Press Release

NARI is Developing cheaper Poultry Feeds

12th December 2002

The National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) livestock programme, based at Labu near Lae is developing feeding systems for chickens in which cheaper, lower energy content feeds, made mainly from locally available ingredients, can be used to reduce the over-all cost of feeding the birds to market weight. This could benefit the farmer, even if it takes a week or two longer to grow the birds. Testing the farmer idea of using rabbit pellets seemed a good way to start. In two trials with broiler chickens at Labu it has been shown that feeding rabbit pellets after the first three or four weeks on broiler starter still enables birds to reach marketable weights with a considerable cost saving over using broiler finisher feed. The exact cost saving depends upon the relative prices of the two kinds of pellet.

The cost of milled feeds is seen to be a major problem by independent small-scale producers of broiler chickens for the live bird market. Some such producers around Lae have been buying and using rabbit pellets instead of broiler finisher pellets for growing their chickens from weeks three or four until sale after seven or eight weeks. Rabbit pellets are designed as a complete or supplementary feed for rabbits and are considerably cheaper than broiler feeds. They have a lower energy and a higher fibre content than broiler feeds because they contain greater quantities of crop processing by-products such as copra meal.

Development of cheaper feeds for Muscovy ducks is also a high priority research area. The results of an initial trial compared the growth of male and female ducks up to market weight. Ducks were fed either rabbit pellets or commercial broiler finisher. Male ducks had better feed conversion, higher feed intakes and faster growth rates than the females, while ducks fed broiler finisher had better feed conversion, lower feed intakes and faster growth rates than those fed rabbit pellets. The cost for one kilogram of weight gain was less for males than females but there was no difference between the feeds. This means that male broiler ducks are cheaper to produce than females and ducks can be fed either type of ration.

These preliminary studies confirm the claims of farmers and extension workers that rabbit pellets can be a satisfactory feed for chickens and ducks. Under the free-range system of poultry keeping in villages, rabbit pellets could be used as a supplementary feed for chickens and ducks. Lower cost rations for poultry can be developed using local agro-industrial by-products such as copra meal, palm kernel meal, rice bran and wheat millrun. Farmers can be encouraged to mix home made rations based on these feeds together with protein rich concentrates such as cooked soybeans or fish meals.

Since rabbit pellets are not designed for poultry and are not readily available to most small-scale poultry keepers, the programme is now designing and testing a range of lower cost feeds that might be even more suitable for low intensity broiler chicken or duck production in the different regions of the country. This research effort has been strengthened by the approval of a three-year project funded by the Australians through ACIAR (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research) and which commenced in the middle of this year. The Commissioned Organisation is the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), Pig and Poultry Production Institute, Roseworthy, South Australia. NARI's partners in this are the Morobe Provincial Division of Agriculture and Livestock, the Madang Provincial Department of Primary Industries, the Salvation Army Agricultural Development Programme (Kainantu) and the Lae Feed Mills (Goodman Fielder International).

The aim of this ACIAR project is to increase or maintain the profitability of smallholder poultry production in PNG through the provision of information that will enable farmers or commercial millers to make and use lower-cost poultry rations using locally available feeds. In Australia the project will evaluate free-range production systems.

The objectives in PNG are:

  1. Establish a quality assured live bird feed testing research facility to enable determination of the feeding values of locally available feeds for both broiler and layer chickens.
  2. Document according to feeding values, including seasonal and varietal variation, availability and cost, a selected range of feeds abundant in PNG but not well documented according to modern standards.
  3. Formulate and evaluate, through on-station feeding trials with broiler chickens, low-cost milled and home-mixed rations based on the tested feeds.
  4. Field test and demonstrate on-farm in a participatory manner the use of appropriate rations arising from the testing procedures and taking into account the regional availability of feeds.
  5. Establish a system for the exchange of information with smallholder farmers about low-cost rations for poultry production, including the training of extension agents and NGO staff and the production of written information materials.
  6. Undertake a base-line survey of current feeding practices and farmer attitudes to broiler production and monitor the impact of the introduction of low-cost feeding practices.