Growth performance of broilers fed on diets containing processed poultry wastes

1. Broilers were grown on diets containing processed poultry wastes: dehydrated broiler litter, with (DBLA) or without (DBLN) arsenical residues, “in‐house” dried waste (IHDW) and dehydrated layer waste (DLW), all from commercial poultry houses.

2. Wastes were included at 100 g/kg in starter and finisher diets given, in most cases, from 0 to 8 weeks. In formulation the contents of true protein and of experimentally‐determined metabolisable energy values were used to ensure nutritional balance.

3. Body weight at 8 weeks with inclusion of wastes was equivalent to control (DLW) or increased (DBLA, DBLN). The gain: food ratio was reduced by the two layer wastes because of increased food consumption. Litter moisture was increased by the feeding of wastes.     

Recycled dried poultry manure in chick starter diets

1. Dried poultry manure (DPM) collected from 1‐d to 3‐week‐old chicks, reared in electrical battery brooders, incorporated at a level of 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% in a chick starter diet, was recycled four times.

2. There was a linear decrease in body weight and efficiency of food utilisation with each percentage increase in DPM.

3. The amount of dried droppings recovered as a percentage of food consumed was proportional to the amount of DPM included in the diet and remained fairly constant during the recycling.

4. Body weights and efficiency of food utilisation were substantially the same during the first three recycling periods but declined significantly during the fourth period.

5. Mortality was negligible and all chicks appeared healthy and vigorous.

6. Chicks fed on 10% DPM in an isocaloric and isonitrogenous (protein‐N) diet grew and utilised food as well as those fed on the basal diet; chicks fed on 20% DPM did not consume enough to meet their requirements.     

The growth of broiler chickens fed low-protein diets containing triammonium citrate, diammonium hydrogen citrate and autoclaved dried poultry manure

Three experiments were carried out using male broiler chicks from 1 to 3 weeks of age. The birds were housed in individual metabolism cages at 1 week of age, having previously been in tiered brooders.

In experiment 1, 36 birds were offered one of six experimental diets based on glucose‐ and cellulose‐diluted commercial broiler mash. The six diets were supplemented with graded levels of triammonium citrate (TAC) at the expense of cellulose such that diet 1B contained no TAC and diet 1F contained 6.4% TAC. In experiment 2, 72 birds were offered one of six diets, similar to those used in experiment 1 with the exception that they were supplemented with graded levels of diammonium hydrogen citrate (DAHC). In experiment 3, 72 birds were offered one of six diets which were based on the same diluted broiler mash but which had been supplemented with graded levels of autoclaved dried poultry manure (ADPM) at the expense of glucose. Diet 3B contained no ADPM whereas diet 3F contained 20% ADPM.

All birds were weighed at 2 and 3 weeks of age and their food consumptions over these periods were recorded. Their growth was compared with that of birds fed the undiluted commercial broiler food.

All birds of experiment 1 (TAC‐supplemented diets) and experiment 2 (DAHC‐supplemented diets) showed significantly poorer growth rates than the control birds. However, birds of experiment 3 (ADPM‐supplemented diets) grew as well as the control birds.     

The fate of recycled urate in hens fed on a diet containing dried poultry manure.

1. Seven colostomised hens were fed on a control diet free of dried poultry manure (DPM) or one including 20% DPM. 2. Urate excretion was greater during DPM feeding by approximately the amount consumed: little urate was present in faeces. 3. Doses of 10-6 muCi of 14C-urate introduced into the crop were quantitatively excreted in the urine within 24 h. 4. The results show that none of the urate present in DPM is utilised by the laying hen.     

Performance of broilers fed on diets containing cooked potato flake

The chemical analysis of dried cooked potato flake suggests that the material might be used in diets for broilers. Starter and finisher diets containing 0, 10, 20 and 40% potato flake in place of maize meal were formulated, and fed ad libitum in pellet form to broilers. Performance of the birds and characteristics of the pellets were measured.

