THE REALITIES ABOUT POULTRY The Modern Farm - The Realities About Poultry_Seco | Page 80

tubers are the most important energy feeds. Examples of energy feeds are cereals like maize (corn)
and its by-products (bran), sorghum, wheat and its by-products (bran, shorts, screenings), rice and its
by-products (bran, polishing), cassava root meal (farina, tapioca), yam meal, yucca meal, sweet
potato meal, plantain and banana meal. Roots and tubers should be soaked in water for 60 minutes
or cooked before drying to remove harmful substances, and the proportion in the diet in general
must be kept below 1/10.
Fat is also a good source of energy, in particular in hot climates, as the heat produced during
metabolism is less than from traditional energy feeds, e.g. cereals. Sources of fat are e.g.: tallow,
lard, oil cake meals, poultry fat, fish oil and restaurant fats. However, fat should only be given in
small amounts, i.e. less than 1/10 of the total diet.
Proteins
Proteins are complex organic macromolecules containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen,
and usually sulfur. They consist of one or more chains of amino acids. Proteins are fundamental
components of all body cells and include many bio-chemicals (such as enzymes, hormones, and
antibodies) necessary for proper body functions. They are essential in the animal’s diet for growth
and repair of tissue and can be obtained from many feedstuffs such as meat and fish meals,
cereal grains and legume byproducts such as soybean meal.
Proteins consist of one or more chains of amino acids that are required by the body. The breakdown
of protein during digestion releases the amino acids. Blood carries the amino acids to all body parts.
Single stomach, or monogastric, animals require 22 amino acids in their body. Those animals can
manufacture 12 of the 22 non-dietary essential amino acids, but cannot store the amino acids in their
bodies. As a result, they must get a daily dose of protein containing the other 10 dietary
essential amino acids. Proteins can come from both plant and animal feedstuffs.
Plant proteins come directly, such as corn, or indirectly from plants as byproducts.
Examples of byproducts include soybean meal, cottonseed meal, peanut meal, and canola
meal. Note these high protein meals are byproducts of edible oil extraction from the “oil seeds”.
Animal protein sources are usually byproducts of meat processing and include blood meal, feather
meal, fishmeal, meat, and bone meal, and poultry by-product meal.
Page 79 of 163