Organic trace minerals in sows to reach genetic potential

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Adequate supplementation with organic trace minerals in sow nutrition may help sows reach genetic potential .

Author: Mieke Zoon, Product Manager, Pancosma

Publication: Organic trace minerals may help sows to exploit their genetic potential, published in International Pig Topics, 2022

 

Modern sows are selected to have an increasing potential to produce piglets. However, big challenges arise with increasing litter size, as it has been shown to increase variability in piglet birth weights.

Piglets with a low birth weight have a lower growth performance until slaughter compared to medium and heavy weight piglets, especially linked to a worse feed conversion ratio. The reduced performance of piglets with a low birth weight has been linked to a competitive disadvantage for teats and less muscle fibres formed prenatally. Their start in life is often difficult due to low vitality, leading to increased pre-weaning mortality.

New nutritional standards required

Muscle fibre formation as well as general growth and development is very important in the last phase of gestation, which could be impaired when sows are not able to fulfill their nutritional requirements. Therefore, interest is raised to develop new management and nutritional standards for prolific sows.

The need to update nutritional requirements for these modern sows is well accepted. The first interest is on macro-nutrients like protein, energy, fibre and specific amino acids. The impact of trace minerals on general metabolism (antioxidant function, digestion, protein and energy metabolism) as well as fertility, immunity and bone and skin quality is already well known.

During the 1990s it was already shown that total trace mineral levels in sows were reducing during production and that this effect was stronger with increasing total weaning weights of their litters.

This means that sows are not able to replenish their trace mineral levels over reproduction cycles with standard mineral supplementation, and that requirements are increasing with prolificity. Increasing requirements would suggest increasing supplementation levels, however, there are several reasons not to recommend that strategy.

Firstly, negative interactions between minerals (competition for absorption and formation of undigestible complexes) are a reason to supply trace minerals not too far above their required levels.

Secondly, ‘less is more’ applies in many nutrients, as retention efficacy increases with decreasing availability to prevent deficiencies.

Finally, pressure from society through environmental organisations (on emissions into water and soil) and health advocates (on possible promotion of antibiotic-resistant bacteria with increasing zinc and copper in the soil) lead to increasingly strict regulation for trace minerals (for example, on maximum contents and application in the European Union). Therefore, the way forward to fulfil nutrient requirements of increasingly prolific sows is to select more bioavailable sources.

Glycine-based organic trace minerals

Organic trace minerals based on glycine, with proven chemical structure and product quality, have shown to be such a source of highly bioavailable trace minerals. A superior bioavailability of these so- called glycinates compared to traditionally supplemented inorganic sources in swine is shown consistently.

Sows supplemented with a reduced dose (50% from glycinates) showed to increase the average birth weight of piglets, by a significant reduction in piglets with a birth weight below 1.2kg.

At the same time, this reduced dose improved re-breeding of these sows, by significantly increasing insemination success. These results are fully in line with data from glycinates in other livestock species: increasing fertility and hatchability in broiler breeders and increased pregnancy rates in beef cows.

Additionally, the performance up to slaughter of piglets with the higher average birth weight was significantly better, showing improved daily gain, improved feed conversion ratio  and higher lean meat on carcass compared to inorganic trace minerals.

A similar effect on improved growth performance and slaughter characteristics was seen in broiler chickens from broiler breeders supplemented with zinc-glycinate.

These coherent results across species can be explained by the essential functions of trace minerals which are non-specific to a single species. Supplementation with organic trace minerals does not mean providing a novel ingredient to your animals, it means providing an essential nutrient in a more efficient form. Updating nutritional requirements for modern sows to include organic trace minerals for greater efficiencies may support prolificity and performance.

 

Related articles

Pancosma organic trace minerals

Supplementation of a low level of organic zinc in finishing pigs decreased lipid peroxidation in their meat

Benchmarking trace mineral levels in pig feed

Novel whole-cell yeast increases pigs to market

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Supplementing sows with a novel whole-cell yeast improves reproductive performance

Novel whole-cell yeast increases pigs to market

Authors: Morgan T. Thayer and Daniel B. Jones

Published in National HogFarmer, June 2022

 

In the swine industry, profit potential is driven by productivity and efficiency. Nutrition, health, genetics and management practices are a few areas that can have major impacts on reproductive performance, growth performance and feed efficiency. Specifically regarding nutrition, cost effective and low inclusion specialty feed additives that provide consistent and valuable production benefits are greatly sought after by swine producers today. For instance, Pichia guillermondii is a novel whole-cell yeast with unique structure, morphology, and production benefits.

