RESEARCH ▶▶▶
Improving yellow skin pigmentation in broilers fed AGP-free diets
When reducing or eliminating antimicrobial growth promoters (AGP) in poultry production, producers must pay careful attention to feed, farm and health challenges. In some regions, producers face an additional challenge: achieving skin pigmentation levels desired in the marketplace. Failing to achieve adequate levels of yellow pigmentation can result in lower value end products.
BY YVONNE VAN DER HORST, TROUW NUTRITION B
roiler production in Mexico amounts to more than 300 million broilers per cycle and the country’s mar- ketplace places some unique demands on its poul- try farmers. Skin pigmentation is widely considered
both an indicator of a bird’s health status and meat quality. As such, yellow pigmented broilers represent a significant por- tion of the broiler wholesale and retail market in Mexico. Broiler skin pigmentation isn’t merely a matter of appearance but also impacts economics. Price penalties may be incurred when threshold pigmentation levels are not achieved. As Mexico’s farmers continue to reduce or remove antimicrobials from their production practices, the challenge of achieving the desired yellow pigment levels can be complicated by gut health issues in flocks.
Affecting pigment absorption Management practices, a broiler’s health status and diet composition can all interfere with pigmentation uptake and expression in broilers. Both Necrotic Enteritis (Clostridium perfringens) and coccidiosis damage the intestinal mucosa
and thereby interfere with the absorption of pigments from the intestine. Beyond contributing to bird health challen- ges, both of these conditions can also result in broilers’ having a less than optimum skin colour, with potential economic consequences.
Mexican production practices With the production environment, flock health challenges and pigmentation levels in mind, researchers at Trouw Nutri- tion collaborated with Integracion Y Desarrollo Agropecuario S.A. (INDEPESA) to evaluate the effectiveness of a gut-improv- ing feed additive in supporting yellow skin pigmentation in broilers. The trial was conducted in a production environment using no AGPs or coccidiostats under typical Mexican rearing conditions. The findings from the trial showed that the gut-health-improving additive (Presan-FY) (containing a syn- ergistic blend of organic acids, medium chain fatty acids (MC- FAs), patented alkyl esters of MCFA’s, target release butyrates and a phenolic compound), enhanced the yellow skin pig- mentation of broilers fed AGP-free diets. A total of 2,700 Ross 308 male broilers were divided into 6 treatments of 9 replicates, each with 50 birds. The treatments
▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 8, 2020 25
In the trial only the gut-health- improving addi- tive treatments achieved the highest in vivo skin yellowness at day 46.
PHOTO: TROUW
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
