Feed additives are only a fraction of the diet, but they help unlock the full potential of your feed and poultry performance. How do you choose the best ingredients to fill this small but essential role?

“Using multi-component feed additives can deliver greater benefits than individual ingredients,” says Nick Evans, Ph.D., poultry research and technical specialist. “Multi-component feed additives contain strategic ingredient blends that are better able to support the animal despite unpredictable outside factors such as disease challenges.”

Here are three ways you can leverage the benefits of multi-component feed additives on your operation.

1. Inside the bird

One way to keep your birds healthy is to support their immune systems with the right nutrition. A multi-component feed additive gives you several tools to accomplish this. One ingredient might provide an antioxidant effect. Another might optimize metabolism, while a third helps with immune modulation. Together, these modes of action support robust gut health.

One example of combining ingredients into multi-component additives is the use of prebiotics and probiotics. Prebiotic yeast extracts such as mannans support gut health. Probiotics support a healthy population of microflora in the gut.

“When combined strategically, prebiotics and probiotics support a healthy gut environment,” says Evans.

2. Within the flock

Small changes in poultry house environments can have large impacts on performance. Even the everyday aspects of production, including vaccinations, diet transitions, or environmental changes, can interrupt feed intake or nutrient absorption. This decline correlates with a decline in efficiency and growth potential.

Multi-component feed additives can help your flock avoid a decline. For example, consider adding plant extracts that boost metabolism and gut integrity to the above example of prebiotics and probiotics.

“When the intestinal lining is intact, it needs less energy for maintenance, leaving more nutrients available for growth,” says Evans.

3. At the feed mill

The right blends of ingredients do more than support animal health and performance. They can also support efficiency in feed manufacturing and mixing. Do you have limited space for ingredient storage? Selecting a multi-component feed additive can reduce the total number of products you need to store in the feed mill. It can also help reduce the cost of bag disposal, save time unloading trucks and moving materials and simplify product ordering.

The right supplier to support your performance

Innovative feed additive combinations are tools for optimizing animal health and performance. The right blends of ingredients also support efficiency in feed manufacturing through flexibility in ingredient purchasing and stocking.

One key to developing the right combination is to identify each active ingredient’s mode of action, as well as what positive or negative responses an ingredient could have when combined with another. Choose a feed additive supplier that has the relationships and expertise to test these combinations thoroughly.

“You’re not just throwing stuff into a bowl and hoping you get a cake,” says Peter Karnezos, Ph.D., senior director of feed additive innovation, PMI. “Success requires screening and selecting ingredients, combining them, testing the combination, adjusting and re-testing. It takes expertise to develop a feed technology that supports the immune system and results that can be repeated across different types of management strategies and multiple breeds of birds.”

Learn more about multi-component feed additives for poultry. Bring your questions for PMI in Hall A, booth 455 at International Production and Processing Expo, Jan. 28-30 in Atlanta, Ga.