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...
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...
Corn co-products in broilers
The expansion of the ethanol industry has increased the availability of a variety of corn co-products as feedstuffs for livestock and poultry. Of the...
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...
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...
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...
Hybrid Feed – New approach in layer hen feed at start of production
The actual genetic improvements in layer hens are providing the market with a layer hen producing saleable size eggs quicker than before and extending...
Intestinal barrier function – A case to be studied in reduced protein diets
Maintaining intestinal health and growth remains a concern as demands increase to limit the use of antibiotics in poultry production. There is also an...
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...
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)....
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,...
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,...
The selection element in whole grain feeding regimes
Seven dietary treatments consisting of a ground grain control and six treatments with pre- and post-pellet whole grain inclusions of 7.5, 15.0 and 30.0%...
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...
Scientifically validated results to raise poultry production profitability
The Poultry Science Association 2017 Annual Meeting took place in Orlando, Florida on July 17-20. Being the most prestigious scientific event for poultry in...
Effects of low protein and balanced amino acid levels on birds under subclinic NE
One benefit of low protein (LP) diets is improving gut health in a future of antibiotic-growth promoter free diets.
Drew et al., (2004) found an...
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...
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,...
Challenges in longer laying cycle. Stabilizing egg quality
In the past 50 years, selection, initially at the breed level and then using quantitative genetics coupled with a sophisticated breeding pyramid, has resulted...
The effect of microbial challenge on the intestinal proteome of broilers
In broiler production intestinal health and function is paramount to achieving efficient feed utilisation and growth.
Uncovering the localised molecular mechanisms that occur during the...
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...
Effects of beta glucans in poultry health and nutrition
Immune modulators such as beta glucans have today a major role in poultry production.
The poultry production industry has seen astonishing improvements over the past...
Site and extent of digestion on poultry production
In poultry formulation and production of feed has evolved extensively in the last century with the identification of required nutrients, and subsequent and continuing...
A cost-effective poultry feed additives solution to partially replace vitamin E
Livestock producers typically use feed additives such as vitamin E to increase the antioxidant capacity of animals and minimise economic losses.
Recently, the price of...
Organic acids as feed additives: pros and cons
Organic acid salts are often included as feed additives in livestock nutrition as feed preservatives but also as growth promoters, intestinal microbiota enhancers, and...
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...
Benefits of non-synthetic, natural oregano essential oil in pullet rearing
Feeding oregano essential oil to pullets during rearing can help to improve flock uniformity, reproductive fitness and feed efficiency, according to research undertaken at...
Black soldier fly larvae in meat chicken diets modifies the fatty acid profile in...
Black soldier fly (BSF) larvae are a promising alternative feed ingredient for monogastrics,includingpoultry.However,theimpactoffeedingBSFlarvaeinbroilerdietson the fatty acid profile of the breast chicken meat remains unknown.
This...
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...
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...
Evaluating phosphorous equivalency of phytases
The use of exogenous enzymes in non-ruminant nutrition is a valuable tool to increase digestibility and therefore spare the inclusion of expensive nutrients whilst...
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...
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...
Development and evaluation of probiotics
As restrictions to antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) have become more prevalent, producers have turned to several technologies as probiotics - Direct Fed Microbials to...
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...
Research examines different dietary treatments for woody breast
USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation announce the completion of a funded research project at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, in which researchers examined different...
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...
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...
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...
Barley in pelleted broiler starter diets: effects of carbohydrase supplementation and steam-conditioning temperature
The effect of pelleting barley-based diets on bird performance and nutrient utilisation depends, in part, on the conditioning temperature (CT) used. The influence of...
Effects of probiotic Bacillus amyloliquefaciens H57 on performance and intestinal microbiota of chickens
Probiotics (direct fed microbials) are a potential alternative to antibiotic growth promoters for improving animal production and preventing enteric pathogen infections. The Authors are...
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...
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,...
Dietary calcium, phytate and non-phytate phosphorus, on IP6 degradation in broilers
The effectiveness of phytase is usually determined under phosphorus or both calcium and phosphorus deficient specifications. Phytase efficacy in terms of increasing available or...
