The bioavailability of zinc in poultry: what does literature say?
Zinc bioavailability: zinc is an essential trace element for all the animals, including broilers. In case of deficiency, alteration of growth performance and distortion...
Low protein diets supplemented with glycine, glutamine or arginine for broilers
A previous study highlighted differences between a low protein (LP) diet and a higher concentration of amino acids (AA) for intestinal permeability and performance...
Priming young birds for gut health and resilience
This brief review focuses on the types of fibre that the nutritionist should be considering and how a phase feeding strategy should not only...
Methionine supplementation reduces plasma amino acid circulation and enhanced apparent digestibility in broiler chickens
The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of methionine supplementation on amino acid concentration in systemic plasma, apparent amino acid digestibilities...
Influence of age on the standardised ileal amino acid digestibility of maize and barley...
Grains are the major energy sources in broilers. However, they also supply about 40% of the total dietary protein and contribute significantly to the...
Influence of feed form and particle size on the performance and nutrient utilisation of...
The present experiment was designed to examine the influence of feed form and particle size in maize-based diets on the performance and nutrient utilisation...
In vivo digestion of GM proteins in laying hens
Despite all of the positive effects of modern technologies to improve corn and soybean yields, the consumer often has a different perception of the...
Fatty acids in ABF poultry production: a nutritionist’s perspective
The beneficial role of short-chain fatty acids and medium chain fatty acids on gut health and reducing pathogen colonization has been well documented over...
Effectiveness of a double choice test to assess dietary taste preferences in broilers
Investigations into the taste system of broilers can help to improve poultry feeding strategies. However, a comprehensive study on dietary taste preferences for broilers...
The ability of meat chickens to extract energy from wheat
The apparent metabolisable energy (MJ/kg dry matter) values for wheats were determined in two conventional energy balance experiments on meat chickens. A blend of...
Ileal amino acids digestibility in response to increasing phytase dose or MCP levels in...
Commercial broiler feed is formulated mainly with plant based ingredients including cereals and oil seeds. These ingredients provide low available P because 70-80% of...
Phosphorus: how low can we go in broiler diets?
Phosphorus (P) is essential for all forms of life. Dietary P content either in excess of, or below requirements may adversely affect broiler performance....
Laying hen nutrition for optimizing egg production and quality
Hen nutrition is important; during the initial period of pullet rearing (<45 days of age), small particle size obtained by grinding of main cereals...
Effect of two different fibre sources on growth and immune function in grower layer-pullets
This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of two different fibre sources on pullet growth, gut immune tissue, and lymphocyte proliferation of strain...
A dose response of a heat stable phytase on broiler performance and nutrient digestibility
Phytases have been heavily researched for decades and been used commercially since the early 1990s. Phytase from microbial origin is therefore added to monogastric...
Short chain fatty acids and poultry gut health
Due to customer demands, producers have been asked to change the way they grow production animals, specifically through the removal of antibiotics. With this...
H7N9 flu mutation identified that allows immune system escape
The research, published in the Journal of Virology, demonstrated that small genetic differences in the virus surface proteins can prevent antibodies that protect against...
Antioxidants in broiler breeder diets can affect offspring performance
In a series of experiments, it was shown that antioxidants in broiler breeder diets can affect broiler performance trans-generationally. To study this, a polyphenol...
How Xylanase can improve performance of a broiler diet
Whilst xylanase rich NSP-enzymes are used consistently in wheat based diets the question remains whether the positive response seen can be ascribed solely to...
Changing role of poultry nutritionist in a changing industry
Reflecting back on 30 years of working in the poultry industry as nutritionists we realize that the biggest changes that have occurred have mostly...
High levels of cottonseed meal supplemented with composite microbial enzymes
Effects of cottonseed meal supplemented with composite microbial enzymes on broiler chickens.
Soybean meal (SBM) is the premier plant protein source used by the poultry...
Expanding feed milling capacity and quality at New Rosendale’s
At a time when the North American feed industry is undergoing a dramatic transformation driven by new rules, heightened market expectations and ground-breaking technology...
Using more bioavailable sources of trace minerals pays off
A study of broiler breeder performance was conducted using three separate minerals programmes. The objective was to determine if productivity could be maintained at...
What is the influence of nutrition and management on egg weight?
Managing egg weight is important for farmers and can greatly vary depending on market demand. Obtaining an egg size in line with market demand...
Meta-analysis of genetic parameters of feed conversion and related traits in chickens
The objective of this study was to estimate the impact of some factors on heritability estimates of
body weight (BW), feed conversion ratio (FCR),
feed
intake (FI),...
The value of digestibility coefficients and protein
At all times and for all human cultures animal protein took an important part of nutrient supply and has been always of a high...
Keel bone integrity in layers – Observations, nutritional remedies, and myth-busting
The issue of keel bone deformities and abnormalities is different depending on various housing systems for the birds. Keel fractures have received a lot...