Feeding Pichia guilliermondii to sows

At a 3,200 sow commercial facility in Minnesota, 535 sows and gilts were fed 0 or 2 pounds/ton of P. guilliermondii in gestation and lactation. Females were allotted to dietary treatments at breeding. After the completion of the first reproductive cycle, a total of 358 sows remained on the same dietary treatment for second consecutive gestation and lactation. New gilts were not enrolled into cycle two.

Sows fed P. guilliermondii had 0.59 more pigs total born (P < 0.04) and 0.53 more born alive (P < 0.06) in cycle one. In cycle two, a similar magnitude of improvement was observed in total born (+0.44; P < 0.18) and born alive pigs per litter (+0.43; P < 0.18; Figure 1).

Progeny followed to market from P. guilliermondii fed sows

Pigs from cycle two sows were used to determine if feeding gestating and lactating sows and/or their progeny a proprietary strain of P. guilliermondii as a whole-cell inactivated yeast product improved progeny nursery and grow-finish growth performance and carcass characteristics.

A total of 1,260 weaned pigs were housed with 21 pigs/pen and 15 pens/treatment. The experiment was organized with a 2 x 2 factorial treatment structure with sows fed 0 or 2 lbs/ ton in gestation and lactation and pigs fed 0 or 3 lbs/ton in the nursery followed by 0 or 1 lbs/ton in grow-finish. A three-phase nursery program and five-phase grow-finish program was fed using corn, soybean meal, DDGs based diets. Pigs were marketed with equal days on feed and carcass data was collected.

During the 42-day nursery period, there was no main effect of sow diet, pig diet or their interaction on average daily gain or feed intake. There was a trend for main effect of sow diet on nursery livability where pigs from P. guilliermondii fed sows had a 2.0 percentage point improvement in livability (92.12% vs 94.11%; P < 0.130).

Pigs were marketed on day 11 (first cut) and day 132 (barn empty) of the grow-finish period. For the overall grow-finish period, pigs from P. guilliermondii fed sows had greater average daily gain (P < 0.001) and average daily feed intake (P < 0.016) compared to pigs from sows not fed P. guilliermondii (Figure 2). Final body weight was also 4.5 lbs greater when pigs were from P. guilliermondii fed sows (P < 0.016).

In alignment with the nursery period, there was an additional main effect of sow diet resulting in a 1.8 percentage point improvement in livability during the grower/finisher period (95.09% vs 96.92%; P < 0.146) when pigs were from sows fed P. guilliermondii during gestation and lactation.

Hot carcass weight of pigs from P. guilliermondii fed sows was 4.34 lbs greater than in pigs from control fed sows (P < 0.003; Table 1). Pigs from P. guilliermondii fed sows also had 0.32% greater carcass yield (P < 0.023). Additionally, when the nursery and grow-finish pigs were fed P. guilliermondii, they had 0.28% greater carcass yield compared to pigs fed control (P < 0.048).

Using market conditions and feed costs during the time of the grow-finish experiment, researchers found that pigs from P. guilliermondii fed sows earned $2.1 more carcass revenue (P < 0.01 ) and tended to have a greater carcass revenue over feed cost (P < 0.06 ).

These economical improvements were in addition to the 3.8% total improvement in wean-to-finish livability observed in this study.

Implications of feeding P. guilliermondii

The improved reproductive performance, including increased total born and born alive pigs, when supplementing sows and gilts with P. guilliermondii in gestation and lactation has been repeated in multiple experiments and evaluated in a meta-analysis.

P. guilliermondii is a demonstrated cost effective and low inclusion specialty feed additive that provides consistent and valuable production benefits. Its inclusion in gilt and sow gestation and lactation diets not only increases the number of pigs born but those pigs may also grow faster to market and a larger percentage may survive to market. These improvements certainly have potential to improve profitability through increased production and efficiency.

