A Poultry farmer, Mr Malik Mumuni, has advised local poultry farmers to make their birds affordable by procuring less costly feeds for them.
According to him, local poultry farmers can yield more returns in their businesses if they explore more affordable and alternative means of procuring quality feeds for their birds.
Mumuni, who is Malykon Farm Limited Chief Executive Officer, gave the advice in an interview with in Lagos.
He stressed the need for poultry farmers to always consider the viability of cultivating grains for feed production or purchase them at cheaper rate.
“A cheaper source where you can get affordable grains is usually the northern part of the country because of its abundance there.
“Aside the grains there are other additives you can source for cheaply and they are also available locally. The affordability of these additives depends on who goes to source them for the farmer.
“Basically to enable the local poultry farmer process affordable feeds for his birds, he must be able to procure a feed mill, no matter how small it is even if it is going to be a half the size of an average mill.
“You can get affordable locally fabricated feed mills from welders and iron fabricators around your locality, with this you are ready to go into production,” he said .
Mumuni, however, called for adequate training for local farmer before successfully embarking on affordable feed mill processing.
He said: “A local farmer cannot just go into bird’s feeds production without undergoing necessary training and tutelage on the processing.
“The affordability of bird feeds is, most times, determined by where you stay, management of your poultry farms and how you want to mix the components.
“People, who cut corners in the processing of local bird feeds, usually yield their returns in sickly and malnourished birds.
“Poultry birds are special creatures and must be given special care and attention, raring birds is just like taking care of an infant.
“The birds cannot complain to the farmer that this is what it is going through, so the farmer has to be very observant and careful with the component of their feed.
“Poultry business is an interesting venture but you just have to give it extra care and time to get the desired result you want.” Mumuni said.
He also revealed the necessary components and ingredients that a locally processed bird feed should contain in their right percentages.
“There are several ingredients that make up a healthy and well-balanced feed for poultry birds and the farmer must know how to mix them in their right quantities.
“Some of the major components consist of maize, either the yellow or the white specie. Most feed processors prefer the yellow maize because it is believed to have more nutrients than the white ones.
“Wheat offal or wheat bran is also another important ingredient in bird feeds as well as poultry salts, groundnut cak), and limestone amongst others.
“The composition of ingredients in their varying percentages is determined by the kind of birds you want to feed. We have different feed composition for broilers, layers, cockerels, turkey,” he said
