Effect of two microbial phytases on mineral availability and retention and bone mineral density in low-phosphorus diets for broilers

1. The efficacy of supplementation of a low-phosphorus (low-P) maize–soyabean meal diet for broiler chickens with two different microbial (fungal and bacterial) phytases was examined.

2. Broiler chickens received a low-P maize–soyabean meal diet containing either no phytase or one of the two phytases included at one and two times the manufacturer's recommended inclusion level for 21 d.

3. Titanium dioxide was included in the diets as an indigestible marker. Excreta were collected quantitatively from d 18 to 21, and at the end of the study the birds were killed and ileal digesta and leg bone samples collected.

4. No differences were observed for body weight gain and feed intake or apparent metabolisable energy (AME) among all dietary treatment groups.

5. Dietary phytase supplementation improved the apparent retention of Ca, Na and Cu and ileal phytate P absorption from 32% to 44% across inclusion levels.

6. Bone mineral density (BMD) was improved for both phytases across inclusion levels by, on average, 9% for the tibia and 13% for the femur.

7. Dietary phytase supplementation of the low-P diet improved apparent ileal digestibility of serine, glycine, valine, isoleucine, tyrosine, histidine, lysine and arginine.

8. When the results from the present study were combined with the results from other similar published studies and analysed statistically, factors such as dietary P and Ca concentration, as well as bird breed and age, rather than the type or activity of microbial phytase, had the greatest impact on the extent to which dietary supplementation improved P and Ca retention.

9. More work is required to explain the interrelationships between the multiple factors influencing the efficacy of phytase on the availability of dietary minerals.     

Evaluation of homoarginine as a marker for the determination of endogenous amino acid concentrations in poultry excreta

1. Endogenous amino acid losses in ileal digesta and excreta of adult cockerels fed on diets containing guanidinated forms of casein, soyabean meal and cottonseed meal were determined using homoarginine as a marker.

2. The ileal endogenous amino acid losses were markedly higher (P< 0–001) in birds given the cottonseed meal diet compared to those given the other two diets. The ileal endogenous protein was rich in aspartic acid, serine and glutamic acid.

3. Negative values were obtained for endogenous amino acid output in excreta. These aberrant values were caused by high concentrations of homoarginine in the excreta. A subsequent study with broiler chickens showed that the homoarginine in excreta was of urinary origin.

4. These results indicate that the homoarginine technique is not suitable for determining endogenous amino acid losses in excreta, but applicable when determinations are made in the terminal ileum.     

Influence of a microbial phytase on the performance and the utilisation of energy,crude protein and fatty acids of young broilers fed on phosphorus-adequate maize- and wheat-based diets

1. The effects of microbial phytase on the performance and nutrient utilisation in broilers fed on phosphorus-adequate starter diets were examined in this study. The effect of phytase on the apparent ileal digestibility of fatty acids was of particular interest. Two grain types (maize and wheat) and two inclusion concentrations of a phytase enzyme from Escherichia coli expressed in Schizosaccaromyces pombe (0 or 500 phytase units (FTU)/kg of feed) were evaluated in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments.

2. Supplemental phytase improved the weight gain and feed per gain, but had no effect on the feed intake of young broilers receiving phosphorus-adequate diets.

3. Phytase supplementation improved the apparent ileal digestibility of nitrogen and phosphorus in both diet types. Phytase supplementation tended to improve the apparent ileal digestible energy in wheat-based diets, but had no effect on the apparent metabolisable energy in both diet types.

4. Supplementation of phytase increased the apparent ileal digestibility of fat, with similar effects for the different fatty acids measured. Increments on ileal fat digestibility due to phytase were not dependent on the type of diet.

5. Dietary supplementation of microbial phytase enhanced not only the digestibility of phosphorus, but also that of nitrogen and fat, exhibiting increased ileal digestibility for all fatty acids in P-adequate maize- and wheat-based diets.     

Influence of an enzyme cocktail and phytase individually or in combination in Ven Cobb broiler chickens

1.?An experiment (21 d) was conducted to determine if the response of chicks to a cocktail of xylanase, amylase, and protease (XAP) or Escherichia coli-derived phytase individually or in combination when fed a nutritionally marginal maize–soybean meal diet is age-dependent.

