Our next poultry course is scheduled for 30 June-2 July 2003.  Please contact Bianca on (011) 803-2050 if you are interested in attending.

We were recently asked if we had a history of ingredient prices. From the graph below it can be seen that we do indeed. These prices are average mill door prices in Gauteng. It is interesting to see how maize has almost "corrected" itself in relation to Soya Oilcake during this period.

Kansas State University (K-State) announced that it has teamed up with the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) and the National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) to host a series of three Feed Mill Profitability Workshops in the spring and summer of 2003. The first and second series will be held March

18-21, 2003. The third series will be held July 22-23, 2003. All the workshops will be held at the KCI Expo Center, near Kansas City International Airport in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. The three major topics of the sessions are business planning and strategic positioning; managing variability and processing efficiency to improve competitiveness and managing risk. Total cost of all three workshops is $750. For more information contact: Tim Herrman, PhD, Kansas State University, Grain Science and Industry, tel +1 785 532 4082, fax +1 785 532 4017, tjh@wheat.ksu.edu.

We still have a number of copies of Leeson and Summers' book entitled Broiler Breeder Production, the price of which is R 500.00 excluding VAT.

A new publication called the South African Poultry Professional is about to hit our shelves. It will be published as a commercial venture. Look out for it!

INRA have recently published a book called "Tables de composition et de valeur nutritive des matieres premières destinées aux animaux d’élevage" which are a new set of matrix tables generated by actual research. This is a well worthwhile addition to your library.

The target for annual sow mortality is below 5%. This is commonly exceeded on many farms – with higher mortality often experienced during the summer months. Causative factors are numerous and the list below is based on recommendations by veterinarians Tim Loula and Paul Yeske of the Swine Vet Center in St. Peter, Minnesota.

1. Labour Force - Try to find employess that have experience, training and feel ownership in the herd.
2. Observation Skills - Help employees to learn to observe and recognize when an animal needs to be moved to a pen, or be started on treatment or be culled.
3. Farm Size - Farms are larger, so it will take longer to observe all the sows.  Individual sow observations are important - this means getting the sow up, and putting your hands on the sow to from an opinion.
4. Facility Crowding - Too many pigs and too few sick pens.
5. Culling Practices - Some sows could be salvaged if they were sold earlier versus waiting in a cull pen.
6. Backfat - The move towards learner animals can put stress on replacement gilts as they begin to experience pregnancy and lactation.
7. Phenoptypic Selection - Few workers are able to recognize attributes desired for phenotypic selection.  The body structure, condition, and soundness of the feet and legs are a factor in longevity.
8. Artificial Insemination - When a boar mounts a sow, weakness in the saw could be observed.  Artificial insemination removes this indicator.
9. Parity - Sow production peaks during the thrid and fourth parity.  Younger sows have lower immunity and thus a higher mortality risk while on the other side, older sows will also suffer from higher mortality.
10. Feed Changes - Sows have been receiving a more finely ground feed in recent years.  The typical once-daily schedule is resulting in increased acute ulcers that lead to mortality or chronic ulcers that cause other health problems.
11. Multiple Site Production - These systems may help to keep disease out of the pens, but they also serve to minimally develop the immune system.  In addition, transportation provides an injury risk.
12. Disease - Today's common diseases such as swine influenza, acute haemorrhage ileitis and chronic erysipelas aslo happen to be particularly hard on sows.
13. Changes in Product Use - With the trend to use less feed antibiotics, sow mortality tends to increase.  It is difficult to say whether routine use of animal health products in the feed had a masking effect on diseases.
14. Physical Injuries - Factors leading to injuries include moving more than 4 animals at once, moving them too quickly, slippery and/or narrow alleyways, and long-distance transport.
15. Heat Stress - Heat stress occurs if the respiration rate increases from the normal rate of 15 to 25 breaths a minute to more than 50.  This normally kicks in if ambient temperatures exceed 29°C and it greatly aggravated at high humidity.  Higher temperatures result in reproduction problems such as anestrus, a drop in conception reate, reduced embryo survival, decreased sperm output, lower sperm quality and higher sow mortality.  If the ambient temperature exceeds 29°C, a water spraying and/or fan system must be used to cool sows.

