Poultry Nutrition

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While chlorine is effective in reducing bacteria on carcasses and in the processing plant, better understanding and chicken management is needed.

Chiller with excessive blood in the water: poor bleed-out of poultry carcasses may contribute to high organic loading of the chiller systems.

Chlorine in the forms of sodium hypochlorite, calcium hypochlorite tablets or chlorine gas is by far the most commonly used carcass and equipment disinfectant in the poultry industry in the USA and many other countries. In the USA, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) allows for addition of chlorine to processing waters at levels up to 50ppm in carcass wash applications and chiller make-up water. FSIS also requires that chlorinated water containing a minimum of 20ppm available chlorine be applied to all surfaces of carcasses when the inner surfaces have been re-processed (due to carcass contamination) other than solely by trimming.

With recent emphasis by FSIS on further reducing salmonella, poultry plants have increased their reliance on later chlorination programmes including pre-scald bird brushes, equipment rinses, inside/outside bird washers, carcass washes and as a disinfectant during chilling. Water chlorination is poorly understood in the poultry industry.

Chlorine is used in three common forms for water treatment: elemental chlorine (chlorine gas), sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl; bleach) solution and dry calcium hypochlorite pellets. The amount of hypochlorite (OCl) varies depending on the type of chlorine used. One kilogramme (1kg) of Cl2 generates 8.35 litres of 12.5% NaOCl and 1.5kg of Ca(OCl)2 (65%).

At recommended levels, hypochlorite-based (chlorine derivative) sanitisers reduce both enveloped and non-enveloped viruses. Chlorine is also effective against fungi, bacteria and algae but not bacterial spores.

Chlorine in its elemental state is a halogen gas (Cl2), which is highly toxic and corrosive. Because of safety concerns with chlorine gas, many poultry processing facilities have changed to either sodium hypochlorite or calcium hypochlorite for water treatment.

Chiller with excessive fat in the water: any free chlorine added to high-demand waters is rapidly consumed, becoming unavailable for disinfection.

In most food plants, chlorine is purchased as sodium hypochlorite used in a solution containing 5-30% NaOCl. (Household bleach contains 5.25% NaOCl). Commercial forms of NaOCl are provided in a range of concentrations of 3-50%. The most commonly used form in poultry processing plants worldwide is commercial bleach., which contains 12.5% NaOCl.

FSIS requires a level of 20-50ppm chlorine in the chiller unless alternative treatments have been approved. Bacterial elimination depends on the concentration of chlorine and contact time. For example, bacterial reduction will be greater in chill systems than spray systems because of the greatly increased contact time (45-60 minutes versus a couple of minutes). The concentration of chlorine, however, is not nearly as important as the amount of organic material in the water in relation to the concentration of chlorine. For example, in municipal water systems where very little organic material is present in the water, 1-2 ppm chlorine is effective for eliminating bacteria, whereas 50ppm may not be sufficient in poultry chill systems where high organic loads are encountered.

See the full version of this article: Chlorine in Poultry Processing

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Using biofuel by-products in poultry feed.

A joint session between the British Association for Animal Science and the United Kingdom (UK) branch of the World’s Poultry Science Association (WPSA) focussed on the impacts of the rise in biofuel production on poultry nutrition.

At the same session, Dr Steven Pritchard from the British feed company, Premier Nutrition, discussed the nutritional value of the by-products for poultry. In a paper co-authored by Dr Tom Acamovic of Scottish Agricultural College, he began his presentation with typical poultry feed specifications in the UK, adding that broiler feeds rarely contain any by-products, while those for layers and turkeys contain only small amounts because of the need to maintain high levels of digestible nutrients for optimum physical and economic performance.

By-products available from bioethanol production in the UK include feed distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), as well as expeller rapeseed meal and glycerol from biodiesel production.

Although biofuel by-products present challenges to poultry nutritionists, they also offer opportunities.

In the general method of producing bioethanol, wheat is the main raw material used in the UK. It comprises 68% starch and 3% sugars, which are used to produce ethanol. Typically, wheat DDGS contains 35% protein, 32% neutral detergent fibre (NDF), 9% sugar and 6% starch.

Of particular concern when considering DDGS as a feed ingredient is the wide variation in nutrient content resulting from the different processing methods and drying conditions employed. The first ethanol plants were designed for the production of the primary product and took no account of DDGS, which resulted in wide variation between batches of the by-product.

