Meeting the challenges with nutritional programs A prolongation of the laying cycle while maintaining a high laying persistency can only be achieved when providing birds with diets which fully match their nutritional requirements. This is true throughout a hen’s life, starting directly after hatch. A well-prepared pullet is the basis for good shell quality and stable bones. Young chickens and pullets need to receive an appropriate diet in their rearing phase for best development of their bodies to endure the phase of egg production and to ensure good conditions at the onset of laying. Within the first half of the rearing period a high amount of proteins, amino acids and mineral uptake is preferred to face a high growing rate, whereas in the second half of the rearing period this demand for protein declines to a certain extent. In this phase of life the bird’s growth rate declines and an increase in fibre content of the diet is beneficial for the anatomic development of the gizzard and gut morphology. As soon as the pullets enter the pre-lay phase, attention needs to be paid to the increasing demand for calcium due to the development of medullary bones and preparing of eggshell production. Without any doubt, calcium supply plays a crucial role in improving eggshell quality, but a simple


rule of “more calcium in the diet results in stronger eggshell” is a fallacy. The quality of calcium, the particle size, the relative amount to other minerals and even the timing of calcium intake influences the eggshell production. For one egg to be produced 2.4 g of calcium is needed. Two thirds of this required amount are taken up via feed. Two thirds of the calcium uptake should take place during the afternoon with respect to the higher demand for calcium during the night hours, when the eggshell is formed. Therefore, split-feeding paradigms will meet the challenge of time-dependent calcium-uptake. Commercial laying hens are high performing organisms realizing laying rates of more than


90% over several weeks of their lives. Therefore, they continuously face an unusually high inflammatory pressure due to their fast working metabolism, which is a steady source for the formation of free radicals leading to oxidative stress. Consequently, (in particular) laying hens in later laying stage are prone to cost-intensive infections, which in turn will decrease performance and deteriorate eggshell stability.


Feed supplements derived from wood enhance egg production Although historically considered an antinutritive ingredient, scientific studies over recent years have contributed to our knowledge about the positive effects of dietary fibre in monogastric


Table 1. Morphometric data on small intestine obtained in a feeding trial on laying hens at the University of Sao Paulo. Inclusion of eubiotic lignocellulose to standard feed caused an increase of gut length as well as a segment-dependent increase of villus length indicating an improvement of the resorptive capacity of the intestinal tissue.


Gut length (cm) Duodenum


Villi height (µm) Crypt depth (µm) Villi:crypt ratio Jejunum


Villi height (µm) Crypt depth (µm) Villi:crypt ratio Ileum


Villi height (µm) Crypt depth (µm) Villi:crypt ratio


Control 143


1627 221 7.36


1056 152 6.95


896 129 6.94


1% LC 163


1593 209 7.62


1280 177 7.23


822 107 7.68


2% LC 160


1538 204 7.54


1210 164 7.38


847 107 7.91


SEM 0.026


64.8 11.5 0.35


48.1 8.0


0.33


39.9 4.5


0.29


P-value 0.047


0.353 0.308 0.472


0.008 0.088 0.421


0.274 0.005 0.048


www.agromed.at Hypothesis No. 09


agromed® ROI


Bioactive wood lignans optimise immune response and improve stress tolerance as well as performance.


FEED COMPOUNDER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 PAGE 43


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