References:

  1. Peisker, M., Stensrud, E., Apajalahti, J., & Sifri, M. (2017). Morphological Characterization of Pichia guilliermondii and Saccharomyces cerevisiae Yeast and their Effects on Adherence of Intestinal Pathogens on Piglet and Chicken Epithelium In-vitro. Journal of Animal Research and Nutrition, 02(01:9). https://doi.org/10.21767/2572-5459.100029
  2. Thayer, M. T., Asmus, M. D., Gourley, G., Bruder, E., & Jones, D. B. (2020). 278 Feeding a whole-cell inactivated Pichia guilliermondi yeast to gestating and lactating sows over two consecutive parities. Journal of Animal Science, 98(Supplement_3), 97–97. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaa054.168
  3. Thayer, M. T., Asmus, M. D., Jones, D. B., Gourley, G., & Bruder, E. (2022). Effects of feeding a whole-cell inactivated Pichia guilliermondii yeast in sow and/or pig diets on progeny nursery and grow-finish growth performance and carcass characteristics. American Society of Animal Science Midwest Annual Meeting. Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
  4. Bass, B. E., Tsai, T.-C., Yang, H., Perez, V., Holzgraefe, D., Chewning, J., Frank, J. W., & Maxwell, C. V. (2019). Influence of a whole yeast product (Pichia guilliermondii) fed throughout gestation and lactation on performance and immune parameters of the sow and litter. Journal of Animal Science, 97(4), 1671–1678. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skz060
  5. Thayer, M. T., Garcia, R. M., Duttlinger, A. W., Mahoney, J. F., Schinckel, A. P., Asmus, M. D., Jones, D. B., Dunn, J. L., & Richert, B. T. (2020). 275 Feeding a whole-cell inactivated Pichia guilliermondi yeast to gestating and lactating sows in a commercial production system. Journal of Animal Science, 98(Supplement_3), 99–100. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaa054.172
  6. Oguey C., Thayer M., Jones D., & Samson, A. (2022). Meta-analysis of the effects of inactivated Pichia guilliermondii yeast fed to sows on progeny performance before and after weaning. 15th International Symposium on Digestive Physiology of Pigs. Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Related articles

Meta-analysis of the effects of inactivated Pichia guiliermondii yeast fed to sows on progeny performance before and after weaning.

Persistency in lay – achieving 500 eggs in 100 weeks

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Egg producers are striving to increase persistency in lay. Laying hens with the capacity to produce quality eggs for longer,  are capable of producing up to 500 eggs in a laying cycle of 100 weeks.

In Europe, the priority is to increase egg production by breeding for increased persistency in lay and stability in egg quality so that the laying cycle of commercial flocks can be extended to 90–100 weeks. Breeding programs are particularly focusing on improving laying persistency and egg quality at the end of the laying cycle.

Author: Gwendolyn Jones, 2018

Reducing cost of egg production

Economic reasons play an important role in taking this decision. It means less feed is required per egg. Keeping the birds longer will decrease the financial contribution of the 18-week-old pullet to the cost per table egg. Maintaining egg size and quality beyond 75 weeks and up to a target of 100 weeks can have a big impact on the profitability of a flock. The time required to reach the economic break-even of the hen has increased from 34 weeks in 1998 to 52 weeks in 2016. This indicates that longer production cycles are imperative in a tough economic climate.

More sustainable egg production

Longer laying cycles lead to a lower carbon footprint per egg. Furthermore, it was calculated that around 1 g of nitrogen could be saved per dozen eggs for an increase of 10 weeks in production (Bain et al 2016). This can significantly reduce the nitrification impact of increasing or maintaining production, which is especially important in nitrate sensitive areas.

More efficient use of resources and reduction of waste will help to reduce the environmental impact of egg production and preserve the environment.

First commercial flock achieving 500 eggs in 100 weeks

Free range laying systems are following the trend for longer laying periods. The case for extending free-range laying cycles.

Actually, the first commercial flock achieving 500 eggs in 100 weeks, was a free-range laying flock and was reported in June 2018. It involved a 40 000 Dekalb White flock based in Germany. A key success factor in this was that the farmer likes to learn new things.

How to get to 500 eggs in 100 weeks

A decline in egg numbers combined with a deterioration in shell quality are the main reasons for currently replacing flocks at or around 72 weeks of age.

The benefits of genetic selection for improved persistency in lay and stability in egg quality can only be realized if they are matched by improvements in hen nutrition and careful monitoring of the effects of this process on the health and welfare of the hens.

To extend the laying cycle of commercial flocks, long-term maintenance of the tissues and organs involved in producing eggs is required.

