Parrot hand rearing
Alongside the more standard uses of our additives for poultry and swine Perstorp feed additives are also very beneficial in more specialized feeds. One of these more specialized feeds is parrot feed for hand rearing parrot chicks.

Parrot chicks in the wild are reared by their parents, but this is not always the best option among parrot breeders. There are several reasons why hand rearing is a better option. The first reason might be a poor breeding pair, which finds it difficult to rear the chicks themselves. A second reason might be the number of chicks per breeding pair or a large age difference between the chicks. Last but not least, some of the birds are so valuable that breeders don’t want to run the risk of loosing any of the chicks by bad parenting. Because of the reasons stated, hand rearing parrot chicks has become a common method for improving breeding results and getting tame domestic birds.

But hand rearing is not as easy as it sounds. The parrot chicks are very susceptible to health problems due to their infant immunity system. These health problems can be due to micro-organisms, environmental factors, feeding method and the composition of the hand feeding formula. Alongside the nutritional composition of the feed, non-nutritional ingredients also play an important role in keeping parrot chicks healthy. One of these non-nutritional products is a mixture of organic acids. By adding a mixture of organic acids to the feed, it becomes more like the feed parrot chicks would get in the wild. The feed from the parents is often mixed with acid from the proventriculus giving the feed a low pH-level. In addition, the natural feed is mixed with lactobacilli from the crop of the parents. The advantage of this for the animal is that more lactobacilli will grow in the digestive system improving digestion and the first line of defense against micro-organisms. This last advantage is very important when feeding parrot chicks by hand. Candida contamination is common and is dangerous for the health of the animals. In the past researchers have demonstrated successful treatment of Candida infections in birds with organic acid such as formic acid. Our ProPhorce® AC 101 has been successfully used for many years in feed for hand rearing parrot chicks with a much lower incidences of Candida infections.
(Reference: Werquin, G., Ghysels, P., (1997): Frequent problems during hand rearing and the influence of the hand rearing formula on their occurrence)

The use of organic acids in racing pigeons before and after racing
In the Philippines racing pigeons is a very serious hobby for many people. There are many clubs and competition is fierce. Some of the respectable clubs are the Phil. Homing Association (PHA), Racing Pigeon Association of the Phils. (RPAP), Phils. Racing Pigeon Federation (PRPF), Pigeon Sportsmen of the Phil (PSP) and National Racing Pigeon Club (NRPC).

At a certain moment a breeder asked for advice on additives. He had been an active racing pigeon trainer since his childhood  and yet had never won a race. None of his birds could finish the 7 lap series. He would always loose and end up with sick birds, or even worse, the animal would die.

All the birds were inspected and their training, conditioning and medication program was reviewed. Over time a database was created of the number of visits that were made based on the information gathered and observations made. A race was about to come and it was decided to prepare 30 young birds and to train them. All birds were examined and considered to be able to finish the race. Races are usually 7 laps, leaving 2 weeks between laps to allow the birds to recover from the very stressful long flight. There are two race points, the north and the south. Manila is at the center of them. From North to South the distance would cover around 1,900 kilometers. Depending on the distance of each lap a bird can get home after four to eight hours of flight. Ten of the birds were chosen to start.

During the race all of the birds came strong from the 1st and 2nd laps. It was on the 3rd lap that 4 birds were already sick with different symptoms; diarrhea, one-eye cold and respiratory infections were present. Because of all these different symptoms it was ruled out that an infection had occurred during basketing.

It was decided to supplement the drinking water with organic acid to at least eliminate digestive tract infection and maybe protect them from cross-contamination by other birds. On the 5th lap only three birds were remaining, one was lost and only two were clocked. Unfortunately, in the 6th lap only one was able to make the clock. The 7th and final lap was finished with this bird (Blue Barred bird from an old Janssen ancestry) and the breeder was very happy and proud to get the 2nd place of the race beating quite a big number of entries.

