CONFERENCE REPOR ▶▶▶T
Understanding microbiome of changing birds
I BY FABIAN BROCKÖTTER
f there is one industry at the forefront of change, then it is the poultry industry. Over the last 50 years production has increased ten-fold which could only be achieved through tremendous advances in know-how, both in ani- mal husbandry and in understanding the birds’ needs and feed requirements. That said, birds are changing constantly due to genetic improvements and with the enormous growth of the industry challenges have arisen that no one could have imagined decades ago. The environmental impact of produc- tion and antibiotic resistance are two mega-trends that have to be tackled. And that needs insight. This is why Dupont ani- mal nutrition invited a small but select group of experts and nutritionist to share the latest trends and provide in-depth knowledge of the science surrounding the three mainstays of nutribiosis; these being nutrition, microbiome and gut & im- mune function. “We live in interesting times, where African Swine fever has resulted in more demand for chicken, where international trade wars are messing up commodity streams and where antibiotic use and environmental issues are put- ting pressure on our industry,” said Dupont business unit di- rector Aart Mateboer. However, he sees not just threats, but opportunities too. “As an industry we have the know-how to tackle these challenges, we can lessen environmental impact by reducing phosphorus and nitrogen emissions. And to do that we need to share our best practices.”
Changing birds When it comes to meeting the birds’ needs, it is necessary to keep in mind that genetic progress has an impact on nutri- tional requirements. Justina Caldas, nutritionist at Cobb, shared her thoughts in her presentation. “First of all, the worldwide demand for broilers has grown from 6.6 billion birds a year in 1961 to 56 billion in 2015. If we still had the same birds with no genetic improvements, we would have needed 75 billion birds. Over the years feed conversion has dropped by two points per annum.” Caldas believes this has consequences that not everyone realises. “Broilers eat less feed per kilogram growth due to genetic improvements. This means that they will ingest less in essential minerals and vita- mins too. Given that standard feeds are designed to avoid vi- tamin deficiencies and are not primarily tuned to optimum
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A select group of nutritionist from all major poultry producing countries in the world gathered at the first edition of World Rising Nutritionists 2019 in Lisbon. Organiser Dupont animal nutrition was at the helm of in-depth and open discussions on the current challenges facing the poultry industry. Poultry World reports.
performance, our birds could be at risk.” She noted that some vitamin levels have already been increased in Cobb recom- mendations, but not all because research and knowledge in this field is still at an early stage. Cécile Berri from the French INRA institute observed another risk related to the constantly changing birds. “One of many selection traits is the focus on meat yields and breast meat. This together with the fact that birds are raised to higher body weights means that the quality defects in meat become more numerous and serious. We see pH-related defects, white striping, wooden breast and spaghetti meat. A combination of oxidative stress, inflammation and muscle degeneration leads to breast muscle myopathies. As selection is made for muscle growth and not for the number of muscle fibres, birds become at risk.” Berri indicated that the problems have a her- itable factor which can be mitigated to some extent by ge- netics, management and feeding strategies. “All strategies that limit animal and muscle growth will be sufficient to
During round ta- ble sessions the invited nutri- tionists actively engaged in open discus- sions to the ben- efit of them all.
PHOTOS: FABIAN BROCKÖTTER
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