Poultry Feed Substitutes

Most poultry raised on farms are fed a diet based on corn or specifically designed corn-based chicken feed. Corn prices, however, can rise significantly and in many parts of the world it is expensive to buy for local farmers. For these reasons there are a number of poultry feed substitutes that are used, which can still allow poultry to grow and stay healthy.

  1. Soybean Meal

    • Soybean meal is the product remaining after extracting most of the oil from whole soybeans. What is left is an energy-rich food high in protein that can provide chickens with most of the nutrients that corn can, making it a cheaper alternative. Soybean meal, however, also is subject to the same price rises as corn from time to time and, as a result, peanut meal, sunflower meal and fish meal sometimes are used instead of soybean meal, although these do not contain as many vitamins and nutrients as corn or soybean meal.

    Whole Grains

    • Whole grains can be fed to chickens all year round as an alternative to corn. By feeding whole grains to chickens, the nutrients and vitamins stay within the grain rather than being lost when they are crushed. Consequently, the chicken benefits from a nutritious feed. Chickens that eat whole grains also suffer less from illnesses and conditions such as coccidiosis.

    Cassava Flour

    • In poorer areas of the world, cassava flour often is used as poultry feed substitute. The main reasons for doing so is that feeding cassava flour results in hens laying more eggs, bringing in more of an income for chicken farmers. Cassava is abundant and cheap in rural areas of places like Indonesia, where the Central Java Indonesian Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology (IAIAT) conducted an assessment on the use of cassava flour on chicken rations and found that it could be used as poultry feed alternative.

    Dried Distillers' Grains

    • DDGS are a by-product left over from the making of biofuel, which sees wheat starch converted into ethanol. These grains contain increased levels of fiber and protein when compared to wheat. There have been a number of problems of using this as an alternative feed in both the UK and USA. Caking can occur when unloading and the quality of the feed can vary greatly, according to Farmers Weekly Interactive.