₦airaland Forum

These days that the price of Maize is fluctuating between N110 and N130 depending on locations as the PRIMARY SOURCE OF ENERGY and this ingredient accounts for between 40-55% inclusion rate depending on the bird under consideration.As a result of this, what cheap but effective option is left?
The answer to it is to replace Maize partially or wholly with CASSAVA PEEL MEAL which is very cheap when compared the two ingredients prices of N40 :N110.
BE A SMART POULTRY FARMER.

There are several feed ingredients that are available across the nation ranging from A to Z of these raw materials that can be easily purchased from any Agro based dealers or some feedmillers.
Ability to buy these ingredients and mix them in the right proportion will give your livestock a good edge over the commercially packaged ones bassd on the following facts:
-Freshness : In as much as the raw materils/ingredients are just being mixed together irrespective of the days that the ingredients spent in the warehouse, it is still assumed fresh because the level of its deteriotation is under check.
- Small Quanyity Produce : Yes, when compared to those that are being produced en mass from those packaging companies like XYZ feed company. And the importance of this is that the rate and time of the feeds going rancid is also put under check as the livestock can consume the little quantity produced under a certain time frame.
-No need of Artificial Anti-Oxidant: What anti oxidant specifically does is to prevent the unneccesary interractionz of the various ingreients used to oxidate which makes the feeds grow mould and unfit for consumption for the livestock. Most of the antioxidants used are chemically produced.
-High Cost : When you consider all these afforementioned facts, all these additions shoot up the cost of buying commercially produced feeds.

I have been questioned severally if feed could cause the egg laying performances of commercial egg layers. My response is always YES.Although, there are about a dozen more reasons to this defect.
But the truth is that feeds and feeding is highly paramount to egg laying even if other factors are gotten RIGHT.
So, why don't we also get their FEEDS RIGHT?

A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE
AND WE SHOULDN'T BE PENNY WISE AND BE POUNDS FOOLISH!!!

Maqpisces Ventures is a registered outfit with Corporate Affairs Commission with a sole aim in Agri ulture. It is headed by a practically trained leader in the field of Agriculture with specialization in Animal Breeding & Genetics.
You will be glad doing business with us.

What is Broiler Pre-Starter Feed?
This is a special feed for broilers especially those that are sold out between 35 to 42 days to attain an average liveweight of 2kg which is highly rich in Crude Protein as its yardstick of measurement.
Most conventional feedmillers that i know of in my country, Nigeria don't produce such feed because it will be too expensive on their own sides considering all other factors like packaging and branding cost.
They only produce to big farms on request.That is how it goes.

Before anything today, thanks to several people that have reached out to me through calls and whatsapp.
In response to a particular question that are similar to what tbe majority of them ask me.....Is it possible to attain 2kg liveweight in Broilers in 42 days (6weeks).? My response to them all is a big YES.But the truth is that the feed that will make it attainable is NOT in the market.
So, what is the way out? FORMULATE YOUR OWN BROILER PRE -STARTER, that is what it is called .

A well processed Cassava Peel Meal is available in large quantity.It is a good substitute for Maize and/or any other source/s of our Energy zource in BROILER, TURKEY and LAYERS PRODUCTION.
It can also be used to feed the CATTLE,SHEEP,GOATS AND PIGS.
Infact, it is a very cheap alternative source of ENERGY.It helps the farmers to save some thousands of Naira and still give the desired results most especially for the commercial egg producers.

You sent me a mail , but i didnt see any of such in my mailbox.Hope there is no problem?

Let's talk a bit on LAYERS today. What are layers? These are birds that are reared commercially for the production of table eggs. And there are different strains of layers in Nigeria markets. The commonest one include Isa Brown, Harco Black, Delkalb - Amberlink, Bovan Nera, Tetra SL etc. The choice of which a farmer rearers depend solely on his/her preference based on advise from his/her Consultant.
However, whether farmer X or farmer Y rears A or B or C strain/breed of layers isn't our discussion for today. But what connects all the strains of layers which is the FEEDS.
What actually makes a particular farm stands out and be well known is in the quality of eggs being turned out and this quality is measured and determined by the egg-yolk colour being produced.
Only very few commercial poultry Farms produce golden yolk due to the quality of feeds fed to these birds which is lacking in pigments while the majority of the few farmers that there birds lay golden yellow yolks use artificial colourants which of course are NOT good for HUMAN HEALTH because of their RESIDUAL EFFECTS.
In achieving the golden yellow of the egg - yolk, a simple addition of either of any of the following will give you a desired result that you will be surprised of Turmeric, Pawpaw Leaves, Chilli Pepper.
Before using any of these natural colourants which of course are also PHYTOGENICS substances, you MUST have the knowledge of how to combine a chosen one without altering the other Feed's nutrients, otherwise, one is a done for.
Who says you can't achieve better result?