2.?A total of 250 one-day-old Ven Cobb broiler chicks were allocated to 5 dietary treatments in a randomised complete block design. The treatments were as follows: (1) positive control with supplemental inorganic P; (2) negative control (NC) marginal in P and ME; (3) NC plus XAP to provide (per kg of diet) 650, 1650 and 4000 U of xylanase, amylase, and protease, respectively; (4) NC plus phytase added to provide 1000 phytase units/kg; and (5) NC plus a combination of XAP and phytase.

3.?Low ME and P in the NC diet depressed weight gain and gain:feed. A cocktail of XAP alone did not improve performance, but phytase supplementation improved weight gain. The enzymes were additive in their effects on growth performance.

4.?The enzymes had no effect on ileal digestible energy. Ileal N digestibility was higher in diets with XAP or phytase individually compared with NC. Both phytase and XAP individually and in combination improved ileal P digestibility compared with NC.

5.?Total tract nutrient retention and ME increased as the birds grew older. There were age × diet interactions in total tract retention of P and Ca; improvement in P retention due to phytase use decreased by 50% as the chicks matured.

6.?The current study shows that a combination of XAP and phytase improved performance, but the enhancement in performance appears to be due mainly to phytase. Both XAP and phytase were effective in improving P digestibility and retention of chicks receiving nutritionally marginal maize–soybean meal.

7.?The data also showed that the chicks benefited more from the enzyme addition at a younger age and that the contribution of the enzymes to nutrient retention decreased with age in chickens.     

Factors influencing bacterial eggshell contamination in conventional cages,furnished cages and free-range systems for laying hens under commercial conditions

1.?The aim was to assess eggshell contamination in various laying hen-housing systems and to identify factors influencing this contamination.

2.?Fifty-eight laying hen farms in France were studied, including 21 flocks housed in conventional cages, 7 in furnished cages and 30 kept on-floor.

3.?Sixty eggs per flock were analysed to obtain counts of the total mesophilic flora. Data on equipment and hen management were collected.

4.?Mean bacterial count on eggshells tended to be higher in on-floor systems (4·82 ± 0·51 log CFU/eggshell) than in cage systems (4·57 ± 0·58 log CFU/eggshell, P = 0·09).

5.?Contamination increased with age of the hens, airborne dust concentration, manual packing of the eggs, and packing in plastic rather than in recycled-pulp egg-flats.

6.?The effect of the housing system on eggshell contamination, previously described in experimental assays, was confirmed under production conditions.     

Digestibility studies in broiler chickens: Influence of genotype,age, sex and method of determination

1. The influences of genotype, age and sex on droppings digestibility coefficients of a compound food were studied using male and female broiler chickens of three different genotypes at 2, 4 and 6 weeks of age.

2. Because the traditional method of determination of droppings digestibility coefficients of nitrogen may lead to systematic errors in estimating the feeding value of foodstuffs, a method is proposed to determine the ileal digestibility coefficients. The ileal method is compared with the droppings method for a mixed food and for two foodstuffs: wheat and solvent‐extracted soyabean meal.

3. Birds selected for efficient food conversion showed distinctly higher digestibility coefficients for all nutrients than birds selected for high growth potential or birds from a commercial strain.

4. The influence of age on digestibility coefficients was not consistent.

5. Female birds showed digestibility coefficients which were, in general, 3% higher than those of male chickens.

6. Interactions between genotype and sex and between genotype and age for energy metabolisability were the only interactions observed for digestibility measurements.

7. The method of determination influenced the amino acid digestibility coefficients of the mixed food and the relative feeding values of wheat and soyabean meal.

8. It is important to use well defined animals (genotype, sex, age) in evaluating foodstuffs.

9. The preferred method for determination of digestibility coefficients of nitrogen and amino acids is based on ileal sampling, although the differences in amino acid digestibility coefficients were small between methods.     

