Maintaining healthy foot pads of broilers starts with fundamentally healthy tissue integrity
By Frederika Somers (Poultry Marketing Manager – Novus Europe) and Stanislaw Budnik (Sr. Technical Service Manager for East Europe) Novus SA/NV
Monitoring foot pad health of broilers today has not only become an important point of attention to indicate and benchmark the level of animal welfare and health status of a flock but is also essential to achieve a high number of premium grade paws destined for export to the food industry in Asia. An impaired skin structure gives rise to the development of lesions of the foot pads (Pass et al. 1989). Hence the importance of promoting skin strength, which is related to its dermis layer characterized by a high collagen content (Ramshaw et al. 1986). Trace minerals are key components of broiler diets, supporting various fundamental physiological functions necessary for optimal health and final productivity. Zinc is an essential co-factor of enzymes involved in the process of keratinization and collagen synthesis in the skin (Figure1). It reduces inflammation, supports the deposition and remodeling of collagen during wound healing (Chen et al. 2016) and plays an important role in the process of cell-proliferation (McDowell, 2003). Copper and manganese are also involved in safeguarding healthy skin around the feet, respectively as a co-factor for collagen and elastin cross-linking (to maintain elasticity and firmness of the foot pads) and activating enzymes involved in protecting skin cells from free superoxide radicals (Zhao et al. 2010, Olgun et al. 2017). Supplementing broiler diets with Zn, Cu and Mn bis-chelates of methionine hydroxy analogue (MINTREX®
, Novus Int.) ensures a more
Figure 1: Significant thicker dermis of the feet papillae of broilers, 21 days of age, following the addition of MINTREX to the diet compared to using inorganic trace minerals
adequate approach to enhance skin strength compared to inorganic trace mineral sources (ITM), because it supplies the necessary minerals more efficiently to the bird thanks to its unique molecular structure. MINTREX has proven to significantly enhance the dermis thickness of the foot pad papillae compared to less bioavailable inorganic trace minerals (Figure 1, Da Costa et al. 2016). Various scientific and commercial trials have shown that MINTREX supports healthier foot pads, not only thereby improving animal welfare during production, but also increasing the number of saleable feet at slaughter (Figure 2, French Research Station, 2016). Thanks to a well-
researched, well-founded, Reduce and Replace feeding strategy, MINTREX® trace minerals can achieve these benefits at lower dietary concentrations than inorganic and other organic trace mineral sources while still meeting the broiler’s nutritional requirements, resulting in a higher final total profitability in broiler production.
Figure 2: Supplementing a broiler diet with MINTREX trace minerals significantly reduces the severity and incidence of foot pad dermatitis in broilers in comparison to inorganic trace minerals
* visual scoring based on 4-point system
(score 0 = lesions >12 mm in size, score 1 = lesions between 7,5 – 12 mm, score 2 = lesions <7,5mm, score 3 = no lesions). The higher the outcome, the healthier status of the foot pads of the flock.
FEED COMPOUNDER NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 PAGE 45
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