Frequent measurements of body weight revealed a poultry resilience indicator. Body weight measurements have long played an important role in laying hen production. Research shows that if measured frequently, the resulting data can provide new insights into how breeding and feeding management can be further optimized in laying hens. This may also stimulate new methods for evaluating feed additives in commercial diets.

Published in International Poultry Production by Gwendolyn Jones, April 2021

Several disciplines in animal production, including genetics, veterinary sciences and nutrition are currently striving to find ways of positively influencing resilience in farm animals. There are two reasons for that: On the one hand developments such as reduction in the use of antibiotics, climate change and a shortage in farm labour are increasing the need for resilient animals. On the other hand, continuous breeding for improved animal performance has been shown to reduce the resilience of farm animals.

Resilience affects the animal’s response to changes in its production status (e.g. start of lay or peak lay) as well as challenges in its environment and diet. However, our ability to influence and improve resilience in farm animals depends on knowing how to measure it in the field. Advances in sensor technologies and automated weighing systems are enabling more frequent monitoring of birds increasing the quantity of parameters measured and data collected in poultry production systems. This is helping to gain new insights into the wellbeing of birds and make better decisions in real time on farms.

Body weight management

Body weight is one of the most important parameters to track in layer flocks. Breeding companies say this is true not just during the rearing period but also once the bird starts laying and throughout its life. Reaching the target body weight during rearing is key to production performance in the laying period. Whereas regularly monitoring body weight throughout the laying period provides insights into how well the environment is supporting the optimal productivity of the bird.

The sooner body weight deviations are detected the quicker adjustment can be made, which means the more frequent the measurements are made the better to prevent any long-term damage. Breeding companies recommend a minimum of weekly measurements of body weights in laying hens from day old to 26 weeks of wage, every two weeks from 26 to 35 weeks of age and every 4 weeks beyond 35 weeks of age.

Technological advancements in collecting data

New technologies and digitalization are paving the way for more frequent and precise monitoring of key parameters in birds for productivity and wellbeing.  Increasing the frequency of weighing and sample size will lead to more precise prediction of live weight in flocks. New sensor-scales can feed live, accurate weight recordings into analytics platforms, which helps to recognize any variation in growth rates to act on.

Computer vision technology is another area that is promising to facilitate frequent monitoring of birds in the field and has been applied to automation of house management, behaviour, disease detection and weight measurement. Computer vision uses computational models to gain high-level understanding from digital images or videos. It has been proposed that camera-based weighing systems may have the potential of weighing a wider variety of birds, in a flock that would avoid a platform weigher.

These new technologies can provide information on what is happening in real time compared to what should happen. So, if there are deviations from where things should be, it is a simple way of showing the farmer that he needs to act.

Poultry resilience indicator in laying hens – how to measure

Some of the economic value in improving resilience in farm animals is based on reduced labour and health costs on farms. Once we know how to measure resilience effectively in birds in the field, we can start managing for it. Researchers from the University of Wageningen are proposing natural logarithm-transformed variance (ln(variance)) of deviations in body weights measured over time as a reliable resilience indicator in laying hens.

More resilient animals are expected to show fewer and smaller deviations compared to less resilient animals, because they are less influenced by disturbances. Figure 1 illustrates the difference in ln(variance) in body weights of laying hens; a more horizontal standardized body weight line over time indicates a lower ln(variance) and thus a greater resilience.  The key to gaining these insights on bird resilience are regular body weight measurements as frequently as possible throughout the life of laying hens.

Best results for improved resilience in birds are likely to be achieved via a combination of breeding, nutrition and other management strategies. While we may only be at the beginning of being able to manage for poultry resilience, progress will certainly be accelerated as and when new monitoring technologies coming to the market are adopted on farms more widely.  However, in research trials these technologies and new parameters may already be used to evaluate not only genetic progress but also responses to new nutritional strategies in birds.

Illustrating the poultry resilience indicator

Figure 1 Example to illustrate differences in ln(variance) of body weight in laying hens. A more horizontal standardized body weight line over time indicates a lower ln(variance) and thus a greater (hypothesized) resilience. (adapted from Berghof et al 2019)

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

The Animal Nutrition journal published a scientific paper with research involving the application of Anco FIT Poultry in broilers and its effects on the expression of cytoprotective genes at the gut level.

Link to full scientific paper published online in Animal Nutrition

Abstract

Priming of intestinal cytoprotective genes and antioxidant capacity by dietary phytogenic inclusion in broilers

Konstantinos C. Mountzouris, Vasileios V. Paraskeuas, Konstantinos Fegeros

The potential of a phytogenic premix (PP) based on ginger, lemon balm, oregano and thyme to stimulate the expression of cytoprotective genes at the broiler gut level was evaluated in this study. In particular, the effects of PP inclusion levels on a selection of genes related to host protection against oxidation (catalase [CAT], superoxide dismutase 1 [SOD1], glutathione peroxidase 2 [GPX2], heme oxygenase 1 [HMOX1], NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase 1 [NQO1], nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 [Nrf2] and kelch like ECH associated protein 1 [Keap1]), stress (heat shock 70 kDa protein 2 [HSP70] and heat shock protein 90 alpha family class A member 1 [HSP90]) and inflammation (nuclear factor kappa B subunit 1 [NF-kB1], Toll-like receptor 2 family member B (TLR2B) and Toll-like receptor 4 [TLR4]) were profiled along the broiler intestine. In addition, broiler intestinal segments were assayed for their total antioxidant capacity (TAC). Depending on PP inclusion level (i.e. 0, 750, 1,000 and 2,000 mg/kg diet) in the basal diets, 1-d-old Cobb broiler chickens (n = 500) were assigned into the following 4 treatments: CON, PP-750, PP-1000 and PP-2000. Each treatment had 5 replicates of 25 chickens with ad libitum access to feed and water. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and means compared using Tukey’s honest significant difference (HSD) test.

