Preserving poultry feeds in the humid tropics: A trial of calcium propionate under feed mill conditions

Calcium propionate was incorporated into a complete poultry feed and a feed concentrate at levels of 0, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.6%. The feeds were stored in 25 kg woven sacks in a feed mill. Air temperatures ranged from 22 to 34°C and relative humidity was in the range 67 to 93%. Mould growth was measured microbiologically and by measurement of feed temperature. Calcium propionate had a large effect on the microbiological measurements but only a small effect on heating in the feeds. As a preservative, it retained its activity for 6 weeks which extended the storage life by only 1 week in this case. The relative merits of the microbiological and temperature measurements are discussed.