Feed Calculator

[CUDA]

I had a request to post my feed calculator here. You can figure out your protein, and fat percentages on what you are feeding your birds to make sure the levels are where you want them. You can see it HERE . If you like it, please take a second and leave me some comments on my site! Thanks

 

[Josie]

I think you did a wonderful job, I am saving a copy on my computer.
It looks like it was a lot of work!

 

[digitS']

I just want to say on here how much I appreciate this Feed Calculator, CUDA!

It was immediately copied and then a copy of the copy was made amongst my Excel files. Your copy shall remain "uncorrupted" by my fiddlings but "My Feed Calculator" is now available for all my fights of fancy. I hope that was OK!?!

The 1st thing I did was change the laying feed percent to what is available to me - 16%.

Then I eliminated 1 feed that I won't be using and, instead, included something I'm thinking about - sprouted lentils. To get the nutrition data for sprouted lentils, I went to NutritionData.com and learned that they are 9% protein and 1% fat (changed the serving size to 100 grams).

Back to the calculator I go . . . . if I add 1 pound of lentil sprouts to 2 pounds of feed the protein level drops to 13.7% - probably too low. But, you see I might add 1 pound of sunflower seeds and raise the level above 14%.

50% layer feed
25% sprouted lentils
25% sunflower seeds
= 14.3% crude protein

I'm not taking into account all sorts of nutrients but, hey, I got a very important one (protein) and this was sure fun

!

Thank you,
Steve

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

The only caution I would present is that Crude Protein is not identical across all feeds. We should be looking at the Amino Acid content of the feed rather than Crude Protein since animals do not have a requirement for protein, rather they require specific levels or ratios of essential amino acids.

Jim

 

[CUDA]

No problem digitS', use it how ever you want. I made it to help everyone. Lazy J, amino's help build good health too, but protein is a big part of this as well. It is wise to know as much as you can about your feed, but most only know protein levels, so that is why it is made this way. Also, amino's help the body build muscle tissue by creating protein, so by feeding extra protein, it absorbs into the birds system as protein, so the body doesn't have to produce as much on its own, so they both serve to the same ends. In my opinion chickens do need protein for good health, thats why they scratch for bugs, mice, worms, or what ever they can find. JMO Thanks!

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Cuda:

I have a passing understanding of the role of "protein" in animal nutrition and your assessments are just a bit too simplistic. The potential pitfall of using your calculator is amino acid deficiency. I formulated a new feed that contained the following:

16% Crude Protein
.71 Lysine
.54 Methionine

It replaced this feed:

17.5% Crude Protein
.6 Lysine
.45 Methionine

Based on your explanation the diet I replaced is better when in fact it is seriously deficient in lysine and methionine. In fact, our new feeds do not use "Protein" in their names to help teach our customers to depend on the amino acid analysis and not "Crude Protein".

The the consequence of using the incorrect amino acid levels is poor performance for two reasons. First there will not be enough amino acids for the birds, and second the bird will use extra energy to deamminate the aminos acids to allow the nitrogen to be expelled as uric acid by the bird.

Jim

 

[CUDA]

My experience is many years of weight training, and raising my fare share of fowl over the years. I understand your point, I just wasn't going to get that deep into it here so people don't get confused. Amino's are something that should definitely be watched in the feed, along with many other things, but the hard facts are most people don't know anything more about their feed except it is a starter, grower, layer, etc. I posted the calculator to help people broaden their fowl's diet, without messing with their protein, and fat levels too much, so their birds stay healthy. You make some good points though, and it is far better to watch these kinds of things, than to worry about what is the best treat to feed your favorite chicken! lol Thanks.

 

[dlhunicorn]

Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay :

The only caution I would present is that Crude Protein is not identical across all feeds. We should be looking at the Amino Acid content of the feed rather than Crude Protein since animals do not have a requirement for protein, rather they require specific levels or ratios of essential amino acids.

Jim

The above concern is essential...and dont forget that amino acids along with all the other ESSENTIAL micronutrients need to be balanced in the correct ratio to each other...all effects one another....

http://www.ag.auburn.edu/~chibale/an12poultryfeeding.pdf
Poultry Nutrition and Feeding

http://www.organic-revision.org/pub/Preliminary_Report_Feed_EC2092_Revision_WP4_1.pdf

http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/Avian/scheidler.pdf
Total Sulfur Amino Acids: Lysine Ratios and Low Protein Diets Effect on Laying Hens Performance During Early Stage of Production

http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/130/12/3055
Excess Dietary Methionine Markedly Increases the Vitamin B-6 Requirement of Young Chicks
"...Excess intake of protein exacerbates vitamin B-6 deficiency (Bai et al. 1991 , Bender 1985 , Canham et al. 1969 , Driskell 1984 , Leklem 1991 , Morgan et al. 1946 ). The chick studies of Daghir and Shah (1973) and Gries and Scott (1972) , together with the rat study of Okada et al. (1998) , also provided qualitative evidence that excess protein increases the dietary requirement for vitamin B-6. Our recent chick work (Scherer and Baker 2000 ) demonstrated that doubling the protein level from 200 to 400 g/kg, using methionine (Met)-fortified soy-protein isolate, increased the vitamin B-6 requirement for maximal growth by 45%. We questioned whether this effect was due to protein (or excess amino acids) per se, or whether there might be a single amino acid, e.g., Met, that might be causing most of the effect...."

...and a few other articles:
http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=nutrition&action=display&num=1157992073​

 

[digitS']

"Archaeological evidence for the existence of domesticated fowl in the Indus Valley has helped to date the domestication of the chicken to approximately 2000 B.C. . . . 4000 years later, the chicken accounts for nearly 80% of the major domesticated animals in the world with a total population . . . approaching 35 billion in 2003 (http://www.ams.usda.gov)."Penn State Department of Poultry Science

All of them fed . . . Purina!!

But no, it wasn't until 1894 that William Danforth went into the business of selling animal feeds and the Ralston Purina Company was born here in the US.

"It's the year 2022 . . . People are still the same. They'll do anything to get what they need. And they need SOYLENT GREEN." William Danforth

Steve

 

[hooligan]

Cuda, just wanted to let ya know I added your calculator to my Yahoo Group