Early introduction of whole-grain diets to broiler chickens
The main problem with introducing whole-grain diets (WGD) to newly hatched chicks is the kernel size and this has led to such diets being...
Growth begins in the gut
In the race to replace antibiotics on Canadian poultry farms, some producers have successfully adopted yeast-based prebiotic supplements. But there’s more potential to enhance...
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...
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...
A synergistic herbal alternative combination: curcumshield vs poultry infections – a broad-spectrum study
Introduction
In the case of bacterial infections, various categories of antibiotics – especially synthetic ones – are widely used as broad-spectrum bacteriostatic and bactericidal agents....
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...
FAO published a report on animal nutrition strategies
FAO’s publication helps producers use nutrition strategies to reduce the use of antibiotics in their farms. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasing threat to...
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...
Using sunflower meal in broilers with the addition of a carbohydrase complex
Sunflower seeds are extensively grown for oil production for human consumption. Therefore, a great amount of sunflower meal becomes available for use in feed...
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...
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...
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...
Ideal amino acids and chicken gut disturbance
There is considerable interest in the development of low protein diets
with supplemental amino acids for broiler chickens due to economic, environmental and bird
welfare advantages....
Antioxidants in poultry nutrition and reproduction. An update
For the last three decades poultry production worldwide has made tremendous progress in terms of quantity and quality of meat and egg production, including...
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...
Estimated total cereal production in the EU-27 for the 2022 harvest
Experts from the Copa and Cogeca working groups on cereal and oilseed gathered in Brussels, with an estimated total cereal production of 277 million...
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...
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...
Challenges in poultry feeding
Poultry producers around the world continue to struggle with high production costs for poultry feeding, largely due to volatility in prices for basic feed...
Feather-eating hens show specific essential amino acid appetites in a double-choice model
Nutritional balance is one of the major considerations to prevent severe feather pecking in layer hens. Individual variation in digestive and metabolic efficiencies and...
A novel microbiome metabolic modulator improved growth performance and intestinal morphology during a coccidiosis...
The present study was designed to investigate the effects of a precision glycan Microbiome Metabolic Modulator (MMM) on growth performance and gut health parameters...
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...
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...
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...
Performance, immunity and blood biochemical parameters of broiler chickens fed diets containing Kappaphycus alvarezii
Kappaphycus alvarezii (KPA) can be incorporated at 1.50% in diets for improved performance, immuno-responsiveness and blood biochemical parameters in broiler chickens.
Introduction
Kappaphycus alvarezii (KPA) is...
Corn milling efficiency and particle size effects on pullet growth performance
Corn is usually ground locally at the feed mill, while soybean meal is pre-processed and feed mills have little control over its particle size...
Rise of Yeast Bioactives expands the toolbox for livestock operators
Canadian Bio-Systems receives Veterinary Health Products approval for Maxi-Nutrio® Liquid, a yeast bioactive technology.
An innovative new category of science-powered yeast technology, with dynamic potential to...
Nutritional implications of antibiotic free rearing of broilers
The gradual reduction in the use of AGP coincided with an increase in the therapeutic use of antibiotics on farm level. Especially in broiler...
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....
Effect of arginine and lysine on broiler chickens
Arginine is an essential amino acid for poultry and plays crucial roles in different biological pathways. Recent findings highlighted that the recommended levels of...
Precision feeding of broiler breeders
Precision livestock feeding relies on real-time sensor feedback from individual birds to decide whether or not to allocate feed, according to the needs of...
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...
Reducing undigested protein available at the intestinal wall on broilers
An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of supplementing an inherently thermo stable protease in broilers fed diets based on single raw materials,...
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...
Feed Conversion Ratio optimized for farmer profit
The farmers’ cost for animal feed is one of the main expenditures consisting of 60-70% of the overall producer costs. These producer costs are...
Bacillus Subtilis improves performance of broilers fed medicated or non-medicated feed
Animal digestive health is key to obtain optimal performance. Antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) have long been shown to be very effective to develop and...