Effect of amount and source of manganese and/or phytase supplementation on productive and reproductive performance and some physiological traits of dual purpose cross-bred hens in the tropics

1.?The effect of different amounts of added manganese (Mn) (0, 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg) in inorganic and organic form and phytase (0 and 300 U) was investigated on productive, reproductive and haematological traits on 480 hens and 60 cocks (Inchas breeds) divided into 12 groups: 10 and 20 Mn × 0 and 300 phytase × 2 Mn sources (8 groups), two negative controls (0 Mn × 2 levels of phytase) and two positive controls (40 Mn × 2 Mn sources).

2.?Phytase supplementation increased laying rate by 1·1% and egg weight by 0·4 g.

3.?Manganese supplementation at 10 mg/kg over dietary sources improved hatchability, at 20 mg/kg decreased death embryos and abnormality as those of hens supplemented with 40 mg/kg Mn. Inorganic Mn at 10 mg/kg significantly increased egg mass compared to the organic form. Inorganic Mn was more efficient in decreasing abnormal chicks than organic Mn. Phytase supplementation significantly increased hatchability of fertile eggs and decreased the number of abnormal chicks of groups fed on diets unsupplemented with Mn and those supplemented with 10 mg/kg Mn.

4.?Mn supplementation at 10 mg/kg over dietary sources significantly improved sperm mass motility and decreased abnormal sperm. Phytase significantly decreased lymphocyte cells and plasma AST.

5.?Mn supplementation of the control diet (containing only 16 mg/kg from raw materials) with 20 mg/kg of Mn from either organic or inorganic source is adequate to support egg production traits, egg quality, reproductive traits and economic efficiency of dual purpose cross-bred hens; however, phytase supplementation may reduce the required Mn supplementation to 10 mg/kg.     

Traits influencing the hatching performance of Japanese quail eggs

1. Japanese quail eggs from moderately heavier sires showed superior fertility; while fertile eggs from moderately heavier dams hatched slightly better than the eggs from lighter dams.

2. Higher rates of fertility and hatchability of Japanese quail eggs were observed from parents of 10 to 19 weeks of age, with peak fertility and hatchability at 14 and 12 weeks of age, respectively.

3. Sex ratios of 1:2 to 1:5 gave comparable fertility and hatchability results.

4. The hatching performance of quail eggs from cage and deep litter reared breeders was comparable.

5. Fertility and hatchability were directly proportional to the egg weight.

6. Quail egg shell colour, tints and blotches were found to influence hatching performance.

7. Storing quail eggs at 16 ± 2°C and 75 ± 5% relative humidity for more than 4 d reduced hatchability.

8. Hatchability of eggs stored at room temperature was improved if they were sealed in polyethylene bags.

9. Provision of light during the first 14 d of incubation resulted in a photo‐acceleration of about 3.2 h.     

The sparing action of inorganic sulphate on sulphur amino acids in practical broiler diets: The replacement of some of the supplementary methionine in broiler finisher diets 1

1. Three trials, using practical broiler finisher diets, were carried out to determine to what extent synthetic methionine can be replaced by sodium sulphate.

2. In all three trials responses in weight gain and food conversion ratio were obtained to increments of sodium sulphate in diets containing sub‐optimal concentrations of sulphur amino acids.

3. The effectiveness of sodium sulphate during the finishing period was not higher than had been previously found in younger chicks, and in most cases ranged from 20% to 50% that of synthetic methionine. This efficiency increased after 2 weeks on these diets, in two of the trials.

4. The addition of either synthetic methionine or sodium sulphate decreased relative food consumption, which was apparently increased by suboptimal levels of dietary sulphur.     

Effects of dietary supplements on the nutritive value of jack beans (canavalia ensiformis) for the young chick

1. Two experiments were conducted with young chicks to examine the efficacy of dietary supplements of amino acids, creatine and potassium acetate in the alleviation of adverse effects of auto‐claved jack beans (AJB).

2. Creatine supplementation of AJB diets markedly enhanced the efficiencies of food and nitrogen utilisation of chicks, restoring these indices to control values. The improvement in nitrogen utilisation was enhanced further on providing creatine with a mixture of 2‐aminoiso‐butyric acid, arginine and lysine.

3. Potassium acetate induced striking improvements in the nitrogen retention efficiencies of chicks fed on AJB diets.

4. Liver weights, as a proportion of body weight, generally increased on feeding AJB diets, the effects being marked with the AJB diet supplemented with arginine and lysine.

