Turkeys thrive better on pelleted feed
Turkeys seem to benefit more than most species by switching to pelleted feeds with trial results showing that body weights at 20 weeks can be improved by up to 5% simply by using pellets.
In most animal species the use of pelleted feed ensures uniformity of
nutrient supply and reduced wastage during transport and feeding, says natural
feed additives company Kiotechagil.
“Pelleted feeds provide an
easy-to-ingest, concentrated nutrient source that have been through a heating
cycle and will therefore have a significantly reduced bacterial count,” says
Kiotechagil’s chief technical officer Murray Hyden. “The heat of processing also
assists with digestibility by pre-gelatinising starches and activating in-feed
enzymes.”
Pellet quality is, however, subject to many factors, including
ration formulation, grist size and stream quality. Additionally, it is extremely
difficult to optimise all these points, and therefore there is a strong
recommendation for feedmillers to use a top quality pellet binder. Many pellet
binders require high volume additions and lead to nutrient dilution of the feed
resulting in the need to reformulate with more expensive nutrients, low
inclusion binders are therefore seen to be preferable.
Mastercube from
Kiotechagil is a low inclusion binder that provides an immediate binding of the
nutrients to give excellent pellet durability during pressing and cooling
operations, says the company. This improved durability reduces returns and saves
energy. This binder even acts as a lubricant in the die increasing mill
throughput and reducing wear and tear. And, as it also contains a pellet
hardener, the pellets do not get crushed during transport and feeding
operations, but whilst providing additional calcium to the diet
formulation.
Related links:
Kiotechagil
Mastercube
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