The performances of birds given diets containing 0, 10 and 20% potato were similar. Birds given the diet containing 40% potato grew at a slower rate, ate less food but converted food as efficiently as birds receiving other diets.

Wetness of the litter and hardness of the pellets both increased as the proportion of potato in the diet increased, and these are suggested as the main factors limiting the proportion of potato used in the diet. It is proposed that these factors may be overcome by attention to the litter and by feeding diets containing potato in smaller sized particles.     

Renal function changes in laying hens fed on dried poultry manure.

1. Renal function was studied in laying hens which had been fed on diets containing 0 (controls), 10 or 20% dried poultry manure (DPM) for one year. 2. Birds fed on 20% DPM showed increased rates of effective renal plasma flow and increased renal tubular secretion of urate during the infusion of large amounts of urate. 3. Renal hypertrophy was not detected in any group.     

Utilisation of dried poultry manure by growing chickens fed on a practical diet

1. Dried poultry manure (DPM) has been tested as a replacement for groundnut cake in poultry diets.

2. Body weight gain, and the efficiency of food conversion were improved when the diet contained 50 g DPM/kg but higher rates of inclusion (100 or 150 g/kg) depressed growth.

3. Birds fed on diets containing 50 g DPM/kg yielded meat of comparable quality to those fed on the control diet whereas those fed on diets containing more DPM yielded meat containing more fat and less water.

4. The percentage moisture in the meat was inversely related to the lipid content.

5. Nitrogen retention was comparable in all groups.     

The laying performance of two strains of hens offered diets containing dried poultry manure during the laying stage

1. Light‐weight (Babcock B300) and medium‐weight (Warren‐SSL) hens were offered diets, containing 0, 100 or 200 g dried poultry manure (DPM) and 11.49, 11.12 or 10.83 MJ metabolisable energy/kg respectively, between 18 and 70 weeks of age. The true protein, metabolisable energy, calcium and phosphorus contents of the DPM, from caged layer hens, were used in the diet formulation.

2. The hen‐housed laying performance of hens offered the DPM‐containing diets was significantly better for number of eggs laid and total egg mass produced but the performance of the control groups was lower than would normally be expected of those stocks. The reason for the lower rate of lay and higher mortality of hens fed on the control diet was not identified. The amount of food consumed increased as the energy content of the diet decreased and the efficiency of food conversion (EFC) of the lightweight strain was reduced; there was no significant effect on the EFC of the medium‐weight hens.

3. The inclusion of DPM in the diets had no effect on albumen quality or on the incidence of hair‐cracked, cracked or broken eggs. However, with both strains of hens, shell weight and shell thickness were poorer when 100 or 200 g DPM/kg diets were fed.     

Fermentation of poultry manure for poultry diets

1. The fermentation of poultry manure in an attempt to increase its value for poultry diets was studied.

2. Microbial strains for the efficient elimination of uric acid were isolated.

3. Suitable, cheap carbon sources (methanol, glycerol, glucose) were tested in attempts to increase cell yield.

4. These criteria were used to study the 41 bacterial and 8 yeast strains which were the most prolific on slants and which were isolated from experiments with a shaker. A strain was selected for experimentation with a fermentor.

5. Fermentor experiments were done on a laboratory scale (101) and in a non‐sterile semicontinuous system (150 1), cell mass production being similar in both systems.     

Effects of battery gage shape and dietary energy regulation on the performance of laying hens offered diets containing dried poultry manure

1. About 3000 medium‐weight hybrid chicks were used in a factorial experiment involving two “chick” treatments: diets containing 0 and 50 g dried poultry manure (DPM)/kg; three “grower” treatments, diets with and without 50 g DPM/kg given ad libitum and regulated amounts of the diet with DPM; five “layer” treatments: diets with 0, 100 or 200 g DPM/kg given ad libitum and regulated amounts of diets containing 110 and 220 g DPM/kg and two shapes of layer cages: deep (conventional) and shallow.