From there on the use of organic acid was common during the conditioning and racing period. The breeder was able to hit the jackpot after two years putting him on the list of champions from the birds produced from that 2nd place bird. He is now a well-known and often consulted breeder in Quezon city.  

Preservation of mink feed
Over the years the fur industry has grown and is now professional. Denmark produces 13 million furs annually. Then comes China with an annual production of 10 million, The Netherlands 4 million and the United States and Russia both produce 2,5 million furs.


In 2005 one of the two largest mink companies in the Netherlands contacted us to discuss the possibilities of feed preservation. The reason was an outbreak of Clostridium Botulinum in the feed.

Minks are carnivores and are fed by-products from the fish and poultry industry. Grains, fat, vitamins and minerals are added on animal demand (gestation, lactation, finishing), all with the purpose of rearing the mink as good as possible with a high value fur. When there is an outbreak of Botulism it causes considerable financial loss; minks die and therefore their fur is lost.

To ensure feed safety a cocktail of different organic acids was developed to acidify the slaughter by-products to a pH of no more than 4.0. Different cocktails were tested in laboratories for several pathogens. One combination turned out to work very well. This solution was fully operational during autumn 2006. 2007 was the first full year with this solution and the company came back to the level before the Botulism outbreak and improved their results considerably in 2007 compared to 2006.

At the end of breeding cycles the mink are slaughtered and their furs cleaned, dried and prepared for transport to international auctions, like in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Seattle, Toronto and New York. About 75% of all furs are used for coats, collars and fashion accessories.  

Organic acids and essential oils in ostriches
A farmer from the North of Paraná in Brazil had a mortality rate of 85% among ostrich chicks due to intestinal diseases and other digestive problems.

Just before the ostrich chick hatches the egg sac is drawn through the navel into the abdomen. The weight of the yolk usually amounts to around one third of the hatching weight of the chick. The yolk sac forms an initial reserve of food, which allows the chick to spend its first 4-6 days without feed or liquid intake. A live weight loss is normal at this time, but many producers do offer the chicks feed and water in excess. The chicks eat the feed and the yolk sack is not absorbed properly. When the chicks lay down on the ground bacteria get inside through the umbilical cord and this situation is one of the biggest causes of mortality due to intestinal infections caused by Salmonella spp and Clostridium perfringens in newly hatched ostriches. 

Another point is that ostrich chicks have to learn how to eat. They do search for feed instinctively but cannot recognize it. In extreme cases birds either starve or swallow all kinds of objects and die of impaction of the stomach/intestine. Litter like straw, sand or sawdust are similar hazards and to overcome these risks the chicks should be kept without litter on concrete floors or rubber mats. Floors and mats must be cleaned and washed regularly. This is essential as the young chicks readily ingest each other’s droppings. This behavior is normal, but it causes infections to spread quickly.

The microbial flora required for digestion in the appendices and large intestine of the chicks is formed during the first days of their life and it is a lot like ruminant microbial flora, so acids should be used really carefully with these animals. In the wild this process is assisted by the ingestion of their parents’ droppings as first food. The droppings contain the required amount of bacteria. For this reason some farmers offer fresh adult bird droppings to their chicks.

The farmer started to use ProPhorce® PH in the feed with low dosages, 1kg/ton in the first month, 1,5 kg/ton in the second month and 2 kg/ton in the third month of life. Low dosages were really necessary due to the microbial flora of an ostrich being very similar to ruminants like cows and goats. After 3 months of life the treatment was stopped because ostriches rarely have bacterial intestinal problems.

After one month of treatment the mortality reduced to 3%, which is considered exceptional among ostriches breeders. Currently, of course, the client has improved hygiene conditions, but still uses ProPhorce® PH.

In conclusion
Perstorp performance additives are showing results in unconventional fields as well as the more common applications for poultry, cattle and swine. The above 4 cases show that the potential for acid based additives can seem almost limitless.