Motivational video for 500 eggs in 100 weeks

Nutrition supporting persistency in lay

Genetic progress and longer production cycles have consequences for nutrition. Benefits of genetic selection for improved laying persistency and stability in egg quality can only be realized if they are matched by improvements in hen nutrition. There are three important areas that come to mind, when it comes to supporting laying persistence by nutritional means:

1) Careful management of feed/nutrient intake around start of lay and in early laying period

2) Maintaining organs that are important for egg production healthy, e.g. liver

3) Minimizing common stress reactions such as oxidative stress, inflammatory responses and reduction in feed intake to maintain birds healthy and efficient

Supporting birds to keep a positive nutrient balance in the first 10 weeks of lay will help provide a reserve for mid/late lay egg output and improved shell quality.

With older birds it is important to maintain liver health. Consider supporting liver function with relevant additives, such as choline and vitamin E. Adding certain plant extracts to diets has been shown to improve the antioxidant status in laying hens and can be used to prevent oxidative stress. This then also has the potential to prevent fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome (FLHS).

Managing nutritional stressors

Monitoring mycotoxins in feed also plays a key role for liver health in layers, as mycotoxins will cause oxidative stress and damage to the liver. Laying hens are more sensitive than other poultry to mycotoxins. A longer life makes laying hens ideal candidates for chronic mycotoxicosis, caused by continuous exposure to low levels of toxins.

Poor bird health and environmental stress affect egg formation and the ability of the hen to maintain persistency. This can be aggravated by nutritional stressors in the diet, such as dietary changes, reduced nutrient digestibility, endotoxins, antinutritional factors and mycotoxins.

Nutritional concepts designed to support gut agility, increase the bird’s capacity to adapt to nutritional challenges and live up to its performance potential, particularly under situations of increased stress. Overall, they are a sustainable alternative to help reduce the use of antibiotics in poultry diets, whilst maintaining robust and efficient birds for consistency in the cost-effectiveness of diets at high performance levels.

Adding a product including phytogenic components with antioxidative power and designed for gut agility to the late laying period of a commercial ISA Brown parent layer flock, improved the persistency in lay compared to birds on a control diet.

Recommendations from breeding companies

Feeding laying hens to 100 weeks of age – Lohmann

How to feed layers for a longer production cycle and high performance – Dekalb

Progress in Layer Genetics Longer production cycles, a genetic perspective – ISA

Related articles

Sustaining egg quality in laying hens

Bain et al (2016) Increasing persistency in lay and stabilising egg quality in longer laying cycles. What are the challenges?

Pancosma Gut Agility Activator Product Range

 

Our activities at World Pork Expo 2022

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Come and meet our team members present at the Word Pork Expo 2022, learn more about our products and find out how we can help your swine business succeed. We are exhibiting in a hospitality tent throughout World Pork Expo, plus we are organizing specialized informative talks and discussion panels on the 8th of June. More details below

 

ADM Animal Nutrition hospitality tent

#G265, Iowa State Fairgrounds

June 8-10th, 2022

Iowa, USA

Agenda for 8th of June

Join us to hear top industry experts share the latest economic and nutrition news in the pork industry at the Pork Academy.

 

12.00-2.00pm Talks at the Pork Academy seminars, VIB room B

The science behind virus inactivation. New methodologies and insights for quantifying success.

  • Presenter: Declan C. Schroeder, Ph.D. University of Minnesota

Amino Acid Market, current developments and research focus

  • Presenter: Elliott Brammer, VP Amino Acids, ADM Animal Nutrition

Session is chaired by Dr. Dan Jones, Sr.Technical Services Manager and Dr. Morgan Thayer, Technical Services Manager, ADM Animal Nutrition.

 

2.00-4.00pm Panel discussion, VIB room B

Economic outlook of the pork industry – ADM in partnership with National Pork Board

What does international and domestic demand for crops and pork look like? How is that impacting pork prices and pork consumption? Dr. Dermot Hayes and Steve Elmore will take part in this interactive session covering the economic  outlook of the pork industry including global trade and domestic demand for both crops and pork. They will also share the short and long-term price forecasts.

Panel members:

Panel leads – Ruben Beltran, VP Feed Additives and Ingredients, NA and Dr. Milan Hruby, Technical Services Director, ADM Animal Nutrition, North America

Dr. Darmot Hayes, Professor Economics, Iowa State University

Steve Elmore, Chief Economist, Corteva

Feeding rumen-protected capsicum to dairy cows in transition

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The effect of feeding rumen-protected capsicum during the transition period on performance of early lactation dairy cows.

presented at ADSA 2022

American Dairy Science Association, June 20th, 2022, 10:15am

Abstract

by Acetoze G.; Preisinger, K.