5. Hepatic urea concentrations were elevated in all groups receiving AJB. Canavanine, a toxic amino acid component of AJB, could not be detected in acid hydrolysates of livers from chicks fed this legume.

6. Temperature and the volumes of water employed in the preparation of AJB are important determinants of its nutritional value.     

Changes in eggshell conductance,water loss and hatchability of layer hens with flock age and moulting

1.?Changes in water loss, eggshell conductance and hatchability with flock age were monitored in layer hens in a commercial hatchery.

2.?Optimal water loss for maximal hatchability of layer eggs was found to be 12 to 13% of initial egg mass at d 18 of incubation.

3.?Mass specific water vapour conductance (GH₂Osp) increased linearly with flock age from 0·31 mg/(d·g·Torr) at the beginning of the first breeding season to 0·40 mg/(d·g·Torr) at its end after 77 weeks (=4·21 and 5·44 mg/(d·100 g·kPa), respectively).

4.?After forced moulting GH₂Osp increased from 0·35 to 0·41 mg/(d·g·Torr) (=4·76 and 5·58 mg/(d·100 g·kPa), respectively).

5.?The coefficients of variation of GH₂Osp increased with flock age from 14% at the beginning of the breeding season to 31% at the end of the second breeding season.

6.?In order to preserve normal incubation water loss for maximising hatchability, the humidity setting of an incubator should increase gradually, with flock age, from 53% RH to 66% RH in the first laying season and from 61% RH to 67% RH after forced moulting.

7.?A 3·5-fold increase (from 2 to 7%) in the difference between mean and median GH₂Osp of egg batches with flock age was found, indicating increasing frequency of microscopic cracks in eggshells with flock age. This has to be taken into account when setting the humidity regime in the incubator.     

A comparative study between mature ostriches (Struthio camelus) and adult cockerels with regard to the true and apparent digestibilities of amino acids

1. A study was conducted to compare apparent and true digestibility of amino acids in a high protein experimental diet between young ostriches (7 months of age) and cockerels.

2. A mean value for true digestibility of amino acids (TAAD) of 0.837 ± 0.0073 (range 0.780 to 0.862) was derived for ostriches, compared with a mean value of 0.795 ± 0.0258 (range 0.723 to 0.825) for cockerels.

3. True retention of dietary protein was 0.646 ±0.0114 and 0.609 ±0.0643 for ostriches and cockerels respectively.

4. Results in the present study produced evidence that the method for determining metabolisable energy values of ingredients for ostriches is also suitable for measuring the digestibility of amino acids.

5. It was concluded that accurate diet formulation for ostriches requires the assessment of amino acid digestibilities for individual ingredients, because values derived from poultry would underestimate digestibilities for ostriches.     

Effect of cuticle removal on the water vapour conductance of egg shells of several species of domestic bird

1. The effect of egg shell cuticle removal, using a 14.7 mM solution of sodium hypochlorite, on the water vapour conductance of egg shells was studied in 5 species of domestic bird.

2. The water vapour conductance of fowl and Muscovy duck egg shells was not affected by the treatment.

3. Cuticle removal increased the conductance of turkey and goose shells, particularly those already relatively porous to water vapour.

4. Removal of cuticles from domestic duck egg shells increased water vapour conductance. In this case the effect was most marked for eggs with lower initial conductances.

5. The differing patterns of resistance to water vapour loss associated with egg shell cuticle are related to the ultrastructure of the cuticle itself, especially the number and size of cuticular fissures.

6. The results suggest that egg shell cuticle is a component in a series of resistances associated with the egg shell and that the use of Fick's Law is insufficient to explain water vapour diffusion across the shell.

7. Embryo survival may be improved by cuticle removal, though this may be limited to those species in which the cuticle restricts water vapour loss in initially low conductance egg shells.     

Effects of reduced dietary calcium and phytase supplementation on calcium and phosphorus utilisation in broilers with modified mineral status

1.?The impact of modified mineral status and dietary Ca:P ratio on Ca and P utilisation was measured in chicks with or without phytase supplementation.

