Broiler Nutrition

Broiler Nutrition serves as a follow on from Chicken Nutrition, published in 2013, which was intended to function as an introduction to poultry nutrition for nutritionists and poultry professionals. It is a logical successor and represents a collaboration between two university classmates, Rick Kleyn & Peter Chrystal, both of whom work as commercial nutritionists. This book is focused purely on the science of feeding rapidly-growing broiler chickens. The rapid developments in both the genotype of the bird; in production and commercial systems; changing consumer perceptions and demands; and advances in our understanding of the various aspects of broiler nutrition have meant that – as an industry – we are required to rethink many of our current practices. The information age has heralded an explosion of both peer-reviewed and good industry-based technical publications (so-called grey literature) to the extent that it is easy to become overwhelmed by a flood of new information. Sorting out good data from bad science has become equally challenging and hopefully this book will help to address the most important aspects of sound broiler nutrition. In addition, the advent of digitisation and big data tools offers a new source of real-time, intelligent output. Broadly, the authors have tried to encapsulate as much information as possible into a single volume, combining decades of commercial broiler nutrition practice with the latest research and philosophy. It is assumed that the reader has a grasp of some of the fundamentals of nutrition, metabolism and biochemistry, although some basic information has been included for a completeness of understanding. The book is not intended as a step-by-step guide for formulating broiler diets. Rather, it addresses the underlying principles of nutrition and the authors’ philosophy on how to apply them in practice. It is hoped that the book will serve as a useful resource to all involved in poultry production and feed manufacture, as w