A recent study suggests that rumen protected capsicum (RPC) is capable of decreasing blood insulin concentrations (Oh et al., 2017). This decrease could potentially lead to repartitioning of available glucose towards the mammary gland for milk production.

The objective of this study was to evaluate early lactation performance of dairy cows fed RPC  during the transition period on a commercial robotic dairy in Indiana. One hundred and five (105) Holstein dairy cows were randomly assigned to two treatments as they entered the pre-fresh pen (-21 days relative to calving): Control (no additive) and Treatment (RPC at 1 g/hd/d). All cows received the same TMR’s (pre-fresh or fresh). RPC was orally administered daily in the pre-fresh pen and provided in the robot grain, manufactured by a commercial feed mill, at the dairy through 60 DIM. The study was conducted beginning in July 2020 and ended in February 2021. Measurements included blood glucose, daily milk yield and components (fat and protein). Statistical analysis was performed using the Repeated Measures model procedure of JMP16 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC).

Energy corrected milk (ECM) and milk yield were significantly (P<0.01) increased (114.5 vs 124.3 lbs/hd/d for ECM and 42.1 vs 44.7 kg/hd/d, control vs treatment, respectively) through 60 DIM for RPC cows. Milk fat (kg/hd/d) was also greater (P<0.01) for RPC cows compared to control (2.04 vs 1.86, respectively). No differences were observed for blood glucose levels (P=0.94). However there was a tendency (P=0.10) for RPC treated multiparous cows to have increased blood glucose 3 days after calving. These results indicate that transition cows supplemented with RPC may have more available glucose available for milk synthesis.

Related articles

Pancosma Phytogenic Bioactives

About the presenter 

Gabriela Acetoze, PhD, Ruminant Technical Manager at ADM Animal Nutrition.

Gabriela’s role at ADM involves supporting customer sales, assisting and managing field trials developing data to support sales of ADM Feed Additives and Ingredients and providing internal and external technology trainings. Also, she works closely with the marketing, product management and research teams to help develop, manage and support sales efforts primarily in North America.  

Gabriela received her doctorate degree in Animal Biology from University California, Davis where she studied the effects of different feeding strategies on mitochondrial efficiency and proton leak of Holstein dairy cows. She has also earned a master’s degree in Animal Biology at UC Davis investigating the differences of finishing beef cattle on grain or grass finished diets. Gabriela has a BS in Agricultural Engineering from ESALQ – University of Sao Paulo. She started her career as a National Account Manager also for ADM Animal Nutrition developing the sales of ADM Specialty Ingredients in California, Arizona and PNW.  

Gabriela Acetoze

The value of feed ingredient life cycle analysis

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Life cycle assessment (LCA), or life cycle analysis, gauges the environmental impact associated with all stages of a commercial products. These metrics will grow increasingly valuable as animal protein producers look to reduce their footprint and look to animal feed formulations to help them do so.

 

Pierre-Joseph Paoli, president of feed additives and ingredients within ADM Animal Nutrition shares his views on how ingredient and additive life cycle assessments help determine, improve feed sustainability in an interview with the editor of Feed Strategy from WATT.

Link to interview and video

life cycle analysis

 

 

Paoli highlights a difference when it comes to life cycle analysis of feed additives:”What is a little bit different about feed additives versus some other products is that while, of course, we look at scope one and scope two, the scope three, which is the emissions afterwards in the value chain, tend to be negative with the feed additives. And that is very interesting, because it means there’s a return on environmental investment, if you will, for those kinds of products.”

Pierre-Joseph Paoli will also present his talk, “How feed ingredient analysis supports a more sustainable value chain,” at the 2022 VIV LIVE Feed Congress on May 30 at 1.45-2.15 PM.

 

Pichia guilliermondii enhances shrimp immunity

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Pichia guilliermondii enhances shrimp immunity and growth.

Abstract presented at Aqua Expo 2022 

Abstract

by  Jegou, F.,  Cooper, S. , Rosen, Y, Weissman, D.

Pathogens, environmental stressors and opportunistic diseases are ubiquitous in aquaculture. Achieving efficient and profitable production, especially with the increasing global threat of antimicrobial resistance, is critical for producers. Helping aquaculture species to better perform with infectious and physiological pressures is therefore of high interest and a focus of research.

