Hi BYCers!
I am a feed manufacturer, and I have been active here (Off and on) for about 7 or 8 years. Over the years, I have noticed an increasing opinion that corn is not a good ingredient for poultry feeds. I often see posts that point out corn as a “filler”, or that it is only used because it is cheap.
I am very honestly curious about the basis for these thoughts, and I am very interested in opinions, and data that supports it. As a manufacturer, I want to be as informed as possible, so that I can make appropriate decisions for future formulations. I am curious if I should be looking at offering a corn free option or not. We do currently offer some soy free options, but the advantages to that were easy to identify. There is a lot of science behind the advantages and disadvantages of using soy. I saw good reason to offer an option excluding soy products.
From my perspective- We use corn, because it actually has one of the best nutrient profiles that align with the energy needs of poultry. We definitely don’t use it as a filler. It is actually used as the complete opposite of a filler. It is actually one of the most energy nutrient dense ingredients available for livestock feeds. It’s also far from being the cheapest ingredient available for use as the energy portion of the rations. Small grains are much cheaper to use, with the exception of milling wheat (Milling wheat wouldn’t be used by a feed mill anyway. They would only be using wheat that didn’t make food grade). Barley, oats, rye, spelt, soft red wheat, etc., are typically cheaper.
I appreciate any input that can be provided! And thank you in advance for all of your views!
-Eric
I am a feed manufacturer, and I have been active here (Off and on) for about 7 or 8 years. Over the years, I have noticed an increasing opinion that corn is not a good ingredient for poultry feeds. I often see posts that point out corn as a “filler”, or that it is only used because it is cheap.
I am very honestly curious about the basis for these thoughts, and I am very interested in opinions, and data that supports it. As a manufacturer, I want to be as informed as possible, so that I can make appropriate decisions for future formulations. I am curious if I should be looking at offering a corn free option or not. We do currently offer some soy free options, but the advantages to that were easy to identify. There is a lot of science behind the advantages and disadvantages of using soy. I saw good reason to offer an option excluding soy products.
From my perspective- We use corn, because it actually has one of the best nutrient profiles that align with the energy needs of poultry. We definitely don’t use it as a filler. It is actually used as the complete opposite of a filler. It is actually one of the most energy nutrient dense ingredients available for livestock feeds. It’s also far from being the cheapest ingredient available for use as the energy portion of the rations. Small grains are much cheaper to use, with the exception of milling wheat (Milling wheat wouldn’t be used by a feed mill anyway. They would only be using wheat that didn’t make food grade). Barley, oats, rye, spelt, soft red wheat, etc., are typically cheaper.
I appreciate any input that can be provided! And thank you in advance for all of your views!
-Eric
