SPRING SUMMER BONUS MAGAZINE 2026

Natural Power in the production phase Feed nutrients, structure, and quality control thereof is the next critical step in optimising animal nutrition as part of Natural Power . The micro- and macrostructure of feed plays a crucial role in the intake, digestion, efficiency, and ultimately performance of the feed and livestock. Particle size dictates how well an animal digests its food and builds its natural defense system. The mill fine-tunes its grinding sieves according to the target animal's digestive tract. For example, the mill creates a coarser grind for poultry compared to pigs, which specifically promotes gizzard function and strengthens the gastrointestinal tract, ensuring the bird absorbs nutrients better without requiring digestive medicines. The correct feed structure choice can make the difference between struggling to meet goals and achieving optimal production performance in animals. During production, feed mills also make use of advanced conditioning and pelleting, where applying heat and pressure at the pellet mill is highly controlled to maximise starch digestibility while protecting heat-sensitive vitamins. For hygiene and sanitation, the feed is thermal- conditioned (heated) to specific temperatures to eliminate pathogens like Salmonella and E. coli before pelleting, keeping the feed biosecure. Strict micro-dosing and homogeneous mixing is important to ensure that vitamins, minerals, and natural additives are spread evenly through the batch, to prevent the occurrence of some animals receiving too much while others get a deficiency, leading to digestive issues and disease. To ensure this, digital scales are strictly calibrated to prevent under- or over-dosing active natural health ingredients. The mill also monitors the mixing time and coefficient of variation (CV) closely. A higher over-dosage mixture percentage and standardised ingredient densities ensure every single mouthful of feed contains the exact balance of immunity-boosting nutrients and thus homogeneity targets can be met. A clean mill environment prevents cross- contamination between batches. If a feed mill must produce a medicated feed line for an emergency farm outbreak, they run "flush batches" of blank grains through the pipes afterward to clean the system completely, preventing accidental antibiotic residues from leaking into Natural Power feeds. Finally, feed mills like De Heus have biosecurity certifications such as membership to AFMA (Animal Feed Manufacturer’s Association) to ensure that all legal requirements for safe feed production are met. Formulation: Tailored nutrition for on-farm implementation Ensuring that livestock receives the correct nutrients for each phase of life is an equally important factor in achieving Natural Power in nutrition. Phase feeding is highly recommended; this is a management method where the animal's recipe changes frequently to match its exact growth stage. For example, in poultry, young chicks need feed with a high protein and balanced amino acid content while gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) and immune system development takes place in the first stage of life, whereas older chickens need higher energy and lower protein contents in their feed to accommodate higher maintenance costs and energy requirements for production of meat or eggs. The graph below shows the most important growth phase per age of pullets (e.g. organs in the first 6 weeks). The nutritional content of each raw material is taken into consideration to create the optimum blend of nutrients required for each production phase. Implementing the De Heus Natural Power concept in feed formulation means designing a recipe that actively builds gut health and immunity instead of just meeting basic nutrient targets. In contrast, standard formulation, nutritionists focus solely on the cheapest way to Graph 1: Multiphasic growth of pullets, adapted from Kwakkel et al . (1993). www.agribonus.co.za Spring/Summer 2026 BONUS 7