The Perdue brand has launched a new set of commercials starring Jim Perdue, a flock specialist and a nutritionist. The ads, airing nationally, feature herbs like thyme and oregano.
The company takes a serious stand against antibiotics. Its no-antibiotics ever pledge is a key part of its animal care commitments.
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HEALTHY INGREDIENTS
Perdue chicken feed is made from high-quality ingredients that are safe and healthy for your family to eat. It also undergoes stringent quality control procedures throughout the entire process from raising to packaging and delivery.
For example, all of the chickens at Perdue Farms are raised without antibiotics, and they’re given plenty of room to roam and exercise. They’re also fed a vegetarian diet and humanely handled.
They even use state-of-the-art slaughterhouses to minimize stress for the birds during slaughter. In addition to these excellent animal welfare standards, Perdue also uses a high-quality poultry feed that is both organic and certified gluten-free.
The company is also committed to fighting hunger around the world. It has partnered with non-profit social enterprise Edesia Nutrition to provide lifesaving, ready-to-eat foods that are serving more than 16 million malnourished children worldwide.
POWERFUL ANTIOXIDANTS
Commercial poultry production worldwide is characterized by many stressors (environmental, technological, nutritional and internal/biological) which can negatively influence the performance, growth, feed efficiency and health of birds [1,2]. Consequently, an adequate supply of natural antioxidants is essential for the optimum performance and welfare of poultry.
A major stressor in commercial poultry production is oxidative stress caused by the overproduction of ROS, such as free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Antioxidants are critical in combating these ROS as they neutralise them.
Among the antioxidants present in the body are vitamin E and glutathione, which can be provided via feed to fulfil a wide range of physiological processes. Se is another important dietary component and, in particular, organic Se forms (Se-yeast, SY, SeMet) and pure chemically synthesized forms of SeMet or hydroxy-selenomethionine, OH-SeMet are authorized as feed supplements.
Using OH-SeMet, we found that broilers fed a Se supplement based on this form had a significantly better BWG (+28 g; +4.8%) and FCR (-3 points; -2.2% and -1.8%, respectively) than those fed the inorganic Se source (SS; n = 10 for both treatments; Table 1). Therefore, Se is an important dietary component that can be beneficial in the production of quality meat and eggs.
PERFECT FORMULATION
The perfect formulation of poultry feed is key to ensuring healthy and nutritious chicken. It should meet the specific nutritional requirements of each category of chicken and provide the daily amount of nutrition that the bird needs to grow.
There are many ingredients that can be used for making poultry feed, each of them adding different nutrients to the diet. They include groundnut cake, pigeon pea, palm kernel cake, and bone meal to name a few.
For example, groundnut cake provides protein and lipids while pigeon pea adds vitamins and minerals. Bone meal, on the other hand, provides phosphorus and calcium.
Moreover, it is important to ensure that the crude protein percentage of each ingredient is correct. For example, if you are making feed for layers, the crude protein should be at least 18%.
Formulation of poultry feed requires knowledge of the feed and poultry as well as some patience and innovation. The typical formula indicates the amounts of each ingredient that should be included in the feed, and provides the concentration of nutrients (composition) in the feed.
FRESH INGREDIENTS
For a company that produces a lot of meaty poultry, it’s no surprise that Perdue has a hefty food-related budget to play with. The perk of that budget is a dedicated team of foodies who are as interested in creating new dishes as they are in perfecting old favorites. And they are always on the lookout for ways to improve every aspect of their foodshed – from the source to the shelf to the plate. This includes a dedicated team that works with local farmers to ensure the most up front and unbiased inputs possible. The result is a product that has the best of both worlds – fresh tasting food atop an efficient supply chain that is as sustainable as it is effective. And of course, the requisite customer service to boot!