I have decided to put together some recently published data from the literature. They may not all be practical but they are certainly very interesting.

Y. Ohta, M.T. Kidd, and T. Ishibashi,

Wenjun Pan, C.A. Fritts, and P.W. Waldroup of the University of Arkansas conducted a study to compare the response of broilers to two sources of phytase enzyme in phosphorus-deficient diets. A diet that was adequate or deficient in non-phytate phosphorus were formulated and then supplemented with two sources of phytase, Ronozyme and Natuphos.

Each treatment was fed to 12 replicate pens of five male chicks from 4 days of age. Weights, feed consumption, feed conversion and tibia ash were determined. The 4-21 day body weight gain, feed conversion or mortality of birds fed Ronozyme did not differ significantly (P <0.05)

from that of birds fed Natuphos, although chicks fed Ronozyme had significantly greater tibia ash. It was concluded that both Ronozyme and Natuphos are satisfactory source of phytase for broiler diets.

P.M. Hocking, R. Bernard, G.W. Robertson (Br Poultry Sci, Volume 43, Number 1) conducted a factorial experiment to determine the effects of body weight gain (three levels) and conventional or lower crude protein concentrations in the rations during rearing, and restricted or ad libitum feeding after the peak rate of lay on egg production, fertility, hatchability, mortality and food consumption.

Compared with ad libitum feeding, conventional food restriction resulted in a decrease in average daily food consumption of 0·6 during rearing, 0·2 during early lay and an increase of 0·4 after the peak rate of egg production. Mortality was decreased by more than half. Restricted birds had higher total and settable egg production, fewer defective or damaged eggshells and higher fertility and hatchability than those fed ad libitum.

A modified (more generous) rearing programme resulted in lower rates of egg production and higher rates of mortality compared with the conventional food restriction programme.

Low-protein rearing rations were associated with higher rates of food intake, higher mortalities and lower rates of egg production than the conventional protein rations. There were no differences in the fertility or hatchability of eggs between birds fed on the two concentrations of dietary crude protein, which as the author points out is in conflict with the earlier findings of Brake.

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Iowa State has published a heat stress index chart to help producers in making appropriate management decisions. The Index combines temperature and relative humidity, and is divided into zones classified as alert, danger and emergency status.

Depending upon the relative humidity, "Alert" stage can be reached when temperatures range between 25 and 30 ºC.  The "Danger" stage can be reached between 27 and 33 ºC, and "Emergency" stage when temperatures exceed 32 ºC.

Alert: Prepare to take necessary cooling measures: increase ventilation rate; turn on cooling fans where applicable; monitor animal behaviour for signs of heat stress such as panting or open mouth; make plenty of drinking water available.

Danger: Apply additional cooling by spraying or misting the animals with water (make sure that there is plenty of air movement during this phase); start evaporative cooling pads and tunnel ventilation where applicable; when possible, move air over the animals at a velocity of 250-300 ft per minute. Flush the water lines periodically.  Closely monitor the animals.                             

Emergency: Avoid transporting market weight animals. In addition to measures listed for the "Danger" category, withdraw feed during the hottest part of the day; reduce light level in light-controlled houses to reduce animal activity and thus heat production.     

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By definition, feed conversion is the kilogram of feed which is used to produce a kilogram of meat or of egg mass. Consequently, those factors that increase feed consumption without a concomitant increase in production of egg mass or meat would adversely affect feed conversion. Similarly, a reduced yield of egg mass or meat without a concomitant reduction in feed consumption again contributes to an inferior feed conversion.

Many factors influence feed conversion. The major factors are as follows:

Energy Level of the Diet: This is the main factor that determines the daily feed consumption of poultry. Assuming other nutrients in a ration are adequate, birds consume more of a low-energy diet and less of a high-energy diet. Marginal deficiency of other nutrients such as dietary protein, amino acids, calcium (among others) will result in the bird consuming more feed in order meet it’s nutrient requirements, which will consequently result in an inferior feed conversion.

Feed Wastage and Feed Deprivation: These both result in an inferior feed conversion. You should remember that 2/3 of the daily feed consumption is used for maintenance and only 1/3 will be used for production of meat or eggs. Consequently, when birds are subjected to limited daily feed intake, most of the feed is used for maintenance and an insufficient level remains for production. This directly influences the feed conversion. Feed wastage with newer feeding systems is minimal. However, for producers with older systems, feed wastage can be a problem if it does not receive sufficient consideration.