Thank God, today is Friday. In as much as, we all can say that, poultry birds aren't aware of this. As theirs is to eat quality and balanced feeds that will bring out the best in them either in form of quality eggs laying or good weight gain in case of broiler farming.
Whichever one that we are into, we need to feed them with quality so that at the end of it all we all can smile to our various bank's. And the only way to achieve this is to avoid playing games with your birds by doing the needful things.
Quality poultry feeds come cheaper than the commercially bagged ones of various trade names if only you know how to formulate and produce it.
Formulating your poultry and other livestock feeds help you to reduce the total cost of production to an appreciable level that will leave you to wow if you are a first timer.
This is the truth and nothing but the truth. As a parting shot, HOW MANY COMMERCIAL FEEDMILLERS PRODUCE BROILER PRE-STARTER FEED? AND IF YES, WHAT IS THE CRUDE PROTEIN PERCENTAGE AND ITS ENERGY LEVEL?
once again, thank God today is Friday. And happy weekend to all farmers in the house.

Several people have been calling and texting me to ask and confirm based on different challenges as regard their failure in attaining 2kg in 6 weeks ............... in which many believe is NOT realistic, but they're totally WRONG.
like I have been saying, the secret is in the management and most importantly, the kind of feed given to them in their early days of brooding till 10days,
There is no way you can feed them with the conventional broiler starter and broiler finisher and expecting to smile to your bank.
Nay! It doesn't work like that.

It pays by whatever margin you think of it to formulate and produce your livestock Feeds (poultry /sheep/goat/snail) yourself because you will have a total control on the choice of feed ingredients you and also be sure of the quality of the ingredients use aside that it will also be cheaper formulating it yourself which of course makes Greater economic sense.
Give it a trial today and see for yourself and stop spending money on drugs because your livestock is as good as the food they eat.

From the desk of Maqpisces Ventures, we are glad to inform our farmers in the house who are battling with the high cost of feeds of any sort that we can be contacted for 1 on 1 teaching of the art of feeds formulation to suit our needs at a very reasonable cost.
All that is required of us is any of the following
- Laptop
- Android Phone of Version 6 upward
-Ipad
The teaching wouldn't take much of your schedule as you will find it interesting.
Note: We are going to give whoever is interested a manual to ease the learning of the art. In the manual, the maximum and minimum inclusion rate of every Ingredient is simplified.
In addition, a software /apps will be given as well.
Keep the calls coming!!!
Together We Feed The Nation.

Of late, I have been receiving calls from all parts of the country and also several Whatsapp chats mainly on broiler feeds and also layers feeds.
On broilers, bulk of the complaints and challenges have been on two focal issues which are on the high cost of broilers feed and secondly, inability to attain minimum weight of 2kg in 45 days despite the cost of the buying the feeds(starter & finisher).
The candid truth is that, there are several factors that come into play in achieving this weight target. Source of the birds is very vital, the quality of the birds, the management practice and lastly the FEEDS & FEEDING.
On feeds and feeding which I want to emphasise on, the secret of successful broiler weight attainment lies in quality feeding with the first 10 days, and once you miss it, if all other factors mentioned above are right you may still NOT attain 2kg weight in 42 to 45 days.
So, what type of feed should be fed to broilers within the first 10 days? Is it the so called broiler starter? The answer is CAPITAL NO! is the feed commercially produced by the reknowned feedmillers? 7The answer is still NO.
So, what is the way out? The solution to it is that one should learn the tricks of Poultry Feed Formulation. It sincerely worth it if you are a poultry Farmer and also want to excel where many people failed.
Now on layers, most of the questions asked centered on how to achieve GOLDEN YELLOW YOLK without using ARTIFICIAL ADDITIVE that is EXPENSIVE and also CARCINOGENIC to human health.
My response to this vital question was pinpoint and direct. Why? Because it has to do with adding natural pigments into their feeds.
For professionalism sake, I wouldn't be able to mention some of those natural pigments used by some well established Feedmills in Nigeria.
But like I said, it worths learning the art of feed formulation so that you will be able to twist the feeds of your livestock to suit your wants.

