NUTRITION ▶▶▶
Rearing pullets with standardised phyto-molecules
F BY JOSSELIN LE COUR GRANDMAISON, PANCOSMA
or their first 18 weeks of life, pullets are raised in a fa- cility under environmentally and nutritionally con- trolled conditions. The objective is to achieve the specific physiological development required to start
laying. Amongst the objectives, attaining pullet body weight objectives at 3, 6, 12 and 18 weeks are critical. For instance, it is established that higher performing flocks of layers have higher 18 week body weight relative to lower performing ones. The young layer’s immune system is also maturing dur- ing this phase and vaccination plays an important role. In fact, certain diseases are too widespread or difficult to eradi- cate and require a routine vaccination programme. The role of the vaccine is to prevent a specific disease by triggering the immune system to produce antibodies that will then combat the pathogen. An example of a vaccination programme is illustrated in Table 1 below.
From a growth point of view, these numerous and successive vaccinations are an additional challenge. In fact when a pul- let undergoes stress, its feed intake is often affected and in the case of vaccination, it can be depressed by up to 25%. In addition a frequently forgotten aspect is the metabolic cost of immunity. When a pullet is vaccinated, both the acquired (antibodies production) and the innate immune systems (inflammatory response) are stimulated and nutrients (ener- gy and amino acids) are required. The inflammation being the costliest in nutritional resources, it is important to limit its over activation following vaccination to avoid a drop of performance.
To ensure that a pullet reaches body weight objectives, differ- ent strategies are possible. First one can increase nutrient density in the diet at an early stage. A second strategy is to improve feed particle size: particles within 1 – 3 mm with a minimum amount of fines. Third and last one can improve pullet vaccination response. The first two strategies are fo- cused on the nutritional and physical form of the feed. The
Nowadays, modern layers are able to achieve extremely high performances. For instance, they are capable of producing 366 eggs at 80 weeks and 437 eggs at 95 weeks with an average egg size of 63.1g. To reach this level of performance, one key to success is to achieve a successful 18-week pullet rearing period.
third strategy is focused on the animal itself. It targets key metabolisms to limit growth impairment while improving the production of antibodies.
Phyto-molecules Different published studies concerning various animal spe- cies have highlighted the interest of supplementing low dose phytonutrients to modulate animal immune systems. Amongst the identified micro-ingredients, two of them have confirmed their efficiency and a positive synergy has been
Table 1 – Example of a commercial vaccination programme for layer pullet
Age (days) Age (week) Vaccine name 1
14 21 35 56 70 84 98
112 126
1 2 3 5 8
10 12 14 16 18
Marek ND1
, IB2 and IBD3
ND, IB and IBD ND and IB ND and IB
ND, IB, encephalomyelitis, fowlpox, laryngotracheitis and MG4 encephalomyelitis, fowlpox, laryngotracheitis, ND and IB MG, ND and IB ND and IB ND and IB
1:ND: Newcastle disease; 2:IB: infectious bronchitis; 3:IBD: infectious bursal diseases; 4:MG: Mycoplasma galli- septicum
▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 6, 2019 25
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