Field experience on the use of probiotics in chickens and turkeys
Probiotics have been used for several years in an attempt to improve intestinal health. Recently, microbial products have been extensively studied as supportive treatments...
Phytase efficacy in young turkeys versus young broilers
Based on tibia-ash content, equivalency between phytase enzymes with young turkeys appeared to be similar with young broilers. An extensive review about “microbial phytase...
Effectiveness of a double choice test to assess dietary taste preferences in broiler chickens
Investigations into the taste system of chickens can help to improve poultry feeding strategies. However, a comprehensive study on dietary taste preferences for broilers...
Modification of the chicken intestinal epithelial physical barrier in poultry by dietary factors
The intestinal epithelial physical barrier is the most critical element of maintaining an intact intestinal barrier and made up of a layer of columnar...
Metabolisable energy of ingredients in peak layers
Layer nutritionists typically rely on apparent metabolisable energy data generated in broilers as layer AME data are less available.
The bioassays are typically conducted...
The importance of feeding time observation
Achieving proper bodyweight, flock uniformity, and sexual maturity at light stimulation are some of the biggest management challenges for broiler breeder farms.
Today’s breeder pullets...
Nutritional economics for commercial turkey operations
Feed is the single biggest cost to a turkey operation, 60% to 70% of the cost of production is related to feed, with energy...
Taking phytase superdosing from scientific concept to commercial application: a UK example
Scientific research is based on carefully designed experiments, performed in carefully controlled conditions with the outcome measured as accurately as possible, using a range...
In Vitro evaluation of xylo-oligosaccharide production from different batches of wheat with and without...
Supplementing poultry diets with xylanase partially depolymerizes the xylans present in the dietary cereals, reducing the number of sugars in the molecular chains. The...
Why do we need low protein meat chicken diets?
The current level of protein used in meat chicken diets is linked to various issues observed in the industry including feed cost and feed...
Comparison of the effects of dietary available phosphorus and feed restriction on performance, egg...
This study was performed to evaluate the effect of available phosphorus and restricted feeding level on laying hens productivity, egg quality and yolk fatty...
Natural antioxidants and vitagene concept in poultry production – Second part
From vitamins to vitagene. In this second part the focus will be on the Vitagene concept, which refers to a group of genes involved...
Low protein diets downregulate hepatic enzymes
Low protein diets have clear benefits for the poultry industry with regards to health, welfare and production.
Dean et al., (2006) found that supplementing low...
Using a multi-protease enzyme in poultry diets to improve broilers performance
The present study investigates the effect of protease on the productivity of broilers under reduced crude protein (CP) and amino acid (AA) diet conditions....
NSP enzymes, gut microbiota and fermentation products
Arabinoxylans account for 50-70% of the NSP feed enzymes present in cereal grains and make up the majority of cell wall NSP in corn,...
Effect of the type of diet and the addition of humic substances as growth...
In recent years, humic substances have been tested as growth promoters in animal production and are one of the promising options to face the...
Supplementation of a protected complex of biofactors and antioxidants on the gene expression and...
The objective of this study was to evaluate the dietary supplementation of a protected complex of biofactors and antioxidants P(BF+AOx) on the expression of...
Algae products in organic poultry diets
Algae, “the not so new kid on the block” has been used in both human and animal diets dating back centuries. There is a...
Broilers diets with high and low net energy but similar metabolisable energy
A semi-commercial scale feeding study was conducted to compare formulations of broiler diets based on predicted net energy (NE) and metabolisable energy (ME). It...
Improving broiler-breeder performance with 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 of fermentative origin
25-hydroxyvitamin D3 from a fermentative source was supplemented to broiler-breeders in two separate trials, compared to standard basal diets without a 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 source....
Feeding broilers of the future
The only way to maintain production is to improve the understanding of precision nutrition so that producers can feed broilers with low or no...
Requirement of digestible calcium at different dietary concentrations of digestible phosphorus for broiler growers
An experiment was conducted to determine the digestible calcium (Ca) and digestible phosphorus (P) requirements of 11-24 days old broiler chickens.
L.S. David1, M.R. Abdollahi1,...
Pellet quality and its effects on poultry performance
Pellet quality provided to meat birds throughout the industry is highly variable. Feeding birds pellets of poor quality can in part be attributed to...
Effect of multi-xylanase system on growth performance and gut health in broilers
Non-starch polysaccharides (NSP), particularly arabinoxylans (AX), with complex biochemical structures are one of the main causative factors for impaired growth performance and poor gut...
Probiotic Bacillus licheniformis significantly improves layer performance
Adding probiotic Bacillus licheniformis DSM 28710 to layer diets was shown to improve layer performance, both in commercial as well as in research conditions....
Dietary non-phytate phosphorus levels for laying hens in the last phase of lay
The phosphorus (P) requirement of laying hens is an area of on-going debate and it is a factor that contributes to hen performance and...
