Smell, look, squeeze, sieve and weigh every lot, then run a small trial, and send a sample to a lab only when the stakes are high.
Halaal Farms Ghana team9 June 2026 · 11 min read
Every sack of feed makes a promise on its label, and most of the time the birds are the only test anyone runs on it. That test is slow. A feed problem might take two or three weeks to show up as lower weights or a drop in lay, by which time you have bought three more sacks and the damage is spread across the flock. The good news is that many of the faults that cost farmers the most can be caught in a few minutes at the store, using nothing more than your hands, your nose, a sieve and a scale.
This article sets out those checks in the order we would use them, what a bad result looks like, and when a lab is worth the money. None of these tests replaces a laboratory result for things like aflatoxin or protein content. They do stop bad sacks from going into the pen unnoticed, and they give you a consistent way to compare one supplier with another.
Birds are the slowest test you have. A chick that is short on protein does not look ill on the first day. It just grows a little less than it should, and by the time the weights make it obvious, the feed that caused it has been used up. A hen on mouldy feed may keep eating and seem fine, while her egg numbers quietly slide. Checking the feed at the point of delivery means you find the problem while the sack is still on your floor, and you can send it back.
The checks also give you a habit. A farm that smells, looks and weighs every lot builds a record of what each supplier sends. After a few months you know which seller is consistent and which one needs a conversation.
Open the sack in good light and put your nose close to the feed. Take the sample from more than one point, not only from the top, because the layer near the bottom or the side of the sack can be different. You are looking for the smell of the grain itself, which is clean and plain for maize, nutty for soya and faintly fishy for fishmeal.
A sour smell means the feed has been fermenting, usually because it got wet. A musty, earthy or cellar-like smell is a sign of mould. A sharp smell like old cooking oil means the fat in the feed, especially in bran and rice bran, has gone rancid. Ammonia is a warning that the feed has been stored in a damp or badly ventilated place with droppings or urine in it. Any of these is a reason to refuse the sack, even if the feed looks fine.
A clean smell does not prove the feed is safe. Some moulds, and the aflatoxin they can make, are not obvious to the nose. That is why the smell check is the first filter and not the last word.
Spread a small amount on a white sheet or a clean tray. Look for three things. The first is colour: the feed should be even, with no grey, green or yellow patches that stand out from the rest. The second is fuzz or spots, which can be white, green or black and often sit in the gaps between grains or at the bottom of the sack. The third is life: weevils, moths, larvae or the small dark droppings that rodents leave behind.
Pay attention to foreign matter too. Stones, sand, pieces of stick and bits of metal wire are not unknown in local feed, and they can injure birds if they are eaten. A few small particles are a small problem. A heap of them, or a pattern of clumped dust, tells you the feed has been poorly cleaned or stored near the ground.
Take a handful of feed and squeeze it firmly for a few seconds, then open your hand. Dry feed should spring apart or crumble. Feed that holds its shape in a tight lump, leaves a damp mark on your palm or feels cold and sticky is too wet. Feed that feels warm when you hold it is a bigger worry, because heating in a bag is a sign that moulds are growing.
Moisture is also what turns a clean sack into a risky one over time. Feed that tests dry at the store can pick up damp in the shed, so the squeeze test is worth repeating when you open a sack that has been standing for a while. If feed that was fine when it arrived is clumping now, look at the store before you blame the supplier.
Fines are the small particles and dust that pass through a feed. Some fines are normal. Mash feed always has some, and starter crumble has more than a grower pellet. The question is how much, and whether the fines are feed or waste. Use a clean sieve with a mesh fine enough to catch the mash, shake a measured handful through it and look at what drops out.
What you are looking for is a pattern. If one supplier's feed leaves a heavy layer of dust in the sieve tray and another's leaves almost nothing, the first is probably adding bran or husk to bulk the bag out. Compare lots side by side on the same day, using the same sieve and the same handful. That is more useful than trying to set an absolute standard without a lab.
Heavy dust is also a health concern for you and the birds. Fine dust in a closed store can irritate the eyes and lungs, so work in a ventilated space, and wet a cloth to wipe down the bags before you handle them.
A 50 kg bag should weigh 50 kg. Weigh a few bags from every delivery on a scale you trust, and check the scale against a known weight first. A hanging scale can drift, and a platform scale can be off by a kilo or two if it has not been calibrated, so do not assume it is right.
The cost of short weight is simple arithmetic. A bag that weighs 45 kg is 10 per cent short. At the broad market range of GH₵400 to GH₵470 for a 50 kg bag, that is roughly GH₵40 to GH₵47 paid for feed you never received. If two bags in a delivery of ten are five kilos short each, you have lost the value of a bag in a single week of deliveries. Confirm today's price with the seller before you agree the order, and keep the weight slips.