2.?In a preliminary study, 4 diets were given to chicks from 3 to 15 d of age: D1 (6·5 g P/kg and Ca:P = 1·5) and D2, D3 and D4 (6·0, 5·4 and 5·0 g P/kg, respectively, and Ca:P = 1·2). Growth performance was similar across diets. Tibia ash was similar in chicks given D1 and D2, but was gradually depressed from D2 to D4 (?22%).

3.?In the depletion period, two groups of chicks, with similar performance, but with different mineral status were achieved by feeding them, from 5 to 15 d of age, diets with a similar Ca:P ratio of 1·2, but containing 6·3 or 5·2 g P/kg.

4.?During the subsequent 11 d of the repletion period, chicks from each of the two previous groups were given one of the 4 diets containing 5·7 g P/kg, but differing in their Ca (8·3 and 5·3 g Ca/kg) and microbial phytase (0 or 1000 FTU, Natuphos®) levels in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement.

5.?At the end of the repletion period, the initially depleted chicks could not be differentiated from the non-depleted chicks, indicating the capacity of chicks to compensate for their initial depleted mineral status.

6.?Interaction between dietary Ca and phytase levels was not significant. Phytase improved growth performance and bone characteristics. Reduced dietary Ca enhanced feed intake and growth rate, but depressed bone dry matter and ash weight.

7.?At the end, diets supplemented with phytase maximised bone ash weight when chicks were fed with a Ca:P ratio of 1·5 but elicited the highest growth rate when chicks were fed with a Ca:P ratio of 0·9.     

The utilisation of goose egg nutrients by the developing embryo

1. Eggs and hatched embryos from geese were analysed for their proximate and amino acid composition. In comparison with eggs and embryos of the domestic fowl the following were found.

2. The yolk: albumen ratio of the goose egg was higher.

3. The fat concentration in the egg yolk and the protein concentration in the egg albumen were lower.

4. Deposition of dry matter in the embryo and energy expenditure during incubation were similar. In both species, the nitrogen in the embryo exceeded the nitrogen in the egg contents. This is probably due to the utilisation of egg‐shell membrane proteins.

5. Lysine concentration in the goose egg proteins was lower, which was reflected in the hatched gosling proteins.

6. There were high correlations in amino acid concentrations between chicken and goose eggs and between the efficiencies of amino acid utilisation by their embryos, implying that similar metabolic processes are involved in these two species.     

Photoperiod and seasonal influences on the growth of turkey hens

1. The influence of photoperiod and time of year on the growth of hen turkeys was investigated.

2. Photoperiod treatments consisted of computer simulations of day lengths which occur naturally in the spring and autumn of the year. Both photoperiod treatments were given to hens in the autumn and spring.

3. Data were collected for growth evaluations at 2‐ to 4‐week intervals to 16 weeks of age. No significant season × photoperiod interactions occurred.

4. The spring trial resulted in greater body weights and better food conversions (food/gain) than the autumn trial.

5. Simulated autumn daylengths resulted in greater body weights and improved food efficiency at 16 weeks of age compared with simulated spring daylengths.

6. The pattern of growth (period changes) was influenced by season, but not photoperiod.

7. Season and photoperiod both have important and independent influences on the growth of the turkey hen.     

Relationship between monensin and sulphur amino acid requirements IN broiler chickens

1. Diets containing 80, 100, 125, 150, 175 or 200 mg monensin/kg were fed to broiler chickens from 0 to 28 d in cages that prevented access to excreta.

2. Growth was depressed with 125 mg monensin or more/kg and food intake tended to decrease. Feathering was adversely affected with 175 mg or more/kg.

3. In a similar experiment, diets containing 8.8, 9.1, 9.4, 9.7 or 10.1 g total sulphur amino acids (SAA)/kg were supplemented with 125 or 80 mg monensin/kg and compared with a diet containing 8.8 g SAA and 33 mg robenidine/kg.

4. With 125 mg monensin/kg, body‐weight gain was significantly less than that of birds receiving robenidine if dietary SAA content was 9.4 g or less/kg. With 9.7 g SAA or more/kg, gain in birds receiving monensin was similar to that of birds receiving robenidine.