Cardozo et al., 2018 compared in vitro bacterial aggregation capacity of inactivated Pichia guilliermondii (Pg) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Sc), with Mannose as the positive control. Pg demonstrated twice the aggregation capacity at all commercial  dosages compared to that of  Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Pathogen aggregation is critical in innate immunity and homeostasis.

To assess the bacterial aggregation capacity of Pg in vivo, a bacterial clearance study was performed: Litopenaeus vannamei shrimp were injected with Vibrio harveyi.  Three hours post-injection, V. harveyi concentration in hemolymph in the Pg fed shrimp was more than 3 times lower compared to control-fed shrimp. It was also shown that the granular hemocyte concentration in hemolymph was 56% higher after 4 weeks in Pg fed shrimp compared to that in control shrimp. Granular hemocytes are key for an effective and rapid immune response in shrimp, and represent an ideal parameter in monitoring shrimp immune potency.

In order to confirm the potential benefit of Pg in shrimp culture conditions, 2 challenge studies were performed in  L. vannamei shrimp supplemented with 0.1% Pg: Survival of shrimp 5 weeks after White Spot Syndrome Virus challenge increased by 84% compared to unsupplemented control shrimp, whereas it was 76% higher 5 weeks after Vibrio parahaemolyticus challenge. In field conditions without specific pathogenic challenge, vannamei shrimp fed with 0.1% Pg showed significant 10% increased growth compared to control at the end of a 7 week trial.

Conclusion

Inactivated whole yeast Pichia guilliermondii feed supplementation offers unique traits for use in shrimp culture and daily management, improving growth while significantly helping the shrimp to better cope with physiological and disease stress.

About the presenter 

Dr. François Jégou,  Aquaculture Health and Performance, ADM Animal Nutrition

Dr. François Jégou was born in and spent his childhood in Japan. He then underwent his secondary education and veterinary studies in France. His doctorate research focused on the synchronization of reproduction of scallop at IFREMER, Brest.  

Following graduation he worked as a veterinary practitioner in livestock, mainly in swine and dairy productions. He then moved into aquaculture, which has been the focus of his work now for more than 20 years. 

In his role at ADM Francois shares his experience in disease prevention and focuses on bringing health and stress management capabilities to aquaculture nutrition, as a synergistic support to farm performance and sustainability. 

Francois Jegou

Related articles

Cardozo P, Calvo Torras M, Less J, et al. The aggregation capacity of oligosaccharides from different yeast preparations to bind different pathogenic bacteria. Journal of Animal Science 2018;96:304;

Pancosma Pichia  guilliermondii yeast

Discover Pancosma aquaculture solutions

 

 

Gut agility helps organs vital for resilience in chickens

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Effect of a gut agility activator on underlying mechanisms for adaptive capacity of organs vital for resilience in chickens

Scientific abstract published in the proceedings of the Feed Conference 2021

By Jones, G.M. and Mountzouris, K.C.

Adaptive mechanisms on the cellular level in the gut and liver of broilers were investigated in response to a gut agility activator (GAA) comprising a botanical formula.

One-day-old male Cobb broilers (n=500) were allocated to 4 different treatments diets with 0, 750, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg GAA (Anco FIT Poultry) for 42 days. Each treatment was replicated 5 times with 25 birds each. Birds were euthanized at 42 days and tissue samples of liver and mucosa along the intestine were taken from 10 chickens per treatment for analysis of gene expression and 20 birds per treatment for biochemical analysis. Data were analysed by ANOVA and significant effects (P≤0.05) were compared using Tukey HSD test. Polynomial contrasts tested the linear and quadratic effect of GAA inclusion levels.

Total anti-oxidative capacity (TAC) was improved in the liver (P=0.040) and at 1000 g/kg intestinal TAC was higher in the duodenum (P=0.011) and the ceca (P=0.050) compared to the control. Furthermore, critical genes for enzymes belonging to the Nrf2/ antioxidant response element (ARE) pathway (SOD1, GPX2, HMOX1, NQO1, Nrf2 and Keap1) were upregulated in the duodenum and the ceca mainly in a quadratic way (P ≤ 0.05) compared to the control. Increasing GAA downregulated genes for NF-KB1 in a quadratic pattern and TLR4 and HSP70 linearly in the duodenum and ceca.

