Application Technology Of Laying Hens Feed Pellet Size
Pellet feed has higher feed density, no feed component separation, better bacterial quality, easier ingestion and improved growth. Compared with traditional feed, pellet feed can improve poultry performance by reducing feed waste, reducing selective feeding, eliminating pathogens, improving palatability and increasing nutrient digestibility. Animals fed pellet feed have higher body weight and feed conversion than conventional feed.
Feed pellet size is an aspect of poultry production that is often overlooked. The size of feed pellet is often overlooked in poultry production. During the production process, feed manufacturers often cannot guarantee that the feed particles are of uniform size and that the feed ratios are completely mixed. The feed particles are not uniform in size, some are very fine, and some are very rough. Different grinding and crushing methods will cause different feed particles. Even when the overall nutrition of the feed is similar, the different particle size will affect the digestion and absorption of the feed and the poultry. Production performance. Therefore, feed manufacturers should always evaluate the size and distribution of feed pellets to minimize influencing factors.
Effects of Feed Pellet Size On laying hens Digestive System
The development of the digestive system is affected by the size of the feed pellets. Poultry eating feed with larger pellets can promote the development of the muscle stomach and increase the length of the intestine. Larger pellets of feed stay in the musculature for a longer time, and the feed is ground into small pellets before being released into the small intestine. The longer the intestinal villi, the larger the surface area for digestion and absorption, which increases the digestion and absorption of nutrients. Researchers believe that feeding large pellets of feed can promote the secretion of digestive enzymes in the small intestine and facilitate the digestion and absorption of nutrients.
When feeding fine granular feed (powder), the feed does not need to be grinded and quickly enters the glandular stomach through the musculature, resulting in the muscular stomach becoming smaller, the glandular stomach enlarged and the intestinal length reduced. Therefore, it is not recommended to use too fine feed.
Ideal Feed Pellet Size of laying hens
Feed pellets size will seriously affect the feed intake of poultry. The ideal chicken layers feed pellets should increase with the development of the chicken’s beak, musculature, and digestive organs. Laying hens tend to eat large pellets, and this preference becomes more obvious as the age increases.
In the first 6 weeks, 1–3mm powder is generally used as the starter. For chicks, the nutrients in the powder are more uniform, but as the age increases, continuous feeding of the powder will cause the chicken’s musculature and small intestine to change.
After opening the food, change it to a uniform powder to ensure the development of digestive organs. 55–85% of the feed particles in the powder are 1–3mm in size and the geometric mean diameter is 1200 microns. The prenatal feed should contain 2–4mm diameter stone powder pellet feed, which will help ensure the quality of the eggshell.
Fine feeding prevents selective feeding of laying hens
The feed of laying hens is generally mixed with large pellet feed and small pellet feed, and hens prefer to eat large pellet feed. These large grains are mainly crushed corn and provide energy. Small particles mainly contain some amino acids, phosphorus, vitamins and minerals. Vitamin and mineral premixes are usually in small pellets. Excessive intake of large pellet feed often leads to excessive intake of energy and insufficient intake of some nutrients, such as vitamin A, D, riboflavin, sodium, lysine and methionine. Most of the decrease in egg production and shell quality is due to uneven nutrient intake.
Feeding too many times or feeding too much is not good for chickens to eat small pellet feed. If not properly managed, small pellets can deposit in the tank. At noon, 2–4 hours of empty feed is conducive to small pellet feed, so that chickens in this period of time will feed tank clean feed. The feeding staff should observe the feeding situation in real time and determine the appropriate feeding times and feeding amount to make the feeding of large and small pellets reasonable.
The uniform feeding of large and small granules is beneficial to the balanced nutrition of chickens.
Feed pellet size determination method
Standard feed pellet size measurement is based on U.S. Department of Agriculture standards, which require feed or ingredients to pass through 14 smaller sieves for 10 minutes to calculate the geometric mean of feed particles and the uniformity of feed pellet size (standard deviation or coefficient of variation). The coefficient of variation of reasonable compound feed should be less than 10%. This method is only used in large feed processing plants.
