Chicken feed plays an important role in raising chickens. Moldy feed can cause chicken disease, reduce egg production, and even lead to death, causing huge losses to farmers. It is impossible to prevent mold growth of feed(or feed raw materials )under poor storage conditions. Feed storage in warm and humid climates can easily lead to mold growth. Certain molds, such as those produced by Aspergillus flavus, are extremely harmful to chickens. What measures does the poultry farmers take to prevent the mildew of the feed?
(1) First of all, from the selection of feed and raw materials, it is necessary to strictly control the moisture. If the moisture content of the feed ingredients is controlled below 12%, the storage time may be longer. Since the production cost will also vary with the fluctuation of the raw material prices, it is necessary to store some of the high quality and low price raw materials to deal with the changes in the market price.
(2) Storage management is also one of the conditions for preventing mildew in feed. The condition for storing the warehouse is one of the important links. General warehouses need high space and good ventilation; the ground should be treated or covered with waterproof materials; the raw materials should be placed on the ground with a wooden frame to be placed about 10 cm high. In addition, the optimum temperature in warehouse should be about 15 °C, and the humidity should not exceed 70%.
(3) Use mold inhibitors to prevent mildew in feed. If it is necessary to store it for a long time, it is possible to add calcium propionate or gentian violet to the feed. The general dosage is: mold enemy (containing 65% propionic acid) 0.1 to 1.0 kg / ton of feed, dew salt (including 98% calcium propionate) 0.5 to 1 kg / ton of feed. The third-generation gasification and anti-fungal agent of the “Wanlubao” produced by the American Antos Company is also very effective.
Chicken cage manufacturers recommend that, in addition to this, we should pay attention to the following points: in seasons with high temperature and high humidity, it is best to avoid storage for raw materials such as rice bran, wheat drum and meat powder. Should used up as soon as possible; Raw material storage had better classified, sub-packaged, and seasoned; professional households should use feed ingredients with low water content, and use less or less mold inhibitors and fungicides as much as possible.