2. Chick diets had no significant effects on rearing or subsequent laying performance.

3. Food‐regulated pullets were 7% lighter than pullets given the DPM diet ad libitum at 18 weeks but consumed 12.5% less food; growing treatments had no significant effect on subsequent egg production.

4. Hens housed in shallow cages laid 10.3 eggs/bird‐housed more than those in deep cages, produced 3.8% greater egg mass, consumed 2.7% less food and produced fewer damaged (cracked, broken and hair‐cracked) eggs (P< 0.001).

5. DPM‐containing layer diets had no adverse effects on egg production, or mortality; with 100 g DPM/kg efficiency of food conversion (EFC) was better than with 0 or 200 g/kg (P< 0.001).

6. Reduction of the energy intake of L110R and L220R hens with diets containing 110 and 220 g DPM/kg by 8.2 and 9.0% respectively, reduced the number of eggs laid/hen‐housed by 6 and 10.7 but improved the EFG (P< 0.001); there was no significant interaction between cage shape and energy regulation.     

Replacement of groundnut cake by dried poultry manure in the diets of laying hens

1. The effect on food consumption by pullets when dried poultry manure (DPM) replaced part of dietary groundnut cake depended on the strain of the birds: in two of the three hybrids food consumption was not affected when up to 100 g DPM/kg was fed.

2. Increases in food consumption were accompanied by increases in egg production.

3. The food required per dozen eggs was improved by up to 100 g dietary DPM/kg and variation in the sizes of eggs laid depended on the hybrid.

4. Concentrations of DPM up to 100 g/kg did not affect the water‐soluble nitrogen content of the egg but the crude albumen nitrogen content was depressed at concentrations of 80 g/kg or above.

5. Feeding DPM to laying pullets depressed body weight.     

The effects on rearing and subsequent laying performance of rearer diets containing two levels of protein and dried poultry manure or urea

1. Six hundred and seventy‐two light‐hybrid pullets aged 6 weeks were allocated to eight experimental treatments and cage‐reared to 18 weeks of age when they were transferred to single‐bird battery cages and fed on a common layer diet.

2. In the 6‐ to 12‐week period four dietary treatments were applied: a diet containing about 160 g crude protein (CP)/kg with or without 50 g dried poultry manure (DPM)/kg (diets 2 and 1 respectively) and a diet containing about 140 g CP/kg with or without 50 g DPM/kg (diets 4 and 3). In the 12‐ to 18‐week period two additional diets were fed: diets 1 and 3 supplemented with 10 g urea/kg (diets 5 and 6 respectively). Diets containing DPM were formulated to utilise the CP, energy, calcium and 50% of the phosphorus content of DPM.

3. Pullets fed on diets 1, 2 and 5 (high‐protein) were significantly heavier at 18 weeks than those fed on diets 3, 4 and 6 (low‐protein). In the laying period total estimated egg weight, food intake and conversion were significantly greater, and the age at first egg was significantly less (2.4 d).

4. Dietary DPM had no significant effect on the 18‐week body weight but food consumption was significantly less and conversion was significantly improved. There were no significant effects on subsequent laying performance. Dietary urea caused no significant effects on rearing or laying performance.     

Effects on chick growth of adding various non-protein nitrogen sources or dried autoclaved poultry manure to diets containing crystalline essential amino acids

Female broiler chicks were offered semi‐purified diets containing crystalline essential amino acids, including proline, supplemented with various nitrogen sources. Individual final body weights, food consumption and food conversion efficiencies (FCE) were measured.

In the first experiment 70 1‐d‐old chicks were given one of seven diets for 21 d; basal (1A) or basal plus: 12% l‐glutamic acid (1B), 17.05% monoammonium citrate (1C), 9.23% diammonium citrate (1D), 6.61% triammonium citrate (TAC) (1E), 2.45% urea (1F) or 4.05% triammonium phosphate and 12.56% calcium lactate (1G). Using body weight at 21 d and FGE as measures of the effectiveness of the various nitrogen sources the orders were 1E (171 g), 1B (154 g) > 1D (131 g), 1G (123 g), 1F (118 g) >basal (89 g) >1C (66 g), (P < 0.05) and 1B (0.456), 1E (0.420) >1G (0.346), 1F (0.329), 1D (0.319) > basal (0.269) > 1C (0.192), (P < 0.05), respectively.

