Animal species for which we also produce feed
Our focus is on enhancing animal health and improving results for our customers. However, we not only make food for poultry, swine, ruminants and fish… Whatever animals you keep, we have the appropriate feed! We have several different brands that supply animal lovers with the right feed for their pets as well as nutritional solutions for farmers with less frequently farmed animals. Here are species of animal for which we also produce feed:
1. Buffaloes
India produces the most milk worldwide, over half of which is buffalo milk. De Heus therefore produces buffalo feed as well as the more familiar types of feed for dairy cows. We carefully studied buffalo requirements and how they differ from those for dairy cattle. One of the things we discovered is that buffaloes are very sensitive to the taste and stability of their feed. Buffaloes produce relatively little milk every day (on average under 10 litres/day) but with a very high fat percentage of between 8 and 9.5%. Despite their low production, it is still interesting to keep buffaloes, because they eat the yields of roughage (straw). Next to this it is allowed to slaughter buffaloes, this in contradiction to dairy cattle in India. Furthermore, their milk yields much more per litre than regular milk. Buffalo milk is also very popular with Indians because the national product Ghee (Indian clarified butter) is made from only fat.
2. Frogs
De Heus entered the aquaculture market in Vietnam in 2011. Originally, most frog farmers used Tilapia feeds as common practice in the industry. In 2018, however, De Heus saw the opportunity to develop specific frog feed. It is very important to understand and learn from our customers in terms of their requirements for feed performance. De Heus therefore developed a specific feed programme for frogs, enhancing their feed intake. We were subsequently able to reduce FCR from 1.6 to 1.2 and shorten the production cycle from 70 to 60 days!
3. Ostriches
De Heus South Africa started focusing on ostrich feed in 2014, after a market research showed that current needs of farmers were not addressed by competitors. With a production facility in the Western Cape at “Kleinberg and situated very close to one of the biggest ostrich production areas De Heus South Africa could address the needs of producers, this resulted in an increase on local feed sales. De Heus South Africa currently has four production plants in Umlaas Road (Kwa-Zulu Natal), Klerksdorp (Northwest), Modimolle (Limpopo) and Kleinberg (Western Cape).
4. Quails
When De Heus seriously started work in Vietnam, we noticed that quails are kept in big flocks as regular production birds. Eggs can be bought in large quantities in the ‘wet markets’ and in retail shops. During the productive period, quails eat about 25 grams of feed per bird per day. Every year, De Heus Vietnam sells thousands of tons of quail feed in Asia. Which means we feed more than 4 million quails every day! The birds already start producing eggs after 6 weeks. Peak production can reach 97% and over a period of 6 to 8 months, more than 150 eggs of around 12 grams are produced per female.