The data indicates that the GAA is positively impacting underlying adaptive mechanisms at the cellular level in the liver and certain parts of the gut which could play a role in the response of birds to stressors and thus increase resilience. The effects were dependent on GAA inclusion level. Commercial applications using the effective inclusion levels of this experiment showed a positive effect on performance in the face of stressors such as heat and mycotoxins in broilers and increased laying persistence in layers at the later stages of the laying cycle. Establishing standards to evaluate resilience in poultry along with further research using the GAA under stress-challenge environments are warranted.

 

Relevant articles

Gut agility activator products 

Scientific proof of mode of action of Anco FIT Poultry  in broilers

Animal welfare – why it is a top priority to farmers

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When it comes to animal welfare consumers are most concerned about animal health according to recent studies, but so are farmers. The long-term success of farming relies on healthy animals.

by Gwendolyn Jones, Product Manager Gut Agility Activators

Caring for animals is at the heart of livestock farming

The problem is people often have very different perceptions of what animal welfare means. Studies  have shown that this is influenced by the situation in question, the context of the animal, and personal characteristics.

Most livestock farmers choose farming as a career because they care deeply about animals. On top of that, the farm’s economic success depends on healthy animals. For those reasons, farmers in collaboration with their veterinarians and nutritionists take many measures to make sure their animals are happy, comfortable and above all healthy.

Modern farms also employ AI assisted digital tools and sensors that pretty much allow them to monitor their animals 24/7 very closely and individually on top of their daily routine check-ups.

 

Providing continuous feedback, based on real-time data, this enables the farmer to make better and more timely management decisions to address health needs and minimize health issues for his/her animals in care.

With accurate and real-time data at their fingertips, farmers can also be more selective with supplies and resources and as a result reduce emissions and environmental impact.

What is driving consumer viewpoints and choices?

A 2021 study by the International Food and Information Council on consumer viewpoints and purchasing behaviors regarding animal and plant protein revealed that despite capturing widespread interest, animal welfare and environmental sustainability are the least prioritized purchase drivers.

What is driving purchasing decisions in consumers of protein is firstly taste, then price, followed by type of protein and healthfulness.

When asked about the importance of food labels, top influences for animal protein decisions were “no antibiotics” (23%), “natural” (23%) and “no added hormones” (22%). These labels ranked much higher compared to “free range” (11%) or “cage free” (11%).

In the UK a study carried out by Vigors et al (2021) with a sample of members of the public representative of the UK population indicated that participants considered animal welfare to be most positive when both health issues are minimised and natural behaviours are promoted.

However, animal health had the greatest effect on participants’ judgements, explaining more of the variance in their assessments of animal welfare than any other factor. The researchers concluded that perspectives of animal welfare are more nuanced than previously thought, influenced by the context of the animal, the aspect of welfare in question and personal characteristics.

Relevant articles

Happy or healthy? How members of the public prioritise farm animal health and natural behaviours, 

Plant and Animal Protein Choices: Consumer Viewpoints and Purchasing Behaviors 2021, International Food Information Council, Survey January  2021

Showcasing latest research in pigs at DPP 2022

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Our technical services and research team will be showcasing the latest Pancosma research in pigs at the DPP 2022. Find out more about who will be presenting and what the research topics are that we are currently excited about, when it comes to pigs.  Accepted scientific abstracts are listed below.

DPP 2022

Digestive Physiology of Pigs

18th – 20th of May

Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Meet our team in the poster sessions, during the lunch hours on 18th and 19th of May.

Scientific abstracts that will be presented as posters:

1. Potential of a combination of bioactives, sweeteners and organic acids as alternative to high Zinc oxide concentration to support piglets’ growth performance Link to abstract

Arnaud, E., Ionescu, C., Gomes Da Silva C., Blanchard, A, Kim, I

 

2. Meta-analysis of the effects of inactivated Pichia guiliermondii yeast fed to sows on progeny performance before and after weaning. Link to abstract

Oguey, C., Thayer, M., Jones, D. and Samson, A. 

 

3. Supplementation of a low level of organic zinc in finishing pigs decreased lipid peroxidation in their meat. Link to abstract

 Khelil-Arfa, H., Natalello, A. Priolo, A., Biondi, L., Lanza,, M., Zoon, M.V., Blanchard, A., Menci, R., Luciano, G.

 

4. Dietary supplementation with Pichia guilliermondii yeast product during gestation and lactation improves sows’ body condition and litter performance Link to abstract

Janvier, E., Oguey, C., Samson A.

 

Relevant articles and links

Zinc oxide ban in 2022 – now what?

Pancosma product categories – do you know them all?

CitriStim has changed its look