PARTNER FEATURE ▶▶▶
A good start to achieve a strong finish
The immediate post-hatching period is critical for chick development and ultimately, chick performance. Integrating nutrition, farm management and gut health can optimise chick performance, even when suboptimal conditions threaten production potential.
BY MELCHIOR DE BRUIN, YVONNE VAN DER HORST AND MORVARID REZVANI, TROUW NUTRITION
ust as Olympic athletes begin their training early in life, successful poultry producers also rely on a solid start to achieve a strong finish. But unlike human champions, achieving outstanding poultry performance starts much earlier – in the hours and days post hatch. A strong start begins with achieving baseline quality metrics. Measuring day-old chick (DOC) parameters such as weight, length, uniformity, navel quality and activity helps to optimise both broiler and layer production systems. These metrics serve as good predictive value indicators for first-week performance and provide feedback on hatchery procedures and parent stock health to incrementally improve chick quality. Within 24 hours of hatching, enterobacteria and streptococci colonise the bird’s caeca and expand to the rest of the intesti- nal tract. While the basic process of intestinal tract colonisa- tion takes about three days, shifts and developments in the microbiome continue until well after two weeks of age. De- velopmental processes in the bird that build a healthy and functional microbiome encounter external and internal threats. For example, the first exposure to avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) typically occurs in the hatchery and can potentially lead to high first-week mortality.
J
Table 1. European production efficiency factor for different treatments (days 0-35)
Treatment Control
Selacid Green Growth
EPEF* 327 380
*EPEF, European production efficiency factor or EBI (European broiler index) = ((ADG×% survival rate)/ FCR)/10).
28 ▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 8, 2021
Functional diets for young birds The first few days of poultry production traditionally focus on technical management, which is widely recognized as the ba- sis for a good start. In addition to technical management, the practice of providing specially-designed feed formulations for young animals, containing high quality raw materials and a tailored package of feed additives, is rapidly gaining in popu- larity. Young animal nutrition draws on the synergy between multiple modes of action uncovered by poultry scientists, to improve animal performance and reduce the need for antibi- otics. A broad-spectrum approach includes improving chicks’ gut integrity, actively steering gut microbiome development, safeguarding against (clinical and subclinical) mycotoxin and endotoxin exposure and efficiently enhancing digestion.
Mode of action drives benefits Organic acids have long been used in feed and water to re- duce or even eliminate pathogens before uptake by the ani- mal and support processes in the gut. In young animals, gas- tric acid production does not always keep up with growth and development. Suboptimal nutrient digestion related to a higher gizzard pH and subsequent absorption challenges pro- vide a good opportunity for organic acids to help lower the pH in the upper part of the digestive tract. Furthermore, both short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) may act as antimicrobial agents in the animal. These offer both direct bacteriostatic or bactericidal effects and indi- rect benefits (by stimulating ‘good’ bacteria at the expense of pathogens or through acidification of the bacterial environ- ment and decreasing colonisation potential). Additionally, synergistic beneficial effects between SCFAs and MCFAs have been reported. Developed by Trouw Nutrition, Selacid Green Growth is a blend of free and buffered SCFAs combined with MCFAs. This functional feed additive has been shown to lever- age the combined synergistic effects of ingredients to safe- guard performance and deliver improved mechanisms to aid digestion and help manage gut health challenges.
Performance validated globally An independent validation trial in the United Kingdom showed that this synergistic blend of SCFA and MCFA ingredi- ents helped a broiler flock reared without any antibiotics achieve an impressive recovery following a troubled first
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
