Agriculture and Food 7–12 · Years 11–12
Formulating a meat chicken ration for protein and energy (Pearson square)
Plant/Animal production: Animal nutrition
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The idea
Mixing a low-protein energy grain with a high-protein meal in the right proportions meets a protein target, and checking the mixture's energy shows whether the ration also meets the energy requirement for that stage of growth.
What you need
- Poultry Hub Australia tables of broiler diet specifications and feed ingredient composition
- calculator or spreadsheet
- the label of the commercial poultry feed used on the school farm
How to do it
- Choose a growth stage and read its crude protein and metabolisable energy targets from the Poultry Hub broiler table.
- Choose a grain (wheat, sorghum or barley) and a protein meal (soybean meal or canola meal) and read their protein and energy values from the Poultry Hub ingredient tables.
- Draw the Pearson square to find the proportions that meet the protein target.
- Calculate the energy of the mixture and convert kcal/kg to MJ/kg (multiply by 0.004184).
- Compare the mixture's energy with the stage target and explain what a nutritionist would add to close any gap, then compare with the commercial feed label.
What you should see
Wheat (13.0% protein, 3153 kcal/kg) and soybean meal (48.0%, 2557 kcal/kg) mixed for a 22% starter give 74.3% wheat and 25.7% soybean meal at 3000 kcal/kg (12.55 MJ/kg), just under the 12.60 MJ/kg starter energy. Sorghum (9.0%, 3263 kcal/kg) and soybean meal mixed for a 20% finisher give 71.8% sorghum at 3064 kcal/kg (12.82 MJ/kg), below the 13.50 MJ/kg finisher target, so a higher-energy ingredient such as oil would be needed. Real rations also balance amino acids, minerals and vitamins. The learner knows it worked when the protein of the calculated mixture equals the target exactly.
What changes
This activity lists no variables to change, measure and keep the same.
Common misconceptions
Each of these ideas is wrong, and the activity is a chance to test it.
- A feed with more protein is always better for growth.
- Meeting the protein target automatically meets the energy target.
- Chickens need the same diet at every age.
Safety card
Hazards
- none beyond normal classroom work
Controls
- no feed is handled in the calculation
Note
Calculation only: no chemicals, heat or animals.
Curriculum references
The NSW syllabus outcomes and Australian Curriculum v9 codes this activity supports. They are references, not a verified or complete curriculum alignment.
Sources
The pages the author read to write this activity.
- www.poultryhub.org/all-about-poultry/nutrition/feed-ingredients
- www.poultryhub.org/all-about-poultry/nutrition/nutrition-requirements-of-meat-chickens-broilers
- www.poultryhub.org/all-about-poultry/nutrition/feed-formulation
- www.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/nesa/curriculum/tas/agriculture-stage-6-2013
- www.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/noindex/2025-03/agriculture-amended-st6-syl-2013.doc
- curriculum.nsw.edu.au/learning-areas/tas/agriculture-11-12-2026/outcomes