The use of insoluble fibre concentrate as part of ingredients for livestock feed mill is the best way to increase the body weight of birds and reduce mortality in livestock irrespective of the climatic condition.

A German company, J. Rettenmaier and Söhne (JRS), revealed this during a roundtable in Lagos conveyed by Mid-Century Agro Allied Ventures Ltd.

The Head of Business Unit Livestock, J. Rettenmaier and Söhne (JRS), Manfred Pietsch, while introducing ARBOCEL, a brand of plant-based cellulose fibers used in pharmaceuticals, nutrition and allied industry, said unlike traditional fibre sources available, Arbocel is rich in insoluble fibre, which has been scientifically proven to be free from contaminants and do not consume space in feed formulations.
According to him, it functions as a filler and binder to improve gut health and welfare in poultry and pigs to nutritionist in Nigeria.

He said conventional crude fibres are high in mycotoxins contamination, high plate count, soluble fibre nutrient binding and has approximately 10 per cent crude fiber content, which are disadvantageous to quality livestock breed.

He said the use of Arbocel, which boasts of about 70 per cent crude insoluble fibre content and will help improve general livestock performance, increase litter quality and gut health in broilers, gut development, laying performance and feather pecking in layers, weight control, better fertility and hatchability, as well as improved performance in broiler breeders, intestinal health and immunity in piglets among others.

Also addressing Animal Nutritionists, Product and Sales Manager, Animal Nutrition, J. Rettenmaier and Söhne (JRS), Ahmed Mahmoudi, said the company has decided to introduce the product to tropical Africa with Nigerian as the vocal point because of the country’s population believing that it will increase livestock production and profitability of farmers.

According to him, JRS has been supplying innovative cellulose fibers to manufacturers worldwide for over 30 years and recorded significant successes with their products.

The convener of the seminar, the Managing Director, Mid-Century Agro Allied Ventures Ltd., Mr. Raymond Isiadinso, hinted that, prior to this time, Nigerian livestock nutrition has been lacking in some breed ingredients capable of optimising production, and Arbocel is one of them.

He added that there are critical ingredients or nutrients that have multifaceted roles to play in the integrity of the guts and internal anatomy of animals, especially in Nigeria due to difference in weather, which places a lot of stress on the production animal, which forces them to under-produce.

“Many of the animals that we are breeding in Nigeria were brought in from regions where the weather is fairly manageable or conforms to the internal anatomy of an animal, but when brought here to breed, they are kept in an enclosure to meet the breeder’s manual.

“There is always a challenge in conformity between the original climate and what is obtainable here. To make up for this and ensure that animals reared here perform at the same level as those from the conforming climate areas, despite the climate difference, Arbocel is the answer.”