If you love books in print as much as I do, then this book is a must have
Printed books in our profession have become a rarity. Not only there is virtually no financial incentive for writers, but also the digital era has opened the door to self-publishing and fast information dissemination. Still, a well-written book in print is something to be celebrated. Digital print might disappear when the publisher decides to pull the plug, or a computer crashes beyond recovery. A printed book just keeps collecting dust forever.
Rick Kleyn, a well-known poultry nutrition consultant, and author of “Chicken Nutrition” recently co-authored a new book with Peter Chrystal (another commercial nutritionist) titled “Broiler Nutrition Masterclass.”
We might question the need for a book on broiler nutrition when the two broiler genetic powerhouses already publish their own nutrition guides. But these guides are just that: guides and nothing more, whereas a book of 290 pages goes into every detail and problem regarding the nutrition of broilers.
I will not go into details about the contents of the book because these can be found easily at the publisher’s site, but I will stop to discuss a very interesting chapter that, in my opinion, is alone worth buying the book. Chapter 11 on the limits to the digestive capacity of broilers offers an advanced “masterclass” into nutrient utilization beyond the basics, and the Maillard reaction process is given its due attention. My only criticism would be that this chapter does not occupy half the book.
All in all, this is a modern book discussing up-to-date broiler nutrition from an applied commercial perspective offering concrete guidelines on how to formulate feeds and resolve nutritional issues. Given the lack of books in print on this subject and the vast size of the broiler industry, I can only wonder why such a book was not published earlier.