Results

Polynomial contrasts tested the linear and quadratic effect of PP inclusion levels. Inclusion of PP increased (P≤ 0.05) the expression of cytoprotective genes against oxidation, except CAT. In particular, the cytoprotective against oxidation genes were up-regulated primarily in the duodenum and the ceca and secondarily in the jejunum. Most of the genes were upregulated in a quadratic manner with increasing PP inclusion level with the highest expression levels noted in treatments PP-750 and PP-1000 compared to CON. Similarly, intestinal TAC was higher in PP- 1000 in the duodenum (P= 0.011) and the ceca (P=0.050) compared to CON. Finally, increasing PP inclusion level resulted in linearly reduced (P≤ 0.05) expression of NF-kB1, TLR4 and HSP70, the former in the duodenum and the latter 2 in the ceca.

Conclusion

Overall, PP inclusion consistently up-regulated cytoprotective genes and down-regulated stress and inflammation related ones. The effect is dependent on PP inclusion level and the intestinal site. The potential of PP to beneficially prime bird cytoprotective responses merit further investigation under stress-challenge conditions.

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Watch a virtual discussion on necrotic enteritis control. What are the latest strategies for non-antibiotic control of necrotic enteritis and how effective are they?

To answer this and other burning questions related to necrotic enteritis we invited Dr. Charles Hofacre, to speak at our webinar. In addition to this renowned expert on necrotic enteritis control in poultry production systems, two technical and research managers from ADM Animal Nutrition are part of the discussion panel.

Webinar hosted by Misset Group through Poultry World media.

Necrotic enteritis – current status and advances in non-antibiotic control

Watch the recorded webinar

Agenda

Necrotic enteritis (NE) prevalence under an antibiotic free (ABF) and “no antibiotics ever” (NAE) environment 

• Overview of necrotic enteritis and its impact in ABF and NAE programs
• Management and alternatives to overcome necrotic enteritis
• Current research and methods to evaluate NE outcome

 Performance as underlying response to gut health and immunity

• The impact of necrotic enteritis on gut health
• The impact of necrotic enteritis on immunity

About the speakers

Charles Hofacre, Ph.D.

President of Southern Poultry Research Group, Inc and Professor Emeritus

Charles Hofacre , commonly known as Chuck, is from a small Ohio farming community, Wooster.  He holds  a  B.S.  in  Agriculture,  an  M.S.  in  Poultry  Science,  and  Doctorate  in  Veterinary Medicine from The Ohio State University.  He also has a Master of Avian Medicine and PhD in Veterinary Medical Microbiology from The University of Georgia.

His career to date included positions as  Director  of  Veterinary  Medicine  at  a  turkey  production  company,  cuddy  Farms,  Inc.  in  Marshville,  NC, Vice-President  and member  of  the  Board  of  Directors  for  Ross  Breeders,  Inc.,  in  Huntsville,  Alabama and Manager  of  Technical  Service  for  Bayer’s  poultry  business  in  the  U.S.   Chuck also served as the  Executive  Vice  President  of  the  poultry veterinary  organization,  the  American  Association  of  Avian  Pathologists  (AAAP),  from 2003 to 2016. Chuck retired from The University of Georgia after 19 years as a Professor in the Department  of Population  Health and  the  Director  of  Clinical  Services  for  the  Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center in Athens, Georgia. In  May  2013,  Chuck and  his  wife  Christa started  a  private  contract  research company The Southern Poultry Research Group near Athens, Georgia.

Jose Charal, Ph.D. 

Technical Services Manager, ADM Animal Nutrition 

Jose Charal is from an agricultural region around Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala, and currently resides in Georgia, US. He holds a B.S. in Agribusiness from El Zamorano University, a M.S in Animal Sciences from the University of Illinois, and Ph.D. in Animal Sciences from the Louisiana State University.

He has held positions in the private sector managing procurement and nutrition development for multinational companies and has served as scientific research associate in the education sector.  He is an active member of the Poultry Sciences Association and American Association of Animal Sciences, and continues to be active in basic and applied research internally and in collaboration with Universities and Research Partners. During the last 6 years, he has been involved in developing ADM’s Animal Nutrition portfolio of services and feed additives and providing technical support to the North American market and worldwide. 

Mohamad Mortada, Ph.D 

Monogastric Research Scientist, ADM Animal Nutrition 

Mohamad Mortada is a monogastric research scientist at ADM. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Poultry Science at The University of Georgia and his master’s degree in poultry science from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon.

During his Ph.D., Mohamad focused on mitigating Campylobacter in poultry by characterizing chickens’ immune response to Campylobacter and evaluating different on-farm control strategies, including probiotics and symbiotics. During his master’s research, Mohamad developed an autogenous vaccine for Newcastle Disease Virus in poultry. Mohamad is trained in One Health from Duke University, where he became an advocate for the multidisciplinary approach to health that includes human, animal, and environmental health. 

Mohamad’s broad research interests are focused on maintaining gut health in chickens through supplementing innovative feed additives. At ADM, Mohamad is focused on developing microbiome solutions for poultry, screening animal feed enzymes, and understanding the mode of action of different feed additives.