lentils in a game-bird diet - Ask Extension
I am writing from Greece, and I have a relatively big game farm (with pheasants partridge quail) and have reverted to the use of lentils in my birds'...
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lentils in a game-bird diet #144589
Asked August 01, 2013, 6:48 AM EDT
I am writing from Greece, and I have a relatively big game farm (with pheasants partridge quail) and have reverted to the use of lentils in my birds' diet in order to provide a high-protein-based cereal at reduced costs. As a result, I am loosing large numbers of young pheasants and partridges from day 10 to day 40 after hatch. Their diet consists of
- 250 kilos corn
- soft wheat 100
- soya 47% 100
- alfalfa 25
- dried whey 40%
- sunflower 20
- protein soya 50% 20
- yeast 40% 7 kilos
- vegetable fat 70% 7 kilos
- ground marble 12 kilos
- calcium monofosphate 10 kilos
- wheat hulls 40 kilos
- sunflower oil 10 kilos
- anticoccidiostat 600 grams
County Outside United States
Expert Response
The first thing I would check is the salt content. Birds generally need about 0.5% salt in their diet, and I don't see any ingredient in your ration that would provide that. I'll do a bit more checking to see if I see anything else. I think a vitamin/mineral premix would be good if you can find one.
Next, I don't see the lentils in the ration you provided. Are they being added to this? If so, at what ratio?
Raw lentils contain some antinutritional factors, so they need to be cooked in some way to destroy these factors. Germinating the seeds may work, if you are able to do that. Be careful of mold growth when doing this, however. Cooking the lentils until they are soft will destroy nearly all the antinutritional factors, so they can then be fed to the birds.
Good luck with them!
Next, I don't see the lentils in the ration you provided. Are they being added to this? If so, at what ratio?
Raw lentils contain some antinutritional factors, so they need to be cooked in some way to destroy these factors. Germinating the seeds may work, if you are able to do that. Be careful of mold growth when doing this, however. Cooking the lentils until they are soft will destroy nearly all the antinutritional factors, so they can then be fed to the birds.
Good luck with them!