My experience in my last visit to a Poultry Farm in Port Novo, Benin Republic revealed alot to me that as we care striving hard to cut corners in the area of Poultry Feed, many farmers there are still over reliance on ready made commercial Feeds which of course is not helping their growth.
Thanks alot to Monsieur Moussa who invited me to one of his farm to see things himself via a friend that he got my contact through.
In a nutshell, it pays to compound your animals feeds yourself..

As earlier said, feeding cost vines in Poultry business gulps between 70 to 75 % of the total cost of production. But one can bring it down to a bearable level of 60% if one can formulate the feeds correctly by himself /herself using the least cost criterion.
Ability to do this will make the farmers smiling to their banks always.
For instance the cheapest layers feed that I know of is sold for N3000 per 25kg bag and a 200 layers is expected to consume a bag ( age dependent), but if you are able to bring the cost to around N2400 with a balanced feed and it is assumed that you are having a standard 2000 layers.
Therefore, on daily basis, 10 * N600 is being saved per day which amounts to N6000 per day and when multiplied for 30days, that's 30 *10 * N600 , N180000 is the amount saved.
Of course, it sounds funny, but that's the truth. It but one of the topic secret in Poultry business as you don't have to pay for packaging and advertisement.
A stitch in time saves nine.

In replacing Maize in feed formulation either party or totally, we need to have the knowledge of what ingredient we intend to use. But basically, like I said earlier, we either use other cereals and/or cereal by-products which come cheaper.
As cereal by-products, one can use wheat offal, maize offal, rice bran, brewer dried grain. And as a matter of preference, I personally prefer maize offal because it is rich in nutrients. It is derived from industries that produce glucose and also locally from those that produce pap.
It has its inclusion rate in all the categories of Poultry. Be it broilers or layers, and the inclusion level must be adhered to. Though, one may toy with the Cockerel, but certainly not with the Pullets/layers.
Having said this, before a choice is made in the course of the replacement, PRICE FACTOR must be considered. If what is cheaper in your locality is wheat bran, why not go for it.

In replacing Maize in feed formulation either party or totally, we need to have the knowledge of what ingredient we intend to use. But basically, like I said earlier, we either use other cereals and/or cereal by-products which come cheaper.
As cereal by-products, one can use wheat offal, maize offal, rice bran, brewer dried grain. And as a matter of preference, I personally prefer maize offal because it is rich in nutrients. It is derived from industries that produce glucose and also locally from those that produce pap.
It has its inclusion rate in all the categories of Poultry. Be it broilers or layers, and the inclusion level must be adhered to. Though, one may toy with the Cockerel, but certainly not with the Pullets/layers.
Having said this, before a choice is made in the course of the replacement, PRICE FACTOR must be considered. If what is cheaper in your locality is wheat bran, why not go for it.

Yeah! Talking about replacing or substituting Maize in any of the Poultry Feed ( Broilers -starter,grower&finisher* , Turkey - starter, grower&finisher, Pullet - Chicks starter, grower,pre-lay &layers) and also for the so called cockerels.
One must have the detail information of such replacer/substitute to use in terms of its proximal composition and not just to completely substitute say 54kg Maize with same quantity of any desired replacer. NO, it doesn't work like that ,except for Wheat and --------------
As earlier written in my last post that maize can be replaced /substituted with other cereals and cereal by -products, root and tubers crops, Cassava and its by-products.
For other cereal grains, we have the following :
•Sorghum
•Millet
•Broken Rice
•Wheat
Other cereal grains such as rye, barley, oats etc are not grown in Nigeria therefore, they aren't within our scope.
But because of price factor and their competitiveness from man, they are usually unavailable for farmers or rather also expensive to purchase.
WATCH OUT FOR THE REAL THING UNDER MAIZE REPLACEMENT WHICH COMES FROM CEREAL BY -PRODUCTS AND FROM CASSAVA AND ITS BY-PRODUCTS IN MY NEXT POST.

