Assessment of Poultry Mineral Mixtures for Indore District of Madhya Pradesh

Lack of supply of mineral mixtures/supplements was the common practice in most (74%) of the poultry farmers in the Indore district of Madhya Pradesh and to evaluate the quality of mineral mixtures (MM) available in the area, 90 samples of MM [branded (Br, 30), unbranded (UnBr, 60)] were collected from different sources (poultry farms, market, feed manufacturers) from all the four tehsils of Indore district. The samples were analyzed for moisture, total ash (TA), acid insoluble ash (AIA), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P) and different trace minerals (Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn). As compared to the standards of Bureau of Indian specifications (BIS), both the types of MMs were having normal moisture, TA and Ca levels, but the values of P were lower. The level of AIA was higher in UnBr MMs, while remained normal in Br. The Br MMs were high in Fe and Zn, while low in Cu and Mn, but the UnBr MMs were low in all the estimated trace elements. The results indicated the adulteration of sand or AIA especially in UnBr MMs and hence the quality was poor which needs proper strengthening of the regulations regarding the quality control of the MMs to overcome the problem under field conditions.