Modern plants are more efficient, taking more of the starch and sugars and providing a more consistent by-product. Better understanding and technology have also improved drying procedure so that less of the amino acid content is destroyed and the digestibility of amino acids in feed and by-products can be better utilized by poultry.

The actual composition of DDGS is affected by a large number of factors and every plant produces a different product.

Analysis of wheat DDGS samples confirms the variation in amino acid content, with first-limiting amino acid, lysine, showing particularly large differences between samples. Variability in maize DDGS samples in the USA is generally assessed by colour as a dark colour indicates overheating and a loss of amino acids. Studies have shown colour to be quite a reliable indicator of maize DDGS quality, but the same work is still to be done for wheat DDGS.

In practical use, wheat DDGS may exacerbate wet litter problems, particularly in the winter, and any mycotoxins present in the wheat will be concentrated in by-products. These may be up to three times higher in the by-product than in the original material. Both mycotoxin binders and feed enzymes may help to improve the feeding value of DDGS.

Along with imported oilseeds and a range of waste oils, rapeseed offers the greatest potential as a crop for the production of biodiesel in temperate regions such as northern Europe.

Again, feed processing temperatures and times lead to variation in feeding value for poultry and livestock.

The oil is removed from the seeds either by extraction or expeller methods, which can affect the nutrients in the by-product. It is also important to ascertain the variety of rapeseed as the original plants contained anti-nutritive factors erucic acid and glucosinolates, which made them unsuitable for poultry feeding. Plant breeders have greatly reduced the levels of these toxins in modern double-zero’ rapeseed varieties.

Another by-product from biodiesel production is glycerol (also know as glycerin). It can make a useful contribution to poultry diets at levels of around 5% for broilers, layer housing and turkeys. Energy value declines at higher inclusion levels, and the high potassium level may upset the electrolyte balance if not considered in the diet formulation. As with DDGS, glycerol has good potential as feed ingredients for poultry, providing that variability and possible anti-nutritive factors are taken into account.

Green technologies for poultry

While demand for animal proteins is growing by 2050 demand is expected to double this growth in production volume presents ecological and environmental challenges for the animal production industry. This leaves many wondering, will animal agriculture be part of the greenest generation or the grimmest generation?

That’s the challenge posed to over 1,700 animal agriculture professionals who attended Alltech’s International Animal Health and Nutrition Symposium, where the company’s director of worldwide research, Dr. Karl Dawson, said technology exists to keep animal agriculture productive and make it more sustainable.

“The livestock industry’s role in solving these problems is as important as anything we will do in agriculture,” he said. Dawson outlined nine technologies that can keep animal agriculture productive and sustainable.

1 Nutrient management strategies

Sustainable nutrient management strategies go beyond balancing poultry nutrition to get the most efficient production from the system. Not merely changing nutrient levels, sustainable systems synchronize nutrients and use appropriate forms of nutrients and minerals, something that can decrease waste while increasing productivity. “It is a proven concept showing that you can decrease waste and increase productivity by synchronizing or changing the form of the nutrients going into that system so that it is fully synchronized,” he said.

“A simple change in the form of a mineral, for example, can dramatically change required inputs,” he said. “And by using the appropriate form of a mineral, excretion can be reduced by 75 percent.”

2 Supplementation strategies

Economics usually drive supplementation strategies but can be used to decrease environmental impact. These include the use of functional carbohydrates, the use of microbial supplementation, strategic use of minerals and strategic use of antimicrobials. Strategies like this can improve the efficiency of livestock production by up to 25 percent.

3 Sequestering waste materials

Technologies that capture waste and convert it to energy represent new sources of income, not only in the form of the energy harvested and in the form of carbon credits.

4 Novel waste management systems

Advanced technologies for manure handling, which include aerobic, composting and biofilm reaction systems, have been shown in some cases to result in a 99 percent reduction in greenhouse gasses from swine production units. Their use can yield carbon credits and additional income for livestock producers.

5 Developing green feed processing systems

These include enzyme treatments and microbial fermentation systems. Some produce novel high-value ingredients like carbon dioxide, algae and carbohydrates. Microbial proteins from yeast could replace fishmeal as a chicken feed ingredient.

6 The biorefinery

The integration of different components in a biorefinery can produce less waste and produce designer feeds using natural chemistry. For example, algae, which sequesters carbon dioxide, can produce a new “crop” every five days for use as an animal feed.

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