Factors Affecting Feed Consumption In Chicken

1. Factors Influencing
Feed Consumption In Chickens

2. Factors To Be Considered in Poultry Feeding
1. Feed must contain all essential nutrients in the right amounts and proportion as
required.
2. Different standards per age and breed should be followed.
3. Palatability of the ingredients.
4. Unlike ruminants, poultry completely depend upon the dietary sources for all
nutrients (essential AAs., vit. B groups & vit. K).
5. Include agro-industrial by-products to minimize cost of the ration.
6. Optimum level of ingredient inclusion as many of ingredients have a deleterious
effect at higher levels.
7. Optimum Ca:Ph ratio for different purposes.

3. › Factors Affecting Feed Intake

4. Factors Affecting Feed Intake
1. Type of Bird
2. Age of Bird
3. Growth / production rate
4. Energy Content of Feed
5. Particle Size of Feed
6. Water Availability to Birds
7. Health Status of Birds/Diseases
8. Ambient temperature
9. Stress
10.Fiber content of the feed

5. 1- Type Of Bird
› Meat producing birds
› Egg producing birds
› Dual type birds
› Fancy or ornamental birds

6. 2- Age of Bird
› Nutrient requirements are related to both body weight and the stage
of maturity.
› In later stages feed intake will increase gradually because bird
requires feed for maintenance and production purposes and bird has
to overcome the stress of egg/meat production.

7. 3- Growth / Production Rate
› The growth of meat type birds is rapid as compared to egg type birds,
so, feed intake will be more and fast in meat producing poultry.
› Feed consumption in layer birds will increase as chicks becomes growers
and grower becomes layers.

8. 4- Energy Levels in the Ration
›  Energy level   feed intake
›  Energy level   feed intake

9. 5- Particle Size of Feed
› It is inversely proportional to the feed consumption.
› Birds tend to eat larger particle size as chickens has the ability to pick the larger
cereal grains.
› The feed consumption will improve as the particle size is reduced to medium by
mash, pellet and crumble preparation compared to whole grain.

10. 6- Water Availability to Birds
› Water is the most essential although the requirement value cannot be easily
determined as with other nutrients.
› Water requirement of the meat producing birds depends upon:
1. Environmental temperature
2. Relative humidity
3. Composition of the diet
4. Growth rate

11. Cont. …
› Normally, meat birds drink at least twice as much water as the amount of feed
consumed on a weight basis, but;
– Increasing dietary crude protein increases water intake and water : feed ratios.
– Increasing dietary salt and other osmotically active minerals increase water
intake.
 Crumbled or pelleted feed increases both water and feed intake relative to mash
diets, but water: feed ratios stay relatively the same.

12. 7- Health Status of Birds/Diseases
› Healthy birds --------- normal feed consumption
› Sick birds ---------------feed consumption will be less

13. 8- Ambient Temperature
› Poultry have increased energy requirements to maintain normal body temperature in
cold ambient temperatures and the opposite in hot ambient temperatures.
› The process of digesting food produces body heat, and the amount of heat produced
will vary according to the nutrient composition of the diet. This is called the heat
increment of the diet.

14. Cont. …
› In cold temperatures it may be desirable to formulate a diet with a higher heat
increment and the opposite in hot temperatures.

15. 9- Stress
› Stress has adverse effects on reduced feed intake.
› Elevation of the stress mounting an immune response is compromised by hormones
associated with the stress response causes reduced absorption of specific nutrients.

16. Cont…
› Nutrient absorption and gut motility reduced substantially during the stress response
.
› Acute stress may cause a momentary decrease in feed intake with minimal impact
on performance.

17. Cont..
› Chronic stress will have a marked and persistently detrimental effect on nutrient
absorption and utilization.
› Chronic stress can be influenced by three environmental stressors:
1. Heat stress.
2. Poor air quality.
3. Poor litter quality.

18. 10- Heat Stress
› Heat is removed from the body by insensible heat loss.
› The degree of heat stress endured by a bird is dependent upon several factors,
including
1. Body size
2. Growth rate
3. Ambient temperature
4. Amount of convective heat loss influenced by air speed

19. 11- Poor Air Quality
› Adequate ventilation reduces air moisture, dust, ammonia, and carbon dioxide and
brings in more oxygen.
› High air moisture
– Decreases evaporative cooling and thus adversely affects feed intake.
› Excess air dust
– Causes Inflammation of the respiratory system, which depresses feed intake.

20. Cont..
› Excess ammonia
– Not only irritates pulmonary tissues, but it also is a metabolic stressor that
causes depressed feed intake.
› High levels of carbon dioxide or low oxygen levels in the air
– Results in depressed metabolic rate that ultimately causes depressed feed
intake.

21. 12- Poor Litter Quality
Poor litter quality is also a medium of many of
pathogens that challenge the health status of
the flock.

22. 13- Fiber Content Of The Feed
› Presence of large quantity of higher polysaccharides like cellulose and lignin in
chicken diet increases bulk in feed.
› Lignin and Cellulose cannot be digested by chicken.
› The efforts to convert polysaccharides in to mono or disaccharides will result in
tremendous increase in food energy for chicken.

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