5. Monensin at 125 mg/kg therefore appears to increase the SAA requirement.     

Nutritional value of narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) for broilers

1. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the nutritional value of three cultivars (Wallan, Tanjil and Borre) of narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) for broilers.

2. In Experiment 1, the apparent metabolisable energy (AME) and the apparent ileal amino acid digestibility of the three cultivars were determined. The cultivar effects were not significant for AME and apparent ileal amino acid digestibility coefficients. In general, amino acids in narrow-leafed lupin were well digested, with the notable exception of methionine. Among the indispensable amino acids, arginine had the highest digestibility coefficient (0·92–0·95), while the lowest was for methionine (0·74–0·83).

3. In Experiment 2, using the energy and digestible amino acid values determined in Experiment 1, diets containing 200?g/kg of the three lupin cultivars were formulated and the effects of feeding these diets on the performance and the digestive tract development of broiler starters were investigated.

4. Weight gain, feed intake and feed per gain of broilers fed narrow-leafed lupins diets were similar to those fed on the maize-soy basal diet. The performance of birds fed on diets containing different cultivars of lupins was also similar. Birds fed on lupin diets had similar excreta scores to those fed on the basal diet.

5. Inclusion of 200?g/kg lupins in broiler diets had no effects on the relative weight and length of the intestinal tract. Broilers fed on lupin diets, however, had higher relative weights of liver.

6. These results suggest that narrow-leafed lupins are good sources of protein, but poor sources of AME and sulphur-containing amino acids. It is concluded that, when diets are properly balanced in terms of AME and digestible amino acids, lupins can be included at 200?g/kg inclusion level in broiler starter diets with no adverse effects on performance.     

Comparative utilisation of sulphur‐containing amino acids by genetically lean or fat chickens

1. Genetically lean (LL) or fat (FL) male chickens were fed from 28 to 47 days of age on 5 experimental diets differing by their methionine + cystine content (5.4, 5.8, 6.2, 6.6 and 7.0 g/kg, respectively).

2. Growth rate of LL chickens was reduced by the lower sulphur‐containing amino acid (SAA) concentrations whereas that of FL was not modified.

3. LL chickens exhibited a larger feather protein gain than FL, which was stimulated by SAA intake.

4. SAA retention, when plotted against SAA consumption, was always greater in LL than in FL.

5. Large differences were observed between genotypes for plasma‐free amino acids. Lysine, glutamic acid, histidine and serine were found at significantly higher concentrations in LL birds. Branched amino acids, aromatic amino acids, SAA and arginine were found at higher concentrations in FL. No differences were observed for aspartic acid, glycine, alanine and total amino acids. Methionine supplementation decreased free amino acid concentrations, with the exceptions of arginine and leucine.

6. It is concluded that lean chickens require a higher dietary concentration of SAA than FL. This is mainly caused by their lower food consumption and their greater feather synthesis. However, LL use SAA more efficiently than FL.     

Effect of egg turning and fertility upon the sodium concentration of albumen of the Japanese quail

1. The effects of egg turning and fertility upon sodium concentration of albumen of the Japanese quail is described for up to 72 h incubation.

2. For incubated eggs the sodium concentration of albumen adjacent to the yolk sac was lower than that from albumen next to the shell. Static incubation increased the magnitude of this difference, such that albumen adjacent to the yolk sac was substantially depleted of sodium. This was found at the yolk equator and the yolk vegetal pole of both fertilised and unfertilised eggs.

3. Unincubated eggs also had a lower sodium concentration of albumen adjacent to the yolk sac compared with albumen next to the shell.

4. After 48 h of incubation yolk sodium concentration was substantially lower than albumen sodium concentration in both fertilised and unfertilised eggs, whether eggs were turned or not.

5. It is concluded that in unturned eggs the depletion of sodium from albumen adjacent to the vitelline membrane is not produced by ion transport processes but results from a passive movement of sodium into the yolk. Egg turning reduces the magnitude of the depletion of sodium from the albumen adjacent to the yolk sac by stirring the albumen, so permitting the full expression of ion and water transport across the blastoderm into the yolk sac.