Publications
Organic Poultry Products – Are They the Real Deal?
By Rick Kleyn, SPESFEED (Pty) Ltd The demand for organic poultry products will continue to grow, despite the fact that producing organic chicken is expensive both in monitory and environmental terms. All organic systems are by definition free-range systems as well....
Koi Food – Look Beyond the Label!
By Rick Kleyn (MSc Agric) – Animal Nutritionist I am a new member of the South African Koi Keepers Society and new to keeping Koi. I have just bought my first fish and put them into my new pond. What then to feed these beautiful creatures? There is a dazzling array of...
Feeding and the Modern Layer Pullet
By Rick Kleyn, SPESFEED (Pty) Ltd. Modern layer breeds are constantly changing through genetic selection and improvement. The principle aim of the primary breeding companies is to ensure that the birds sold to their clients are more efficient. From table 1, it can...
Feeding Baby Birds
By Rick Kleyn, Animal Nutritionist It is that time of the year where many small birds, mostly passerines, are found "abandoned" by their parents in streets and gardens all over the country. Out of their love for birds, people tend to bring these helpless but cute...
Effective Feed Formulation for Feed Millers and Farmers
By Rick Kleyn, SPESFEED (Pty) Ltd. Feed formulation is the means by which commercial nutritionists apply both their technical and commercial skills in practice. Although formulation is a science rather than an art form, more experienced formulators who have developed...
Biofuels and Agribusiness
By Rick Kleyn, SPESFEED (Pty) Ltd, South Africa. Biofuels are truly the topic de jure in agricultural circles. It is likely to be the single most important event in agriculture for decades. Those of us involved in Agribusiness need to have a grasp of what this...
Wildlife nutrition & feeding
By Brett Roosendaal, SPESFEED cc, Nutritional Consultants, P.O. Box 10294, Rivonia 2128. Tel: (011) 803 2050. In their natural environment wild species have little need for supplementary feeding as their free ranging habits enable them to pursue more nutritious...
To be or not to be – integrated
By Rick Kleyn Writing editorial comment is a fairly daunting task for someone who normally writes quasi-scientific articles. In this forum I am allowed to express an opinion without having to backup any claims or ideas in any way at all. For this reason I thought that...
The Role of the Professional Animal Scientist in Resolving Disputes
By Rick Kleyn Introduction The dictionary defines arbitration and mediation thus: “arbitration” - the hearing and determination of a dispute by an impartial referee selected or agreed upon by the parties concerned “mediate” - to bring about an agreement between...
Some thoughts on stocking Density in Broilers
By Rick Kleyn, SPESFEED (Pty) Ltd. Increasing the stocking density of our broiler operations is a way in which producers can increase their return on investment. They do increase their risk levels as well, as the consequences of high stocking density may lead to...
Nutritional Strategies and Opportunities for the Broiler Industry in South Africa
By Rick Kleyn, SPESFEED (Pty) Ltd, Rivonia, South Africa Introduction Broiler production the world over is similar - or is it? We may all use similar genotypes but differences in climate, available resources, market conditions and human nature often mean that...
Feeding Iguanas
By Rick Kleyn Iguanas are not kept as pets in South Africa to the same degree that they are kept in other parts of the world, but they are becoming increasingly popular. They are true lizards but are strictly vegetarian, or more specifically, folivores. This means...