Premixes and additives: what to know before adding anything (never a medicine without the vet)
In a 100 kg formula, the premix weighs 500 grams and yet decides whether the bones hold, whether the feathers grow and whether the calcium is absorbed. It is the smallest bag, the most expensive per kilo, the most fragile and the most misused in farm workshops: forgotten, doubled "to be safe", stored in the sun, or replaced by a product nobody knows the contents of. This lesson explains what is inside, why you never compose it yourself, how you choose it, store it and weigh it, then goes through the additives you will one day be offered. And it sets the rule that is not up for discussion: no medicine in the feed without the vet's prescription.
13 min read · 5-question quiz at the end
By Abdul Hussein ChoumanFounder of NEXTEKCI · Agnibilékrou hatchery since 2006This lesson is part of Level 11 — Making feed on the farm. It opens to registered students who have passed the level 10 exam. Levels 1 to 5 and the tracks remain readable by everyone.
- ✓Say what a vitamin-trace mineral premix contains and why its components are not weighed on the farm
- ✓Choose a premix suited to the phase, read its label, store it and calculate the quantity for a batch
- ✓Recognise the main families of additives, what they do and what you need to know before using them
- ✓Apply the rule "never a medicine in the feed without the vet" and explain why it exists