Dietary Modulations for better feed efficiency

Natural Remedies Pvt. Ltd. is Indian’s number one herbal veterinary health care company growing globally in 30 countries under the leadership of Mr. R. K. Agarwal, Chairman, and Mr.Anurg Agarwal, MD & CEO. It brings solutions in terms of the health products for all species like ruminant, poultry, aqua, and pets. We have a world-class R&D laboratory located in Bangalore where more than 40 scientists are working hard and have contributed in isolation of over 220 phyto compounds and published more than 100 monographs, 120 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, and over 15 patents. We have GLP certified in vitro laboratory for safety studies and we maintain the consistency of our product batch after batch.

The company organizes the webinar series Natural is future 2.0, where national and internationally renowned speakers deliver their speeches related to animal and poultry health.

In the month of September, we hosted a webinar moderated by Dr. Chandan Chatterjee, Group Product Manager at Natural Remedies Pvt. Ltd. where eminent poultry scientist, Dr. S. V. Rama Rao conveyed his valuable speech on the topic “Dietary modulation for better feed efficiency”.  Dr. S. V. Rama Rao focused on the importance of the diet of poultry birds to improve their feed efficiency. He begins his talk by briefing the chicken intestine and its functions. He discussed that the gut of the poultry birds has a vital role in the conversion of feed to the egg as well as body mass. The layer birds can convert 110 gm of feed into 48 gm of the egg mass. Whereas, the broilers consume 3.5 to 4 kg feed in40 to 42 days to gain bodyweight of around 2.5 to 2.7 kg. Anatomically the digestive system of poultry bird consists of the esophagus, proventriculus, gizzard, duodenum, jejunum, cecum, colon, rectum, and vent. The gut has a dual role in

digestion as well as in preventing entry of pathogens by acting as a protective barrier. The complex food materials are digested, dissimilated and absorbed into simple substances like glucose, amino acids, and fatty acids. The immune-components of the gut system of chicken consist of bursa of fabricius, caecal tonsils,meckel’s diverticulum, payer’s patchesand epithelial lymphocytes which have major role in protection barrier. Hence, it can be inferred that the birds with healthy intestine exert good immune system and superior health condition. He pointed out that the lower feed efficiency is due to the imbalanced diet, contaminated feed with mycotoxins and pesticides, pathogens and also the poor water quality and environmental stress. The typical poultry diet consists of maize & cereals of 50 to 65%, SBM & oilseed cakes of 25 to 40% and additives of 5 to 12%. The non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) is considered as anti-nutritional factor for poultrybirds causing detrimental effect on nutrient digestion and absorption, increasing energy requirement for maintenance of gut and developing necrotic enteritis.

After narrating the gut anatomy and physiology of poultry birds, he initiated his elaborative discussion on the focused area like easy food, gut potentiates, inert fibre, enzymes and various stressors. 

Easy food

Easily digestible food is also called baby food. It is known that hydrolysable protein is having higher digestibility than conventional protein. Hence, feed supplemented with 5 or 10% of hydrolysable protein from soyabean meal improves the feed efficiency among the birds.

Emulsifier

Most of the studies show that the addition of emulsifiers to the poultry feed has a positive impact.In one of the studies,emulsifier showed a progressive increase in feed efficiency as compared to control. It was found that addition of emulsifier at the level of 300 gm per ton of feed develop 1.668 food conversion ratio (FCR) whereas, the birds of control group show FCR of 1.697.

Effect of bile salt on FCR of birds

Bile salt has an important role in increasing the feed efficiency in poultry birds. One study showed that each ton poultry feed supplemented with 10 kg ofbile salt improved the feed efficiency significantly. The study data revealed the FCR of 1.56in test group incomparison ofthe control group showing FCR of 1.5888.

Marygold phenols and leutein can be used as an alternative to antibiotic growth promoter (AGP). They reveal the significant improvement of feed efficiency as compared to the positive and negative control groups where feed supplemented with or without AGP.

Gut potentiates

Probiotics: Probiotics are live organisms which are beneficial for the gut of the birds and help in maintaining healthy gut system with higher feed digestibility. In one of the study it was found that the addition of probiotics at the rate of 600, 1200 and 1600 million CFU per kg of feed revealed the FCR of 1.693, 1.705, and 1.654 respectively.

Now a days bacteriophage treatmentin feed is gaining popularity in the poultry industry as it has a beneficial effect in digestibility. The dose rate at 1 x 10 ⁶ PFU/ bird in drinking water showed better feed efficiency among the birds.

Na-butyrate as alternative to antibiotic growth promoter

Na butyrate has a potential impact in improving feed efficiency among birds. Na butyrate is dissociated into butyric acid at the lower intestine which promotes acid environment and prevents the growth of harmful bacteria. Some studies showed that the use of betaine could increase the feed efficiency in birds.

