INTERVIEW FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE June 2024 55 demand following the launch of the product in the US where the summer heat in the southeast of the country can be challenging for the poultry industry. Blake Henson, a partner at Clear View Enterprises (CVE), which distributes nutrition and hydration products to poultry locations across the US, emphasizes the importance of hydration and nutrition for chicks in hot weather. “Early life hydration and nutrition has always been a challenge – particularly during transport and placement,” says Henson. “In the height of the summer, we’ve seen many instances where mortality rates shoot up.” Reminding that early life mortality is a constant problem in poultry production and that there are many contributing factors, Dr. Miller, Chief Innovation Officer, says: “The product has been designed to help address some of the issues associated with not being able to feed and hydrate birds at the hatchery and during transport. This is a critical point in a bird’s life and birds often suffer high rates of mortality in the first 7 days which are in part caused by this. Hydration is even more important in hot weather and when birds have to be transported long distances to the farm." Also giving information about the trial studies that were conducted before launching the product to the market, Kane Miller summarizes the received results, adding: “Prior to launching NMAN®, a study was conducted where 800 chicks were held for 72 hours in a holding room simulating normal hatchery and long-distance travel conditions. The study demonstrated that the application of NMAN® was able to reduce mortality in a dose dependent manner so when chicks were fed 1g of NMAN® at the start of the study mortality was reduced by 33% relative to the control. When fed 2g at the start of the study, mortality dropped by 60%. And when initially fed 1g at the start and an additional 1g 24 hours later, the mortality level fell by 80% relative to the control that was not fed NMAN.” To help hatcheries and poultry farms better manage the issue, CVE recently onboarded the product. A VERSATILE PRODUCT THAT ATTRACTS ATTENTION WITH ITS EASE OF USE Henson, a partner at CVE, pointed out the ease of use and results of this product the company offers to customers: “What immediately struck us about NMAN® was its ease-of-use for poultry producers. They just have to open the pack, grab the bars inside, and put them in the transport box. One or two bars per box. We were then really impressed with the success we saw when both hatcheries and farms started incorporating it into their operations.” Originally designed to address the challenges of transporting chicks from the hatchery, NMAN® is now also being used by operations managers as a top dressing to encourage chicks to eat when they arrive at the farm. One live production manager we spoke to put it succinctly: “Finding better ways to manage hydration and nutrition at the hatchery and then ensuring chicks rapidly adapt to feed at the farm, had become a number one priority for us. When we heard about NMAN®, we thought we’d give it a try.” Al Zimmerman, CEO of Axitan, explains: “A significant amount of time and attention went into NMAN’s development. We wanted a gel-based product for newly hatched birds that would both provide an easily digestible, nutritionally complete meal and hydrate them without getting them wet. It is this combination that gives NMAN® its versatility.” Dr. Kane Miller
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