Mineral Optimisation in Poultry

Poultry products are environmentally efficient with a low carbon footprint, yet feed costs comprise a significant portion of production expenses, and diets contribute to emissions. Trouw Nutrition addresses these challenges with solutions for resilient, efficient, and sustainable poultry production.

Efficient mineral utilisation

• Minerals are essential for  health and animal performance – and bottom-line results – making them a vital ingredient to consider when formulating diets. However, different factors can affect the availability of minerals to animals’ digestive systems.
• Minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, zinc and copper are present in and important for almost all biological processes, including bone development, immunity and growth. However, their availability can be unpredictable, due to other feed ingredients, the animals’ health status, and the presence of mycotoxins.
• Phytic acid, a substance found in plants that acts as an anti-nutritional factor in poultry feeds, can also affect the availability of minerals. It can react with minerals such as calcium, phosphorus and zinc, rendering them unavailable for the animal. This can lead to mineral deficiencies that affect animal performance.
• Including the mineral sources offered in Trouw’s portfolio when formulating diets can reduce these risks and give you peace of mind.

Production efficiency

• Since an animal’s diet contributes substantially to emissions and costs, it is a fundamental factor that can be modified to achieve more sustainable and efficient production. Ensuring healthy development can boost productivity and improve performance.
• Feed quality is important in sustaining your flock’s growth and performance – it drives both the intake and digestibility of nutrients. The feed must include ingredients that deliver nutrients that meet the animal’s requirements, which are never static and change all the time.
• Animal resilience is also critical to a flock’s performance. More resilient animals can deal better with stressors they experience during production, leading to a more homogenous flock and better bottom-line results.
• Trouw’s portfolio includes products that can support your flock’s performance – and with it, your bottom line – by feeding birds higher quality nutrients, improving nutrient utilisation and increasing animal resilience.
• When it comes to minerals, more is not always better. Excessive minerals can find their way into animal manure, which can, in turn, end up in soil and lead to environmental contamination. Over-dosing minerals is no guarantee for better outcomes. The best outcome results when the right sources of trace minerals are efficiently used at the right level to maintain the homeostasis of minerals in the animal.