Formulating antibiotic-free diets
When formulating a diet all nutritionists have to pay attention to cost, ingredients and nutrients. This is even more so the case when it has to be an antibiotic-free diet.
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| It is best to lean towards less feed rather than ‘less quality’ when choosing piglet nutrition |
By Dr Ioannis Mavromichalis, Ariston Nutrition, Spain
Discussions regarding antibiotic-free diets always focus on replacements or alternatives. Yet, research and empirical evidence have clearly identified the lack of any single ‘additive’ in offering the same degree of protection and level of performance as enjoyed by traditional feed-grade growth promoting agents. Indeed, there is general consensus regarding the need for two more areas that need to be addressed if such additives are to work as efficiently as possible: Hygiene and feed formulation (Figure 1).
When faced with a computer screen looking at the main interface of any feed formulation programme, a nutritionist has to keep his eye on three aspects: cost, ingredients, and nutrients. Quite often, the cost, which is rather important if the feed is to be sold, is neglected with subsequent reformulation attempts to bring it down to more ‘reasonable’ levels. So, these three areas shall be addressed in the mentioned order (Table 1).
Read More:http://www.istadd.com/formulating-antibiotic-free-diets/
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