Space: Sufficient floor, feeding, and drinking spaces should be provided per bird. Inadequate floor, feeding or drinking space would reduce the uniformity of the flock and this contributes to inferior feed conversion.

Overweight Birds: Overweight birds or birds that are obese consume more feed for their maintenance and this has an inferior effect on feed conversion. By weighing a sample bird regularly, try to keep their body weight according to the recommendations of the breeders.

Rodents: Keep rodents out of the buildings. Not only are they responsible for transfer of many diseases, they also consume a considerable quantity of feed and this contributes to inferior feed conversion.

Fats: With isocaloric diets, increase the level of supplemental fat in the diets. In other words, try to replace some part of the carbohydrate calories with fat calories. Compared to carbohydrates and proteins, fats have a lower "specific dynamic effect" or "heat increment" and as a result of this, for the same level of metabolizable energy, more net energy can be obtained from fats. Additionally, fat has an "associated dynamic effect", i.e. fat can reduce the specific dynamic effect of carbohydrates and proteins. Due to these specifications of fat, feed consumption can be reduced and as a result of this, feed conversion improves.

Stocking Density: The results of many studies have shown that with increasing the number of birds per cage (or reducing the floor area per bird), egg production per bird declines. This again may contribute to inferior feed conversion.

Ingredient Quality: When purchasing ingredients and other grains, make sure that they are free of mould, broken kernels, insect infestation and foreign materials. Also, pay attention to the weight density of maize. Remember, light maize has a lower metabolisable energy than normal maize. The moisture content of maize should receive great consideration. Try to use laboratory values for the crucial nutrients of feed ingredients. By using this approach, you can reduce the margin of safety and improve nutrient conversion.

Leaving NuTec Southern Africa at the end of June 2002 for Belgium, and a post at the Provimi Research and Technology Centre, I was aware that I would be faced with a number of personal and professional challenges in the months to come. I would have to get used to a different set of perspectives and requirements from customers in the European Feed Industry. Even so, the last six months have proved to be an extremely interesting and thought-provoking period. Certainly, the change from the commercial environment of NuTec to the more research orientated environment of the Provimi RTC has posed a number of challenges in itself, but has given me a wonderful opportunity to see and be a part of a different aspect of the animal feed industry and, in particular, research being conducted at the forefront of the industry.

From the perspective of a South African consumer, the most noticeable thing about the European Livestock Industry is the demands, placed supposedly by consumers, through retail outlets, on producers to meet certain standards. This was illustrated on my first visit to a local Belgian supermarket, where I was astounded by the range of products marketed under the label ‘Bio’ and which included products such as fruit and vegetables, dairy products, meat and fish. In a community where there a high level of disposable income available for the purchase of food, consumers can afford to be pickier and the wide range of products produced to meet all needs is incredible. Future visits to the same supermarket have, however, left me wondering whether the marketing of products under the ‘Bio’ label is not simply a marketing ploy aimed at a select niche market. In general, increasing consumer pressure and recent scandals related to the livestock industry, such as the dioxin scare in Belgium, and the foot and mouth and BSE outbreaks in Europe as a whole, have lead to much stricter controls throughout the industry.

Environmental and welfare concerns dominate a large part of discussions associated with animal production and there is considerable focus in nutritional circles on ways to reduce phosphorus and nitrogen excretion from livestock. (Agricultural Production in Europe is strongly regulated by environmental limits for nitrogen, phosphorus, trace mineral and ammonia output as well as odour emission). Legislation plays a very important role in determining production methods and in some cases definite benefits of new legislation have been observed whilst, in others, the opposite is true. For example, the legislation which lead to the group housing of gestating sows, although originally met with opposition, appears to have been a success and sows have been found to perform better and are easier to handle under the new housing guidelines. On the other hand, producers implementing the free-range system of egg production have in most cases seen a decrease in the productivity of their birds, combined with an increase in mortality and legislation related to the housing of laying birds has spawned a range of interesting "enriched cage" designs, as a visit to any Trade Show will illustrate. Looking at some examples of cages, I could not help feeling that the commercial aspects of consumer anthropomorphism are being exploited to some extent, at the expense of the producer (and ultimately, even the consumer).

