CARGILL has introduced a new mini-pellet chick feed to promote chick start in the first 120 hours of a bird’s life.
Neochicc includes precise amounts of protein, starch, fat and additives in highly digestible ingredients to promote maximum nutrient digestibility.
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It also includes a package of essential oils and organic acids, which work together to support gut health and nutrient absorption, along with Cargill’s natural antioxidant Proviox to support performance, and an organic selenium yeast to support bird health.
On-farm trial results have shown that this new diet, Neochicc, can improve feed conversion rates, chick weights, and overall profitability.
Cargill’s poultry manager, David McBride, said: “This new diet is designed to enable young chicks to achieve their genetic potential with improved feed efficiency.”
Uniformity
“The protein source is specifically important in promoting performance and uniformity in flocks.”
Neochicc can be designed as a bespoke diet to meet specific needs such as leg strength or weight gain in cases of low hatching weights.
“We can tailor the formulation to improve specific growth and development targets in a flock,” added Mr McBride.
Gut development
The mini 1.8mm pellet is dust-free and encourages the intake of a consistent diet, stimulating early development of the gut, enzyme production and microflora development, Cargill said.
These factors all support gut health, immune system development and overall feed efficiency.
Results from Neochicc UK trials carried out from winter 2021 to spring 2022 compared the performance of 25,000 broiler bird flocks on Neochicc with those fed a standard broiler crumb.
Results found improved feed conversion rates (FCR), with an average reduction across all trials of three points, and weights from day seven were consistently higher.
Performance
“A young chick only eats about 100g of feed from birth to about day four or five, which is about 3% of the total feed intake.
“But this relatively small volume of feed can promote cost-effective improvements in lifecycle performance.”
“By feeding a well-designed pre-starter feed, we can expect birds to achieve higher carcase weights, with greater uniformity, improved welfare and with fewer setbacks, such as leg issues.”