Yeah! Talking about replacing or substituting Maize in any of the Poultry Feed ( Broilers -starter,grower&finisher* , Turkey - starter, grower&finisher, Pullet - Chicks starter, grower,pre-lay &layers) and also for the so called cockerels.
One must have the detail information of such replacer/substitute to use in terms of its proximal composition and not just to completely substitute say 54kg Maize with same quantity of any desired replacer. NO, it doesn't work like that ,except for Wheat and --------------
As earlier written in my last post that maize can be replaced /substituted with other cereals and cereal by -products, root and tubers crops, Cassava and its by-products.
For other cereal grains, we have the following :
•Sorghum
•Millet
•Broken Rice
•Wheat
Other cereal grains such as rye, barley, oats etc are not grown in Nigeria therefore, they aren't within our scope.
But because of price factor and their competitiveness from man, they are usually unavailable for farmers or rather also expensive to purchase.
WATCH OUT FOR THE REAL THING UNDER MAIZE REPLACEMENT WHICH COMES FROM CEREAL BY -PRODUCTS AND FROM CASSAVA AND ITS BY-PRODUCTS IN MY NEXT POST.

Sequel to the replacement of Maize with other cereals cereals by-products, root and tubers and their by - products, without mincing words, one will practically force down the cost of Poultry Feed production as Maize alone accounts for between 40 - 60 % of the overall feed ingredients composition.
And if one can successfully replace Maize fully or partially, such Farmer would have equally saved nothing less than 15 -25 % of the cost of feed production.
But before one embarks on this venture, you need to be well grounded in feed formulation and knowing the details of the substituting feed(s) in terms of their PROXIMAL COMPOSITIONS and also the level of their INCLUSION RATE for each of the category of Poultry birds ( Broilers, Turkeys, Chicks, Pullet, Layers).
Otherwise, it shouldn't be the case of penny wise pounds foolish.
Wishing All Farmers Bumper Harvest .

Sequel to the replacement of Maize with other cereals cereals by-products, root and tubers and their by - products, without mincing words, one will practically force down the cost of Poultry Feed production as Maize alone accounts for between 40 - 60 % of the overall feed ingredients composition.
And if one can successfully replace Maize fully or partially, such Farmer would have equally saved nothing less than 15 -25 % of the cost of feed production.
But before one embarks on this venture, you need to be well grounded in feed formulation and knowing the details of the substituting feed(s) in terms of their PROXIMAL COMPOSITIONS and also the level of their INCLUSION RATE for each of the category of Poultry birds ( Broilers, Turkeys, Chicks, Pullet, Layers).
Otherwise, it shouldn't be the case of penny wise pounds foolish.
Wishing All Farmers Bumper Harvest �.

With all sincerity, I will advise you to go for day Old Chicks from reputable farms like AMOO, ZARTECH, OBASANJO. Start with a few number and learn the act with it and you will be able to build your confidence along the rearing period.
As a starter, you shouldn't shy away from learning from the successful practising farmers and NOT from the INTERNET farmers.
And you wouldn't regret your action.

But do you know that you can improve the quality and the genetic constituents of the local breeds of chicken by crossing them with the foreign breeds so as to improve their hybrid vigour.
Aside this, they can be crossed with another local breed of Fulani descent that is popularly called GOLOBA. GOLOBA is very hefty and has good mothering ability. With any of these, you are good to go.
Though, there are more to this than the little I have contributed.

Maize( Yellow/White) has been the MOST COMMONLY CONVECTIONAL ENERGY SOURCE of plant origin in livestock ( poultry) feed formulation. It is very scarce due to the competition from man and animals as food.
Consequently, it becomes so expensive to purchase and the inclusion of high percentage of Maize in Poultry Feeds or diets automatically implies high feeding cost.
As a result of this, any vibrant and proactive Farmer should be able to demystify this by finding a lasting solution which is in any of the following :
>Alternative cereal grains and cereal by - products
>Root and tubers and their by - products.
With due respect to the farmers that use NOODLES WASTE AND BISCUIT WASTE as their SOURCES of ENERGY, can anyone state the proximal compositions of the noodle waste and that of the biscuit waste being used ?
All what you will be told is that they can be used as replacement for Maize as ENERGY SOURCES.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with either of the two if only one knows their proximal compositional values because without it, there is no way one can formulate a balanced feed with it. Quote me ANYWHERE.