In the second experiment 70 7‐d‐old chicks were offered one of seven diets for 14 d; basal (2A) or basal plus 12% l‐glutamic acid (2B), 8.0% l‐glutamic acid and 2.21% TAC (2C), 4.0% L‐glutamic acid and 4.42% TAC (2D), 6.61% TAC (2E), 3.43% uric acid (2F) or 20.09% dried autoclaved poultry manure (2G). When the final body weights at 21 d and FCE were placed into a rank order, the degrees of effectiveness were: 2C (250 g), 2B (245 g), 2D (244 g), 2G (240 g) > 2E (206 g) > basal (165 g), 2F (150 g) (P < 0.045) and 2B (0.471), 2G (0.451), 2C (0.445), 2D (0.436) >2E (0.399) > basal (0.314) >2F (0.243) (P < 0.05), respectively. The results for diets 2B, 2C, 2D and 2E appear to indicate that 4% glutamic acid is required for maximal chick growth with these crystalline amino acid diets.     

Performance of broilers and layers given diets containing dried microbial cells (pruteen)

1. Feeding trials involving six diets (two concentrations of crude protein (CP) each with three rates of inclusion of the test ingredient, to a maximum of 100 g/kg) measured the effects upon performance of broilers (1 to 56 d) and layers (28 to 60 weeks) of the substitution of dried microbial cells (DMG) for soyabean meal. The diets were compounded to be of equal CP, methionine and phosphorus content within each protein concentration.

2. The growth of broilers was not significantly affected although there was a significant linear trend for an increasing rate of inclusion of DMC to decrease food intake.

3. There was a significant linear trend for an increasing rate of inclusion of DMG to reduce egg production.     

Effects on performance of growing pigs fed diets containing different levels of dried cashew pulp

The purpose was to investigate the use of dried cashew pulp (DrCP), the sun-dried residue after juice has been extracted from the cashew apple, as a feed ingredient in growing pig diets. The growth rate, feed intake, feed to gain ratio and cost of gain of grower pigs fed diets containing 0 (0DrCP), 100 (100DrCP), 150 (150DrCP) or 200 (200DrCP) g kg⁻¹ of dried cashew pulp was investigated in a feeding trial set up as a Completely randomized design with 4 treatments replicated 3 times and lasting 112 days. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) among treatments in the parameters measured. It was concluded that dried cashew pulp could be used in growing pig diets up to a level of 200 g kg⁻¹ without any deleterious effects. Future work will look at higher levels of DrCP inclusion in the diets of growing pigs.     

Assessment of caecal parameters in layer hens fed on diets containing wheat distillers dried grains with solubles

1. There is much interest in quantifying the nutritional value of UK wheat distillers dried grains with solubles (W-DDGS) for livestock species. A study was designed to evaluate caecal parameters (pH, short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and bacterial diversity) in layer hens fed on balanced diets containing graded concentrations of W-DDGS.

2. A total of 32 layer hens (Bovans Brown strain at 27 weeks of age) were randomly allocated to one of 4 dietary treatments containing W-DDGS at 0, 60, 120 or 180 g/kg. Each treatment was fed to 8 replicate individually housed layer hens over a 5-d acclimatisation period, followed by a 4-week trial. Individual feed intakes were monitored and all eggs were collected daily for weeks 2, 3 and 4 of the trial, weighed and an assessment of eggshell “dirtiness” made. All hens were culled on d 29 and caecal pH and SCFAs measured. Polymerase chain reaction denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of the bacterial 16 S rDNA gene was used to assess total bacterial diversity of luminal caecal content from hens fed the 0 and 180 g W-DDGS/kg diets. Unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) dendrograms were generated from DGGE banding patterns.

