is done by adding wheat to the ration. If the feed composition is not adapted during this phase, mineral rich (nitrogen and phosphate), and therefore more expensive, feed will be fed unnecessarily for too long. This leads to a higher feed conversion rate and the associated higher feed costs, but not to better technical results. The surplus minerals will also be released to the environment, leading to unnecessarily high nitrogen and phosphorous emissions. STOP FEED WASTE Unnecessary leakage from your feeding system, or overfull feeders are just two examples of easily preventable feed waste. Regularly inspect your feeding system for mechanical defects. System malfunctions are not only a source of annoyance, they can also disrupt animal growth and even affect feed quality. Closely monitor the stocks of feed, clean the feed lines regularly, periodically inspect the mechanical parts in your installation and check the accuracy of feed weighing. Then you can rely on a frictionless feeding process. Repair any holes or tears in the pipes where feed can leak as quickly as possible. Not just to prevent waste, but also because this leaked feed attracts pests like rodents. Did you know that a rat that weighs 250 grams can easily eat its own weight in Automatic animal weighing reduces feed costs Insight into the feed costs is the first step in making improvements
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