Inert fibre

There are some oligosaccharides helpful for the growth of beneficial microorganisms in the gut. It was observed that addition of 250 gm/ton of GOS in broiler feed led to lower FCR of 1.56 as compared to the birds of control group. However, the optimum dose of the inert fibre is the most important to gain maximum feed efficiency in broilers.

Pure fibre supplementation

The supplementation of pure fibre in poultry diet is essential when the dietary fibre level is below 3% to improve the feed efficiency in birds.

Natural fibre

Supplementation of natural fibre like rice husk, soya husk or groundnut husk shows consistent improvement of feed efficiency in broiler birds.

Enzymes

Dr. Rama Rao narrated that there are 3 types of enzymes viz. phytase, NSP enzymes, and protease having a potential impact in poultry diet. Phytase super dosing has a significant effect on body weight leading to>6.5 unit of feed efficiency. Although, it should be performed in a neutral pH environment of 6.5 to 7.0 for obtaining optimum result. Moreover, combination of phytase with inositol improves the feed efficiency among birds. Cocktail enzymes, as well as enzymes in combination of probiotics, significantly improve the feed efficiency and body weight in broiler birds. We can remarkably reduce the FCR after using the cocktail enzymes. In the case of layer birds, cocktail enzymes help to save around 4.5g feed per egg. Supplementation of xylanase enzyme is also important in improving the feed efficiency, however, higher levels of xylanase i.e. more than 600 units/kg is also detrimental. Supplementation of alpha-galactosidase in feed improves FCR by 6 units.

Papain

Supplementation of papain at a rate of 1000 gm per ton of feed had shown improvement in body weight gain of the broiler birds as well as feed efficiency as compare to the control group.

Summer stress management

Dr. Rama Rao elaborated that in the summer season the feed intake, as well as feed efficiency, fall drastically. The addition of guanidino acetic acid (GAA) during the summer season at the rate of 600gand 800gper ton of feed improves the FCR of the birds and shows a positive impact in reducing heat stress. Betaine is another feed additive that helps to increase the feed efficiency by approximately 6 units per bird in the summer season. It regulates the osmolaritic tension of the cells and retains the minimum water level required for the normal functioning of the cells.

Dr. Rama Rao concluded that supplementation of poultry diet with feed additives like emulsifiers, bile salts, enzymes, and probiotics helps to improve the FCR and ultimately saves the feeding cost which is beneficial to the poultry farmers. The questions addressed during the session are as follows:

Explain the synergistic effect of various supplements in increasing feed efficiency?

Dr. Rama Rao: There are feed supplements that show synergistic response at gut level and improve feed efficiency e.g.NSP enzymes and probiotics. However, not all substances will show the synergistic effect at a gut level.

How to enhance caecal microbial fermentation and what will be its direct impact?

Dr. Rama Rao: Strategic targeted delivery of butyric acid, essential oil, and probiotics directly at the posterior part of the intestine or caecum helps to reduce the pathogenic bacteria population like Clostridium spp. and enhances feed efficiency.

Does betaine hydrochloride show a similar effect like anhydrous betaine in osmoregulation and thermoregulation?

Dr. Rama Rao: Betaine is naturally better adapted at the cellular level of a biological system. However, a higher concentration of betaine hydrochloride or sulphate may have some negative impact. Betaine anhydrous is adapted well by the cells.

How beneficial are the phytogenic compounds in improving feed efficiency?

Dr. Rama Rao: Marygold phenols and leutein show good results as compared to AGP in chickens. So the phytogenic additive can be beneficially used without any side effects as these are derived from natural sources.

High energy low protein or high protein low energy which diet is recommended?

Dr. Rama Rao: We need to provide a balanced energy and protein diet to the birds. They should not be less than the recommended level in the diet.

Are there any incompatibilities among the feed ingredients to be considered while formulating the feed? Does any ingredient show an antagonist effect with choline chloride present in the feed?

Dr. Rama Rao: The choline is very much hygroscopic material. It may interfere with some nutrients like amino acids, vitamins, and trace minerals antagonistically. So, choline chloride should be added separately to protect the food ingredients which are oxidative in nature.

Can we use a higher dose of Na-butyrate or enzyme to improve absorption of multiple ingredient diet used for commercial layer?

Dr. Rama Rao: All macro or micronutrients should be provided only at optimum recommended doses. However, super dosing of Na-butyrate may have a beneficial effect.

Can feed additives with immunomodulating properties enhance feed efficiency?

Dr. Rama Rao: The compounds which help to improve gut development and function, can definitely improve feed efficiency. However, the feed efficiency can be improved up to the genetic potential of birds not beyond that.

Is there any way to improve feed efficiency at the cellular level?

Dr. Rama Rao: There are many literatures available regarding this topic, but more trails and investigations are required.

Is it possible to have 1:1 FCR in the case of the present breed?

Dr. Rama Rao: Theoretically it may be possible when there is 100% digestibility and assimilation of the feed achieved in genetically modified birds with improved feed efficiency. However, in reality, there are some physiological limitations which prevent to achieve this goal.