As I mentioned earlier, perceived customer demand plays a large role in the determination of legislative policy and the marketing of agricultural products in Europe and it is likely that this will eventually happen in South Africa. However, local producers are not yet faced with the same challenges. However, I believe that South African producers need to keep a close eye on the policies implemented in Europe and the impact that they may have on our businesses. Where we feel that certain policies or new technology will be beneficial to our operations we need to implement and make the optimum use of them. Although Europe may be a market leader, we need to make sure that we do not fall into the trap of implementing all policies brought to bear by the European Legislature without careful consideration of the implications of these policies on our own industry.

Another interesting difference between the South African and European Feed Sectors is the debate surrounding in-feed medications. In June of 2002, I presented a cost to benefit comparison of the in feed medications commonly used in South Africa at the NuTec poultry symposium. At that time, antimicrobial type additives, in most cases, tended to be the most cost effective and manufacturers were able to provide substantial research data to back this up. However, the situation is somewhat different in Europe and most South African producers will be aware that the use of antimicrobials as prophylactics in animal feeds in Europe is severely restricted, in contrast to the situation currently experienced in South Africa. For example only Salinomycin, Flavomycin and Avilamycin can be used in poultry feed in the EU at present and even the use of these antimicrobials, as prophylactics, will be prohibited after a January 1^st 2006 deadline. On the whole, the EU feed industry does not support the logic behind the ban on the prophylactic use of in feed medications, primarily because of the commonly held belief that this will lead to a greater therapeutic (or prescribed) use of the medications in many instances. However, the proposed ban on the prophylactic use of in-feed medications has been on the cards for sometime now and as a result, a considerable amount of research has gone into the development of alternatives to antibiotics. Consequently, there are now a myriad of alternatives currently available on the market and the prospect of a ban on antimicrobials no longer hangs over producers as a dark cloud of doom. With such a range of alternatives on the market European producers instead face the problem of deciding which product is worth paying for and which is simply a "magic white powder" – a problem often compounded by the ‘newness’ and thus lack of good research data available for many of these alternatives.

One of the more pressing problems facing European producers at the moment is their lack of economic competitivity (or cost competitiveness) and producers based in EU member states are finding it exceedingly difficult to compete with cheaper imports from the likes of Brazil and the USA. Consequently, it is quite conceivable that the ban on antibiotics is a means of providing some form of protection for the European producer. However, the expansion of the European Union to include 10 additional, previously Eastern European countries will certainly create challenges for the European economy as a whole, not least of which the agricultural sector and feed industry, and will no doubt help to shape European Legislative policies in the coming years.

At least partly in response to new legislative demands and the animal health problems which have been experienced across Europe, the research focus of the European Feed industry as a whole is at the moment strongly directed towards the development of alternatives to antimicrobial feed additives, increasing food safety, and the influence of nutrition on gut health and integrity, as well as the stimulation and support of the immune system through nutrition, thus allowing the animal a better opportunity to fight off diseases without the use of medications. Attention is also being given to better understanding the nutrient requirements of young growing animals with the intention of giving the young animal the best optimal (as well as economical) nutrition to ensure optimal growth during the later stages of production.

A large proportion of research efforts are also being directed at the re-evaluation of the vitamin and mineral requirements of livestock, with particular reference to the B vitamins, calcium and phosphorous. Rapid changes in the genotypes of both poultry and pigs have meant that these species now reach a marketable weight at a considerably younger age than say 20 years ago and published vitamin and mineral requirements have not changed much in this time. The changes in optimum requirements that researchers are seeing, may also in some cases have a direct benefit on the health status of the animals in question, and the re-evaluation of nutritional requirements as a whole is helping feed manufacturers to continuously fine tune the supply of nutrients to the animal in relation to its requirements. The results of this research are often available to South African producers, through a variety of sources, and is one example of technology or "know-how" which can be adopted and implemented to the benefit of producers.

On the whole, it is clear that the South African producer faces a very different set of challenges to those producers based in Europe, not least of these being highly variable input costs and exchange rates. But, I don’t believe that this means we are necessarily any worse or better off – we quite simply have to meet different objectives in order to be successful.