By Dr. Dave Albin
Can you improve your broiler performance, bring broilers to market earlier and make more money? The short answer is yes, and Dr. Bobeck at Iowa State University recently proved it.
The goal of the feeding trial was to determine how the use of high-shear dry extruded corn, high-shear dry extruded/partially-de-oiled (ExPress®) soy meal, used alone with the commodity version of the other ingredient, or fed together in combination, affected growth performance of Ross broilers.
The diets were balanced for the nutrient requirements of the birds and fed in three phases (starter, grower, finisher). Some important benefits discussed are:
- 12.4% augmented feed intake; 12.9% increase in body weight gain; and an improvement of 0.5% in feed conversion ratio. (ExPress® + extruded corn vs. SBM + ground corn)
- 18% increase in metabolizable energy when using extruded corn vs ground corn
- Market weight achieved 4.8 days ahead of competitors while consuming about 12 grams fewer of total feed. (ExPress® + extruded corn vs. SBM + ground corn)
- With dry extruded corn vs. ground corn, birds required 2.4 days less to market
This landmark feeding trial This study proved that by combining ExPress® soy meal & extruded corn, broilers would see a 6.12% improvement in feed conversion, as well as reach target weight 4.8 days sooner than they would if they were fed another feed combination.
The ISU Broiler Trial remains one of the most impactful feeding trials in recent memory; providing us with the data necessary to evaluate financial benefits broiler producers could obtain by adjusting their feed ingredients. However, combining ExPress® soy meal & extruded corn was not the only major benefit pulled from the study. By switching to only high shear dry extruded corn, your broilers will reach target weight 2.4 days earlier to market, when compared to a diet composition of consisting of ground corn. This minor adjustment alone could save you thousands of dollars in the long-term. Ultimately, the investment and returns are heavily dependent on your own operation.
Further analysis evaluated that feeding a five million bird flock could pay back an investment of a soy & corn extrusion plant is less than two years. We acknowledge each broiler producer will have differences in flock size and costs. To address this, we have been conducting free financial feasibility analyses in order to account for operation-specific variables.
To learn more or discuss this further, please join us at IPPE 2022.