Bacterial bile salt hydrolase for a good microbiota
However, limiting antibiotics use could compromise animal production efficiency and health. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop effective alternatives to antibiotic growth...
A Box-Behnken assessment of fishmeal and sorghum inclusions in broiler diets
The objective of this study was to investigate the impacts of starch and protein digestive dynamics on broiler growth performance using Box-Behnken response surface...
Feed physical quality
The effect of feed form is well established, however, feed physical quality is often seen as an issue in the field (see Figure 1)....
Dietary starch influences performance of broiler chickens offered low-protein diets
This study suggests that there is interference between the digestion of starch and protein and/or absorption of glucose and amino acids. Paradoxically, the low-protein...
Calcium nutrition, bone metabolism, and eggshell quality in longer-persisting layers
As regard layers management, rather than being depopulated at 60 to 70 weeks of age, or being moulted to allow for additional production cycles,...
Broiler breeders, a research on alternative feeding programs and photostimulation periods
USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation announce the completion of a funded research project at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, in which researchers...
The relationship between feed particle size, gizzard development and broiler performance
Anatomy of the stomach
The stomach of the chicken consists of two chambers, the proventriculus or glandular stomach and the gizzard or muscular stomach.
The proventriculus...
A rationale for elevated free threonine plasma concentrations in chickens offered reduced-crude protein diets
Pronounced elevations in free threonine plasma concentrations have been consistently observed pursuant to crude protein reductions in broiler diets. However, the magnitude of these...
Measurement of true ileal calcium digestibility of meat and bone meal for broiler chickens
Currently, there is a move towards the use of digestible phosphorus (P) in diet formulations for poultry due to P excretion into the environment...
The potential of perinatal nutrition
Based on Darwin’s theory of adaptive evolution and Mendel’s fundamental laws of heritability, breeding and genetic selection for increased growth rate and meat yield...
Comparative sustainability of differing dietary amino acids and energy regimes for individual laying hens...
Poultry production has been identified as an efficient source of terrestrial, farmed animal protein. However, in tandem with all food production, sustainability into the...
Supplementing Bacillus strains in chicken diets
The present study investigated the effects of dietary supplementation of several Bacillus strains on growth performance, intestinal inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, antioxidants and tight...
Replacing soy in broiler diets. Effect on performance, carcass yield and cost of production
The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of replacing soybean meal (SBM) in broiler diets on performance, carcass quality and...
Feeding management of broiler breeders
Modern strains of fast-growing broilers have been selected for fast growth, feed efficiency and high feed intake, and broilers are processed once they achieve...
Natural antioxidants in poultry production
From vitamins to vitagenes - First part
In general, there are four major types of stress in poultry production: technological, environmental, nutritional and internal stresses....
Crude soybean lecithin and vegetable acid oil as energy sources for broiler chickens
Lecithin and acid oil, as co-products from vegetable oil refining process, are economic alternatives to conventional fat sources and may represent an efficient energy...
Additivity of ileal amino acid values of sorghum with different protein sources
Sorghum is used widely in Australian poultry diets, primarily as an energy component. It is usually fed in diets that contain wheat but may...
Broiler nutrition, future efficiency
Talking about broiler nutrition, we all want the best possible return while investing as little as possible: efficiency is the keyword to success and...
Improving feeding efficiency with innovating products
At Trouw Nutrition they have focused their innovation in the poultry business on finding new ways of achieving improved feeding efficiency and enhanced performance...
Path to the 100 week age layers in cage free systems
Egg producers are always looking for ways to improve layer hen’s efficiency as, nowadays, the genetic potential of layers is targeting an extended age...
Evaluation of anti-inflammatory capacities of bacillus-based probiotics using an in vitro intestinal cell model
With the evolution of genetic potential of modern broilers, transforming the large feed intake into protein deposition is a real challenge for the digestive...
Performance, intestinal morphology and antioxidant status of broilers fed o-regano essential oil or an...
In this study, the effect of an oregano essential oil, or a blend of formic and propionic acids and essential oil on mineral carriers,...
The challenge of feeding modern broiler breeders
Broiler breeders are expected to produce about 150 chicks in 40 weeks of production and even though it is commonly believed that selection for...
Copper influences broilers’ performance and growth
Copper (Cu) is an essential component involved in a wide variety of biochemical processes. It must be supplemented in the trace mineral premix as...
Transgenerational impact of broiler breeder nutrition
Continuous genetic selection in meat-type chicken for rapid growth resulted in increased meat production and decreased the time required for achieving the market weight....
Probiotics as an alternative to antibiotics for treating lameness in broilers
The pathogenesis leading to a form of lameness known as bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO) appears to be initiated by mechanical microfracturing of susceptible...
Inclusion of black soldier fly larvae in a meat chicken diet has minor effect...
The caecal microbiota composition of commercial broilers is essential to the poultry industry as it can affect the broiler’s health and performance.
Bioactive components of...
