How to evaluate a feed-additive trial

A calculator estimates the economics of the values you enter; it does not establish why performance changed.

Plan the comparison

Define the treatment, control and outcomes before starting. Keep feed delivery, body-weight and mortality records separately for each house or treatment. Apply the same feed-withdrawal timing to trial groups.

Ask these questions

• Were flock age, genetics, feed and management comparable?
• Were health events or equipment failures documented?
• Was there replication at the level where treatment was assigned?
• Were additive dose, duration and total cost recorded?

Interpret economics and evidence separately

Use the ROI calculator to explore measured outcomes and a conservative scenario with no performance improvement. A positive calculated return is conditional on the entered assumptions; it is not proof of treatment efficacy.

Before making a causal claim, have a suitably qualified specialist review the trial design and analysis. Birds sharing a treated house are not automatically independent treatment replicates.

Use measured and projected inputs clearly

For a completed control flock, choose recorded feed quantity and enter the total feed used. For a proposed additive scenario, enter a target FCR supported by appropriate trial data. You may also enter recorded feed for both scenarios when both are completed. A projected target remains an assumption, not a measured result.

Keep additive costs separate

The ROI calculator adds the evaluated additive’s dose, product cost and mixing/logistics cost separately. Its feed-price input, including any stage-weighted price, must therefore exclude that additive’s cost. If a supplier quote already includes it, obtain or calculate the feed price excluding it before entering the quote.

The stage-price option applies one blended feed price to both scenarios. It does not model a different feeding-phase distribution or different base feed prices for each treatment. Document these differences before relying on the comparison.