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Fast growth shouldn’t lead to wet litter


Digestive problems in poultry often lead to wet litter and compromised performance. It is important to maintain high litter quality not only because of animal welfare but also because of economic reasons.


BY ANGELO LAUWAERTS, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ANIMAL HEALTH, PROVIRON INDUSTRIES NV


U


nfortunately nowadays, the very fast growth of the modern poultry bird is often directly linked with digestive problems, such as bacterial enteri- tis (BE) or dysbacteriosis and even necrotic enteri-


tis. The unbalanced situation often creates wet litter prob- lems in the poultry house. The consequences of wet litter are numerous and have direct economic effects on produc- tion parameters. Wet litter results in foot pad lesions, which cause further stress to the birds and can cause breast blisters for example. This in turn leads to the downgrading at slaughter, faster sporulation of coccidia oocysts and higher coccidiosis challenge, increased multiplication of micro-or- ganisms in litter with accordingly a higher challenge from respiratory, intestinal and other pathogens and increased ammonia concentrations in the air. As some nutrients are utilised for activation of the immune system and tissue re- generation, wet litter has a direct negative effect on feed conversion and weight. Additionally, birds with foot pad le- sions will probably move less and consume less feed and water, which are required for an adequate growth. Consider- ing all of this, it is important to maintain high litter quality not only because of animal welfare but also because of economic reasons.


Table 1 – Production parameters in feed trials with broilers.


Parameter BE-score


AEW (kg, 41 days) FCR


Days antibiotics use 14


Control 2.60 2.55 1.46 3.80


Optigut™ 2.31 2.61 1.42 1.96


P-value


2.58*10-04 1.86*10-10 5.64*10-6 6.57*10-9


Medium chain fatty acids Traditionally, the intestinal bacterial imbalance was correct- ed with the use of antimicrobials. A lot of different natural and non-toxic alternatives to antibiotics such as prebiotics, probiotics, botanical products, organic acids and enzymes have been investigated for their improvement of intestinal functions and general animal performance1,2,3,4,5


. Among


them, intensive attention has been paid to organic medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) because of their antimicrobial activi- ty and their positive effect on the intestinal integrity. It was observed that MCFA have a pronounced anti-microbial effect on a wide range of bacterial populations. This effect has been shown to be higher for MCFA than for short chain fatty acids towards Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria6


.


Clostridium perfringens plays an important role in the patho- genesis of bacterial enteritis and necrotic enteritis in com- mercial broiler flocks. Research has shown that particularly lauric acid has strong antibacterial effect against Clostridium perfringens strains in vitro7


enteritis in broilers, lauric acid has significantly decreased the number of animals showing necrotic lesions in the gut. The combination of butyrate and lauric acid gave the best protection against the reduction of the lesions8


. In in vivo experiments on necrotic


. Lauric acid


alone or in combination with butyric acid can be used for a control of necrotic enteritis in broilers.


Carefully selected combination of esterified fatty acids Several field trials in commercial broilers were set up in Belgium and Germany. Broilers supplemented in feed with Optigut™, a carefully selected combination of esterified fatty acids (trial group), were compared to birds on non-supple- mented feed that served as a control group. Production pa- rameters such as feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ra- tio, mortality and average end weight (AEW), as well as intestinal health parameters were assessed. Birds in the trial group only received the product during the starter and grow- er phase. In the starter phase (day 0-10) the product was giv- en at 4 kg/ton feed and in the grower phase (day 11-32) at 2 kg/ton. From day 33 till slaughter no product was given to the birds. In total, 201,500 broilers (slaughtered at 41 day) in the trial group were compared to 292,700 birds on control commercial feed. The amount of broilers per house varied


▶ ALL ABOUT FEED | Volume 25, No. 10, 2017


PHOTO: MARK PASVEER


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