Maize( Yellow/White) has been the MOST COMMONLY CONVECTIONAL ENERGY SOURCE of plant origin in livestock ( poultry) feed formulation. It is very scarce due to the competition from man and animals as food.
Consequently, it becomes so expensive to purchase and the inclusion of high percentage of Maize in Poultry Feeds or diets automatically implies high feeding cost.
As a result of this, any vibrant and proactive Farmer should be able to demystify this by finding a lasting solution which is in any of the following :
>Alternative cereal grains and cereal by - products
>Root and tubers and their by - products.
With due respect to the farmers that use NOODLES WASTE AND BISCUIT WASTE as their SOURCES of ENERGY, can anyone state the proximal compositions of the noodle waste and that of the biscuit waste being used ?
All what you will be told is that they can be used as replacement for Maize as ENERGY SOURCES.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with either of the two if only one knows their proximal compositional values because without it, there is no way one can formulate a balanced feed with it. Quote me ANYWHERE.

Good Morning and Happy New Year to all Nairalanders.
As a result of the pressure I have been getting from my dear followers on this trend and based on the promise I made to some of us who chatted with me on Whatsapp, I am therefore doing this for all of us.
As we all know that cost of Poultry Feeds are skyrocketing daily and some Poultry Farmers are finding it difficult coping with the prices of this feeds that come under various brand names from A to Z.
The REASON is not HIDDEN. It is PURELY DUE TO INADEQUATE KNOWLEDGE about FEED FORMULATION. Otherwise, we would have been able to force down the price.
So, WHAT IS CAUSE?
the cause is that most of us who claim to know how to formulate feed and/ or Poultry Feed producers stick to the CONVECTIONAL FEED INGREDIENTS such as Maize, GNC, SBM, FFSB and Fish Meal without having the knowledge to use alternative feed ingredients which are mostly AIBPs.
It is possible to formulate a more nutritious poultry feeds, say layers feed with less than N2800 and this will be better of than the commercially produced ones since you are only producing it for your farms.
So, we all can calculate the difference whenbthe cheapest layers feed is N3200 depending on ones location and considering the number of birds one has plus the number of 25kg bags consumed per day/week /month/year.
Though, the act of feed Formulation is no-child's play because it involves some technicalities. But who says it can be learnt.

Good Morning and Happy New Year to all Nairalanders.
As a result of the pressure I have been getting from my dear followers on this trend and based on the promise I made to some of us who chatted with me on Whatsapp, I am therefore doing this for all of us.
As we all know that cost of Poultry Feeds are skyrocketing daily and some Poultry Farmers are finding it difficult coping with the prices of this feeds that come under various brand names from A to Z.
The REASON is not HIDDEN. It is PURELY DUE TO INADEQUATE KNOWLEDGE about FEED FORMULATION. Otherwise, we would have been able to force down the price.
So, WHAT IS CAUSE?
the cause is that most of us who claim to know how to formulate feed and/ or Poultry Feed producers stick to the CONVECTIONAL FEED INGREDIENTS such as Maize, GNC, SBM, FFSB and Fish Meal without having the knowledge to use alternative feed ingredients which are mostly AIBPs.
It is possible to formulate a more nutritious poultry feeds, say layers feed with less than N2800 and this will be better of than the commercially produced ones since you are only producing it for your farms.
So, we all can calculate the difference whenbthe cheapest layers feed is N3200 depending on ones location and considering the number of birds one has plus the number of 25kg bags consumed per day/week /month/year.
Though, the act of feed Formulation is no-child's play because it involves some technicalities. But who says it can be learnt.

What is the number of birds you are keeping that they are consuming 50kg in a day and their average weight at 7 weeks ?
All these will help someone like me to assist you in the area of formulating the feed yourself.

What is the age of your turkey? Are they all stay or mixture if stay and hen? Let me know so that I may be of help.

For efficiency, for now i do one on one training with my clients in a pre agreed venue for 3 days and each section last for 2 hours with the practical done on forth day on the bill of my client(s).
Whatsapp: 08155867004
Call: 09075324966
Email: 3mpventures@gmail.com

For efficiency, for now i do one on one training with my clienta in a pre agreed venue for 3 days and each section last for 2 hours with the practical done on forth day on the bill of my client(s).
Whatsapp: 08155867004
Call: 09075324966
Mail: 3mpventures@gmail.com