Avian Production Management

Nutrient requirements

NUTRIENT REQUIREMENTS - POULTRY

Nutrient requirements - Poultry

• Under intensive system of rearing poultry in confinement, they need a complete feed, having all the essential and non-essential nutrients, for optimal performance
• The nutrient requirements are not common for all poultry. They vary with species, breed, variety, age, purpose of rearing (such as for meat, table eggs, hatching egg production, Hatching Chicks etc.), season, environment and rearing system (cages, deep litter etc)

Feed quality

• A good quality feed must have all the essential nutrients in the right proportion and specified quantities. For the guidance of the feed manufacturers and poultry farmers, several organisations, standards have stipulated the nutrient requirements for different types of poultry feeds
• In India, the Bureau of Indian Standards (B.I.S.); which was formerly known as Indian Standards Institutes (I.S.I.) has specified the nutrient requirements of chicken. But it has not stipulated any such standards, for other species of poultry. Hence for these, we have to follow some other standards like National Research Council (NRC) of U.S.A. and Agricultural Research Council (A.R.C.) of U.K. These standards are used in feed formulations; so that the feed prepared will supply all the nutrients in the right proportion.