MYCOTOXINS ▶▶▶


Performance of broilers fed anticoccidial-free diets containing DON


Reducing anticoccidials in poultry feed may affect the impact of mycotoxins on broilers.This study evaluated the effect of different levels of DON on the performance and intestinal integrity of broilers.


BY REGIANE SANTOS, MYCOTOXIN RESEARCHER, SCHOTHORST FEED RESEARCH T


Table 1 – Mean levels of DON and other mycotoxins in the starter (D0 – 14), grower (D14 – 28) and finisher (D28 – 35) diets.


Experimental diets Mycotoxins (ppb)


Starter diet (D0-14) DON


DON-3-Glucoside Enniatin B Enniatin B1 Alternariol


Alternariol ME


Grower diet (D14-28) DON


DON-3-Glucoside Zearalenone Ochratoxin Enniatin B Enniatin B1 Alternariol


Alternariol ME


Finisher diet (D14-28) DON


Enniatin B Beauvericin


8 Moderate DON (MD) MD + AC


2060 132


28.2 13.1 10.7 -


2360 1670 - -


36.7 8.7 4.2 2.1


57.3 8.4 6.1


2200 132


32.3 8.5 - -


2220 1480 - -


41.7 10.4 -


2.2


57.3 8.4 6.1


Low DON (LD) LD + AC


878 99


90.4 16.0 - -


941 851


18.2 -


58.5 15.8 3.8 2.7


57.3 8.4 6.1


▶ ALL ABOUT FEED | Volume 29, No. 3, 2021


884 454


61.8 17.3 3.3 2.4


811 632


16.6 3.3


60.5 16.6 2.1 -


57.3 8.4 6.1


The research design Recently, Schothorst Feed Research evaluated the effect of low (900 ppb) and moderate (2300 ppb) levels of deoxyniva- lenol (DON) on the performance and intestinal integrity of broilers. To mimic on-farm conditions, it’s important to ex- pose broilers to feed naturally contaminated with mycotox- ins. Furthermore, realistic contamination levels need to be considered when applying naturally contaminated diets. The maximum acceptable level of DON in cereals and cereal prod- ucts used for feed production is 8000 ppb while, for maize by- product feed materials, it is 12,000 ppb (EC 576/2006). Con- sidering that northwestern European broiler diets contain approximately 30% wheat, it will be difficult to get to 4000 ppb in the final diet. Based on this, we can expect only low to moderate levels of DON in broiler diets, e.g., 1000 ppb to 3000 ppb. The type of feedstuff added to the diet also inter- feres with intestinal health and broiler performance. For this study, broilers were exposed during the starter and grower phase to two different levels of DON (900 ppb or 2300 ppb). In the finisher period, they received a diet with a negli- gible level of DON (57.3 ppb) to evaluate carryover effects. As a positive control, activated charcoal (AC) was tested at each


he ongoing discussion about reducing antibiotics and their potential impact on the use of anticoccidi- als, particularly those in the class of ionophores, poses a concern for the broiler industry. This class of


anticoccidials fits the classical definition of an antibiotic be- cause they have some antibacterial activity. This means that the importance of mycotoxins in the poultry industry may in- crease in a situation where ionophore anticoccidials are banned from feed. What’s more, the subclinical and indirect effects of mycotoxins are often underestimated because no typical mycotoxicosis symptoms are observed. In general, mycotoxins may be involved in numerous subclinical symp- toms and will potentiate the negative effect of diseases or simply lead to impaired performance.


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