Define balanced poultry ration. Give some examples.
Answers
Answer:
A balanced ration is the one which will supply different nutrients in right proportions according to the requirements for maintenance and various productive functions. The nutrients required by poultry must be supplied in rations through the ingredients available in sufficient quantity economically.
Explanation:
examples:
WATER: Birds can live longer without food than without water. Lack of a consistant supply of fresh water hinders the growth of young poultry; it leads to low egg production and early moulting in the laying flock.
PROTEIN: This is usually the most expensive feed material, but the one most likely to bring profitable results if properly used. Protein from animal sources - milk, liver, fish scraps, meat or meat meal - is more effective in promoting growth and egg production, than protein from most vegetable sources. Grains alone are entirely inadequate in amount and kind of protein. Excess protein has a forcing effect which may be detrimental to poultry of any age.
CARBOHYDRATES: These are the starchy materials in grains and grain products. Only a starved flock will lack for carbohydrates. They supply fuel and energy, the excess going to form fat in the body or egg.
FATS: Some fat is present in practically all feed materials. An excess of fat from fish oil or meat and fish products may cause digestive upset in birds, and lead to such disorders as fatty degeneration and "crazy chick disease".
MINERALS: Calcium carbonate (from limestone or gravel, clam or oyster shells, bone, etc) in the presence of Vitamin D, forms most of the egg shell. Calcium and phosphorous make up the major part of bone; but excess phosphorous (from bone materials) may immobilize the manganese in the diet, leading to crooked bones and slipped tendons in chicks and poults. Salt supplies some essential minerals. Green feed contains small amounts of certain highly important minerals.
VITAMINS: The naturally speedy growth of young poultry soon reveals any vitamin deficiencies in their rations; hatching of eggs is a critical test of the vitamin content of a breeder diet. Most commonly lacking in Manitoba diets are:
(1) Vitamin A (from green feed, yellow corn and fish oils). Vitamin A protects against colds and infections. (2) Vitamin D (in marine fish oils and synthetic products, or formed in body when exposed to ultra-violet rays of sun). Vitamin D aids in laying down of mineral in shell or bone, and in preventing leg weakness and rickets. (3) Riboflavin (in milk, liver, yeast, green feed, synthetic riboflavin, etc.). Riboflavin promotes the growth of chicks and poults, both in the egg and after hatching; hence it is one of the most important factors in hatchability. Riboflavin prevents nutritional or curled-toe paralysis in young chicks.