3. Increasing W-DDGS dietary concentrations resulted in a more acidic caecal environment. Caecal SCFAs were unaffected by diet aside from a quadratic effect for molar proportions of isobutyric acid. Diversity profiles of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene from luminal caecal contents were unaffected by W-DDGS inclusion.

4. The results of the current study suggest that W-DDGS can be successfully formulated into nutritionally balanced layer diets (supplemented with xylanase and phytase) at up to 180 g/kg with no detrimental effects to the caecal environment.

     

Available amino acid content and microbiological condition of dried poultry manure

1. Excreta from laying hens, collected at daily or weekly intervals, was dried in a commercial oil‐fired drier. Samples were analysed at monthly intervals over an 18‐month period.

2. Leaving the excreta for 1 week resulted in a decrease in nitrogen content from 59.5 g/kg to 54.1 g/kg (P< 0.05) and in the moisture content from 108.5 g/kg to 83.3 g/kg (P<0.05).

3. The mean values of available methionine, tryptophan and leucine were little affected by storage and were 0.340, 0.555 and 1.041 g/16 g N, respectively.

4. Salmonellae were not detected in any sample, coliform bacteria were detected in nine (26%) and anaerobic spore formers in 26 samples (76%).     

Growth of ducklings fed on diets containing field beans (Vicia faba L.)

Twenty four pens, each of approximately 16 male or female Pekin‐type ducklings were fed from o to 3 weeks of age on a commercial starter diet and from 3 to 8 weeks of age on diets containing 0, 15, 30 or 30% field bean meal. The third and fourth diets differed in having methionine levels of 0.67 and 0.87% respectively.

No significant effects due to dietary treatment were observed on live‐weight, food intake, food conversion efficiency or on percentage dressed carcass and giblets in dead‐weight. Male ducklings had significantly higher live‐weight, food conversion efficiency and giblet percentage than females. No other significant effects were observed.

Field beans may be included in diets for table ducklings provided the diets are pelleted and free of “fines” and provided adequate water is available.     

Feed preference and feeding behaviours in grower broilers fed diets containing wheat naturally contaminated with fusarium mycotoxins

1. Two trials were conducted to determine the effect of feeding diets contaminated with fusarium mycotoxins (primarily deoxynivalenol (DON)) on broiler chicken feed preference, feeding behaviour and growth performance.

2. A total of 120 male Ross 308 chicks (4 birds/cage, 30 cages) were fed a common corn-based starter diet from 1 to 20 d of age. At 21 d, 15 cages were randomly assigned to the feed preference trial or a feeding behaviour trial. Three wheat-based experimental diets (0.14, 2.27 and 5.84 mg/kg DON) were prepared with a clean wheat and a naturally contaminated wheat. Broilers were ad libitum fed the experimental diets during 21–27 d.

3. In the preference trial, each cage’s feeder was split into two equal-sized compartments so birds were provided a choice of two diets (control vs. low, control vs. high and low vs. high DON). In the feeding behaviour trial, diets were randomly assigned to 15 cages (5 cages/diet). Feeding and drinking behaviour was recorded for 1 h before and after the dark period and 1-h period at 9 h after the light was turned on (middle of day). Growth performance was assessed at 27 d.

4. In the preference trial, broilers preferred the control diet over low (93.0 vs. 66.1 g/d, P < 0.01) and high (104.4 vs. 50.4 g/d, P < 0.01) DON diets. At all three timepoints, where behaviour was recorded, birds offered the DON diets spent more time at the feeder compared to birds provided control diets (P < 0.05). Control birds had lower feed to gain ratio (1.65) than birds fed low (1.82) and high (1.94) DON diets (P < 0.01).

5. It is clear that broilers are sensitive to the presence of fusarium mycotoxins and that moderate levels of DON negatively affect feed preference and growth performance when fed during the grower period.