Sustainably produced chicken feed opens up new markets for the Pohja farm

The Pohja farm has introduced Pohjanheltta, soy-free chicken feed produced in Finland using Finnish raw materials. The feed is especially designed for chickens kept as a hobby, the number of which is increasing.

Successful business ideas originate from actual customer needs. There has to be a real problem to be solved. Sonja Kankaanpää from Orivesi ran into such a problem when she bought a few chickens for her farm in 2017. As an agrologist and nutritional therapist, Kankaanpää wanted to know the impact of raw materials on the wellbeing of chickens and the nutritional quality of eggs. It surprised her that practically all chicken feeds contained soy.

Most of the soybean needs to be imported over great distances, and not all soybean production is sustainable. Kankaanpää started to prepare her own recipe using information published online by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), including feed tables and nutrient requirements. She started by feeding her product to her own chickens, then by selling it to her friends. However, she operated on a very small scale at the beginning.

What chickens eat is important. For example, feed has an impact on the taste of the eggs.

—Sonja Kankaanpää, designer of Pohjanheltta

Alternative protein sources as a replacement

In December 2018, Luke joined the project and a more scientific approach to the recipe preparation was taken. In practice, the recipe was fine-tuned throughout the year 2019. “The aim was challenging from the beginning. Conventionally, poultry feeds have been soy-based, and challenges in the use of domestic protein sources include the anti-nutritional factors they contain and their incomplete amino acid composition. Combined, these have an impact on egg production, feed conversion ratio, and animal health and welfare,” says Heidi Högel, research scientist at Luke, who played an active role in the project.

Developed in cooperation with Luke, the composition of the feed was based on dehulled oats, peas, compressed flaxseed meal and whey protein. However, whey turned out  problematic on the feed production line, and Kankaanpää continued to develop the recipe based on Luke’s report on alternative protein sources and other literature. In the new recipe, protein sources include fishmeal and hemp seed meal in addition to peas and flaxseeds.

Even though the price of Pohjanheltta will keep the product away from commercial henhouses, it has a significant market potential in private backyard henhouses. In 2022, there were more than 12,000 registered keepers of chickens for the summer or as a hobby in Finland, and their number has doubled during the last five years. Combined, they consume millions of kilos of feed each year. Pohjanheltta is produced in Finland, using 99% Finnish raw materials. This opens up a market in henhouses focusing on sustainable development.

Product ready for launch

It has been obvious to Kankaanpää from the very beginning that a professional partner is required to produce the feed. Rehux was selected for its ability to produce smaller batches in the form of pellets. Adapting the recipe to the processes and technologies of Rehux turned out to be another challenge. “We found out that the flaxseed oil we were using was not a good choice. Most of the oil remained in the production equipment which was not sustainable financially or otherwise. Therefore, we replaced the flaxseed oil with flaxseed meal,” Kankaanpää says.

At the end of 2022, the recipe had been finalised, production processes optimised, and an online shop opened. The first batch has now been sold to customers with promising feedback. There are also plans to develop the product further, now that the first version has been launched on the market.

Kankaanpää says that “I have to admit that the challenges in developing the recipe came as a surprise. Putting all the raw materials you want together to give chickens a sufficient amount of energy and nutrients is not enough. You also need to address the accumulation of harmful substances from different plant proteins, their impact on digestion, and the sufficient intake of essential amino acids. There is also the question of the availability of raw materials, their suitability for the feed production technology, and legal requirements. All of these combined with the relatively small intake of chickens and the amount of energy required for laying eggs were quite a puzzle. Luke’s expertise was invaluable during the design phase.”