Short weight also changes what the birds get. A ration calculated for 50 kg of mix will be wrong if the bag holds 45 kg of mix plus five kilos of something cheaper. That is one more reason to pair the weigh check with the smell and look checks.
When a new supplier or a new lot of an ingredient comes in, try a small trial before you commit a whole flock to it. Keep the trial separate in a small pen or a corner of the house. Feed the trial lot to a small group of birds, and feed the same group your usual feed for comparison if you can. Weigh ten birds from each group every week, and write down how much feed is given and how much is left.
The trial needs a few weeks to show anything useful, so plan for it. Watch the droppings, the water intake and the mortality too. Mortality is the most important number. Well-managed flocks run at 3 to 5 per cent, and losses of 10 to 20 per cent are a sign of poor management, which feed problems can cause or make worse. A trial that shows higher losses on the new lot is a clear result, whatever the sack looked like.
Keep the trial simple. Change one thing at a time, and do not run a trial during a disease outbreak or a heat wave, because the results will be hard to read.
The table below sets out the six checks in one place. Print it or copy it into your notebook, and tick each row for every delivery.
| Test | What you do | Red flag | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smell | Sniff several points in good light | Sour, musty, sharp or ammonia smell | Refuse the sack and tell the supplier |
| Look | Spread a sample on a clean white tray | Fuzz, spots, weevils, rodent droppings, grey or green patches | Refuse the sack and check the store |
| Squeeze | Squeeze a handful and open your hand | Lump holds, damp mark, warm or cold and sticky | Dry the store, use the feed first, or refuse |
| Sieve | Shake a measured handful through a clean sieve | Heavy dust, much more than the other lots | Ask why, compare lots, and cut back on that supplier |
| Weigh | Weigh several bags on a checked scale | Bags short of their label weight | Claim the shortfall and keep the weight slip |
| Trial | Run a small group on the new lot against your usual feed | Lower weights, more refusal or higher losses | Stop the lot and record the result |
Some things cannot be seen, smelled or sieved. Aflatoxin is the most important of them, and so are the protein content of soya and the salt content of fishmeal. When a problem is suspected, or when you are feeding a large flock and the cost of a mistake is high, send a sample to an accredited lab. Ask the lab for its sampling instructions, since the method matters as much as the test. Use a clean, dry container, label it with the supplier, date and lot, and take the sample from several points in the sack.
Ask the lab about cost and turnaround before you send anything. Ask your vet or your feed supplier which labs they use, and for the current list of accredited labs in your region, check with the relevant authority or with the lab itself. Results are only useful if they come back in time to decide what to feed, so plan the sample around your restocking.
Write every check into the notebook, with the date, the supplier, the ingredient or bag, the result and what you did about it. Add the weight checks and mortality figures for the batch that used the feed. After a season, the notebook will show which suppliers hold their quality, which ones need watching and which lots caused trouble. That is the real value of a feed test, because it turns one bad sack into a pattern you can act on.
Our guide on reading a poultry feed label explains what the printed figures mean, and storing feed to stop spoilage shows how to keep a sound lot sound after it leaves the supplier.
No. A smell test catches some spoilage, but aflatoxin can be present without a clear smell. Only a lab test can tell you the level, so use the smell check as the first filter and send a sample when you are unsure.
Run the smell, look, squeeze and weigh checks on every delivery and every time you open a new sack. They take a few minutes. The sieve check can be done on each new supplier and whenever a lot looks different.
Not always, but a sudden refusal is a reason to check smell, moisture and dust before you blame the birds. Refusal often comes from feed that has gone off or been wetted, and it is easier to fix when you catch it early.
Enough to feed a small group for several weeks while you keep records. Confirm the size with your supplier or vet, and keep the trial group comparable to the group on your usual feed, so the results mean something.
Good feed tests make good flocks, and a good flock starts with chicks you can trust. Send the order form on our site or call 024 915 1503 and tell us what you are planning. An order starts with a message, not with money. We confirm the price, hatch date and delivery cost before you pay, and you can pay by cash, mobile money or bank transfer. The minimum order is one box of 50 chicks, and chicks that arrive dead are replaced free in the next hatch.
Before the chicks arrive, read our guide on what to check when chicks arrive, which uses the same habit of checking first and deciding after. For the breeds we supply, the broiler chick page is the place to start, and how to order day-old chicks walks you through the steps from first message to delivery.
Written by the Halaal Farms Ghana team. We hatch and import day-old chicks at Opeikuma, Kasoa, and deliver to all 16 regions. This article is general guidance for farmers. For diagnosis and treatment of sick birds, speak to a vet or your district veterinary office.
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