AgriFeed UK supplies animal feed ingredients to the UK animal feed industry. We specialise in concentrated protein and energy ingredients used in young animal diets for all farm species.
Under our former name, Agrosom Ltd, we introduced PIDOLin PCa® (calcium pidolate) to the UK market in 2009 - a speciality product now well recognised for its successful results in poultry rearing and egg production, and its significant benefits in pig and ruminant nutrition.
AgriFeed UK’s current product portfolio includes lecithins, dextrose, zinc oxide, potato and pea protein concentrates, full fat dehulled soya meal and extruded linseed products.
Pidolin PCa
Products
PIDOLin PCa
Calcium pidolate was originally developed to treat osteoporosis in humans. The main symptom of osteoporosis is depletion of collagen in bones, making them brittle and prone to fracture.
French company Dietaxion identified calcium pidolate as a treatment for deficiencies in eggshell quality over 20 years ago, and have been successfully selling their brand PIDOLin PCa® worldwide ever since.
Calcium pidolate for poultry – how does it work in rear and late lay?
Problems with poor eggshell quality have traditionally been addressed by adding various calcium sources to the diet, but this does not tackle the root of the problem.
But is in fact the quality of the egg membrane that dictates the integrity of the shell deposited around it.
The principal constituent of the membrane is collagen. When the laying hen grows older, it becomes less efficient at synthesising collagen of the optimal quality. This results in a thinner membrane, less capable of supporting the eggshell. The eggshells of older birds are thus inherently weaker, leading to a significant increase in seconds.
The calcium-binding protein in PIDOLin PCa® facilitates the absorption of calcium sources in the diet into the blood and then into bones. It then mobilises calcium from the medullar bone into eggshell formation.
Feeding PIDOLin PCa® from week 50 (or when seconds start to increase) can reduce seconds by more than 20% and usually increases collectable eggs by 1-2%.
When fed in rear, for the first 28 days of life, better bone development and muscle laydown is observed, with significant improvement in uniformity and reduction in mortality. This early treatment, costing less than 1p/pullet, also reduces problems with eggshell quality in late lay and extends flock life. Returns are usually greater than 2:1 against cost.
Calcium pidolate for pigs – how does it work?
PIDOLin PCa® is best known for its use in poultry in the UK, particularly for its eggshell strength benefits during late lay, but it is also extremely effective in pig nutrition.
Fed for one week before farrowing, until weaning, as a top dressing on sow feed, it increases the sow’s muscle tone, thus cutting down farrowing time and reducing mastitis.
In trials, it demonstrates a reduction in lameness because it restores collagen in joints. It increases uniformity in piglets at birth and weight at weaning because of better skeletal development and muscle lay-down.
In trials, it demonstrates a reduction in lameness because it restores collagen in joints. It increases uniformity in piglets at birth and weight at weaning because of better skeletal development and muscle lay-down.
There is less placenta retention and also a cleaner uterine matrix. Finally, it reduces the oestrus interval by nearly 24 hours. In trials, the extra earning per sow per year is an average of £10.
Farrowing
-
Reduction of 55 minutes in farrowing time
-
Reduction in stillborn piglets of 83%
-
Increase in blood calcium of 15% = reduction in risk of hypo-calcaemia
Piglet growth
-
Increase in ADG of 30g/piglet/day
-
Increase of 600g/piglet at weaning
Weaning
-
Oestrus interval reduced from 5 days to 4.2 days (20 hours)
Download info about PIDOLin PCa in pig production
Calcium pidolate in ruminants
Hypocalcemia is rooted in problems caused by the dairy cow’s difficulty in mobilising enormous quantities of calcium at calving.
Using the calcium binding protein contained in the arginine fraction of calcium pidolate, this problem is better managed by employing a calcium transporter to mobilise calcium from the bones to help the freshly calved cow to produce adequate milk for the calf.
Lecithin
Lecithin is the most popular emulsifier used in industrial food preparation, as it allows oil and water to mix in the cooking process. Lecithin is extracted as a liquid from oilseeds such as soya, rapeseed and sunflower during the crushing process, when the oil and protein meal fractions are being separated, and it is harvested from the crude oil before it is refined. It is then further processed into a powder in fine or granular form. Lecithin is used in animal feed where a liquid vegetable oil source is not available, because it is the highest oil bearing feed ingredient available, which is important for energy in animal feed diets.
Certificated GMO-free lecithin is a speciality of AgriFeed UK.
GM lecithin powder is available in 25kg plastic lined cartons and GMO-Free Lecithin is available in 20kg plastic lined cartons.
Pidolin PCa
Dextrose
Also known as glucose, dextrose is used in young animal diets for energy and also good palatability through the weaning process.
AgriFeed UK’s dextrose is available in 25kg bags by full 24 tonne truck delivery directly from the processor in Germany.
Zinc Oxide
Used by premix manufacturers to produce prescription antibiotic treatments for bacterial infections in young stock.
Available in 25kg bags, on 1.25 tonne pallets. 25 tonne container deliveries only.
Potato Protein
This expensive high protein (70%) actually starts life as a by-product, as it is the protein-rich juice that is collected in the process of removing starch from potatoes. The liquid is treated with acids and centrifuged until it is a highly concentrated powder. Again, this is used in protein-rich starter feeds for young stock.
Available in 25kg bags and mini bulk
1 tonne tote bags, production from Denmark and Poland. Full 25 tonne truck deliveries only.
About AgriFeed UK
AgriFeed UK is an animal feed ingredient trading company based in Essex, owned and run by husband and wife team Greg and Juliet Dunn. Greg Dunn has been in the animal feed trade for forty years and worked in all of the former 'national’ feed compounders and several independents, before specialising in oils and fats, and then starting his own animal feed commodity trading company in 2004.
In 2009, Greg founded Agrosom Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Agrosom GmbH, a German speciality feeds company, and in the same year started a broking house called BDC Agri.
Greg introduced PIDOLin PCa® into the UK egg market in 2009, and this has since become the market leader for slowing the decline in eggshell quality during late lay.
Agrosom Ltd also traded high protein and energy raw materials into the UK feed industry over the last decade, but in early 2020, the purchase of Agrosom Ltd was negotiated, and on 1st July 2020, the company was officially sold to Greg and Juliet, and its name changed to AgriFeed Ltd, trading as AgriFeed UK.
AgriFeed UK remains a trading partner with Agrosom GmbH, and fully expects this change to strengthen their trading relationship and the profitability of both companies, whilst allowing AgriFeed UK to pursue new directions and products.
Contact us
Unit 11, West Mersea Business Centre
Rushmere Close, West Mersea, Essex CO5 8QQ