No.18 Son Ha Minerals is one of leading manufacturer and supplier on limestone for making additive in poultry feed.
Calcium (Ca) in limestone is important nutrient in poultry diet formulations, especially for bone formation and as enzyme cofactors. In addition, Ca is essential for coagulation, eggshell formation, muscle and nerve function. Beside the available feed, the breeders find way to mix feed to diversity feed resource.
More egg producers are switching from bought-in feed to tailored, home-mixed rations which can offer a greater level of flexibility, improved layer productivity and cost management.
11 key elements to home mixing
1. Storage – pest-free storage will be needed for both raw materials and finished feed. This could be a house, or a silo, and ideally should be within easy reach of poultry houses to minimise handling.
2. Raw ingredients – the core cereal for layer feed is wheat, but barley, sunflower, beans, peas and whole rape can also be used. It helps costs to be growing your own, but the majority of egg producers will buy in some cereals, as well as the soya, limestone, oil and minerals required.
3. Calculation - To calculate the raw material storage capacity required, Harbro lists the typical weekly tonnages of raw materials required to feed the average UK flock size of 32,000 laying hens. The basic ration is typically made of wheat, soya, limestone, minerals and oil, though on occasion barley and sunflower can also be added to the ration.
4. Machinery – if you are DIY mixing you will need to install a mill and mix machine and digital weigh scales, and to plan and budget for housing and electrics for the machinery.
5. Type of machinery – this varies depending whether the raw materials will be wet or dry, and if the ration will be powder or pellet. How much you spend depends on budget, and as with all machinery, the higher the spec, the higher the cost, but it is worth considering whether initial investment will save time in the long term on cleaning or manpower, for example.
6. Specialist processor - If you employ a specialist processor to mix on-farm, it is charged by the tonne and the total cost depends on quantity being mixed and the layout of the unit. The average cost saving for a mill and mix service is £20-30/tonne.
7. Staff – you will need to allocate labour to manage the mixing, cleaning and maintenance of the milling machinery and houses. They will need to be fully trained, and their man hours should be taken into account when planning to mix on farm. If you are using a specialist processor, there is no need for assistance from on-farm labour.
8. Health and hygiene – traceability and auditing are a large part of on-farm mixing, and in addition to signing up to nine different bodies for regulation (see Feed compliance list), you will need to send feed for testing, keep records up-to-date and be ready for inspections. Factor in costs of maintaining these standards, most of which require annual renewal. If you employ a specialist processor, they should take responsibility for all compliance and auditing.
9. Health and safety – as well as pest free storage and regular cleaning of the machinery, you will need to make sure anyone using the machinery is appropriately trained and that your insurance covers on-farm mixing.
10. Nutrition – it is important to ensure that the right minerals and vitamins are added to your feed, so you should seek the advice of your nutritionist. Regular testing of KPIs and of feed composition will allow you to respond quickly to improving flock performance in conjunction with the advice of a nutritionist.
Home grown
Whether DIY-mixing or using a mobile mill and mix service, the biggest saving is using home-grown cereals to keep ingredient costs to a minimum, while adding greater traceability for buyers. However, most home mix producers still buy in the majority of their grain and drive savings and efficiencies by improving egg numbers and feed efficiency,
A basic feed composition in home mix, includes wheat, soya, limestone, oil and minerals with additional barley, sunflower, whole rape. Peas or beans can also be added if it is advantageous for the flock’s performance.
We are supplying limestone for many company and feed mill in domestic and oversea market. If you need our limestone, please contact with us.
No.18 Son Ha Minerals Co.,Ltd
Address: Mam Xoi Mountain, Thanh Son Commune, Kim Bang District, Ha Nam Province, VN
Telephone: +84 936 212 598
Hotline: +84 986 358 011 (Whatsapp / Wechat) - Mr. Thomas
Email: export2@shcgroup.vn
Skype: export2@shcgroup.vn
