Performance and Egg Characteristics of Laying Hens Fed Diets Incorporated with Poultry By-Product and Feather Meals

Transcription

1 2005 Poultry Science Association, Inc. Performance and Egg Characteristics of Laying Hens Fed Diets Incorporated with Poultry By-Product and Feather Meals N. Senkoylu,*,1 H. E. Samli,* H. Akyurek,* A. Agma,* and S. Yasar *Department of Animal Science, Agricultural Faculty, Trakya University, Tekirdag, Turkey; and Suleyman Demirel University, Agricultural Faculty, Department of Animal Science, Isparta, Turkey Primary Audience: Nutritionists, Commercial Egg Producers, Poultry Renderers SUMMARY The effects of poultry by-product meal (PBPM) and feather meal (FM) incorporated separately and in combination in the diet on laying hen performance and egg characteristics during postpeak production were determined. Bovans White strain laying hens, 42 wk of age, were fed diets with 0% PBPM and FM, 5% FM, 5% PBPM, or 4% FM + 4% PBPM. Egg production, feed intake, and egg mass were not significantly affected by dietary treatments, whereas egg weight and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly affected. Egg weights of hens receiving 4% FM + 4% PBPM were significantly lower than those fed the control diet, whereas those fed 5% FM or 5% PBPM were intermediate. FCR was significantly improved by the diets containing 5% FM or 5% PBPM compared with the diet containing 4% FM + 4% PBPM. Dietary PBPM decreased Haugh units, but FM did not. Egg breaking strength, shell weight, and weights of albumen and yolk were not affected by treatments. The results suggested that FM or PBPM could be incorporated up to 5% singly or up to 8% in combination in layer diets but with possible detrimental effects on Haugh units, egg weight, and FCR. Key words: poultry by-product meal, feather meal, laying performance, egg quality 2005 J. Appl. Poult. Res. 14: DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEM Dramatic improvements in poultry slaughter technologies have made it possible to produce a variety of poultry offal such as poultry byproduct meal (PBPM), feather meal (FM), and blood meal through the separate processing lines. The feeding values of PBPM for poultry were first established at the beginning of the 1950s. According to Fuller [1], PBPM must be obtained from high-pressure steam processing of the clean parts of poultry carcasses, excluding feathers, and the ratio of Ca:P of the end product should not be more than 2.2:1.0. This product is normally made from viscera, heads, and feet by conventional dry-rendering methods. However, a recent market established in Southeast Asia based on poultry feet has changed the rendered parts and the composition of the PBPM, by lowering ash content, in the major processing plants 1 To whom correspondence should be addressed: nsenkoylu@yahoo.com.

2 SENKOYLU ET AL.: POULTRY OFFAL IN LAYER DIETS 543 of the countries exporting poultry feet to this region. Inclusion of poultry bones obtained from separation of the poultry meat for minced meat processing might have offset this change. Therefore, PBPM of good quality is considered to contain 58 to 63% crude protein, 12 to 20% ether extract, and 18 to 23% ash [2]. Although methionine and lysine are the limiting amino acids in the PBPM, its protein quality is reported to be comparable with that of meat meal [3, 4]. However, in a latter study, it was stated that methionine might be slightly limiting in PBPM [5]. PBPM is remarkably rich in choline content, and up to 5% can be included in poultry diets [6]. Feather meal is made of keratin molecules and is structurally strengthened with the presence of cystine disulfide bonds. Therefore, in the raw or natural state it is almost completely indigestible, and to be used in poultry diets, heat, acid, or enzymatic processing is necessary. Hydrolyzed FM results from high-pressure steam processing of clean feathers from slaughtered poultry. Not less than 75% of its CP content must be digestible. Modern processing methods of cooking feathers under steam pressure partially hydrolyze the protein and denature it by breaking some of the chemical bonds. The resulting FM is a free-flowing, palatable product and is easily digested by all classes of livestock and poultry [1]. Pressure steam cooking occurs at 146 C and 3.2 atm for 30 min [7] and may be followed by additional drying with hot air (230 C) in a ring dryer. Hydrolyzed FM is a concentrated source of protein with approximately 85% protein content. However, it is deficient in lysine, histidine, tryptophan, and methionine, and the overall amino acid availability is reported to be 65% [8]. Hydrolyzed FM can be used to increase the nutrient and energy density of poultry feeds, improving feed efficiency and reducing the amount of feed that must be mixed, handled, and consumed for each kilogram of poultry meat or egg produced [9]. A recent chick bioassay with FM demonstrated that the dietary protein could be formulated at least up to 10% with the methionine-fortified FM [10]. Research at the University of Arkansas [11] has shown that added FM (4 to 6% in broiler rations, up to 7 to 14 d prior to slaughter and at stable energy levels) results in significant reduction in abdominal fat without adversely affecting growth or feed efficiency. Addition of any level (2, 4, or 6%) of FM significantly reduced abdominal fat, irrespective of the low availability value of amino acids as assumed. There were no significant differences in the rate of gain or feed conversion efficiency during the test period. These data indicated that short-term feeding of FM might aid in reduction of abdominal fat in broilers [12]. Although an appreciable amount of data is available on the processing of FM and PBPM and their incorporation into broiler diets, very few reports were found on effects of these products on laying hen performance and particularly on egg quality. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the effects of inclusion of FM and PBPM, separately and in combination, on laying hen performance and egg quality during the postpeak egg production period. MATERIALS AND METHODS This experiment was carried out to examine the effects of inclusion of PBPM and FM separately and in combination on laying hen performance and egg characteristics during postpeak production. Two hundred eighty-eight 42-wkold Bovans White [13] strain laying hens were obtained from a local parent stock supplier and randomly transferred to commercial compacttype wire cages ( cm) providing 4 hens per cage. Battery cages were equipped with nipple drinkers and trough feeders. The experiment was set up in a completely randomized design in which 72 hens were randomly assigned to each of 4 treatments with 6 replicates per treatment. Each replicate represented 3 adjacent cages in which the hens were fed from the same feed trough. Laying hens were maintained in a house with windows and received additional artificial light to provide 16.5 h light and 7.5 h dark daily. Four diets were prepared with inclusions of 0% PBPM + 0% FM, 5% FM, 5% PBPM, and 4% FM + 4% PBPM. The main dietary ingredients, corn, soybean meal, full-fat soybean, and fish meal, were obtained from the local feed market and were ground in a hammer mill to pass a 3-mm sieve and mixed through a horizontal mixer (200-kg capacity). The proximate composition and the calculated ME n of the feather and poultry by-product meals are pre-

3 544 JAPR: Research Report TABLE 1. Proximate composition of poultry by-product and feather meals (as fed) Dry matter 2 ME 3 CP 2 Ether extract 2 Ash 2 Diet 1 (g/kg) (kcal/kg) (g/kg) (g/kg) (g/kg) PBPM , FM , PBPM = poultry by-product meal; FM = feather meal. 2 Analyzed values by AOAC [18]. 3 ME values calculated from Janssen s equations [17]. sented in Table 1. Experimental diets were formulated to contain 18% CP and 2,800 kcal of ME/kg, and all were isocaloric and isonitrogenous (Table 2). All diets were fed ad libitum in mash form to the laying hens from 42 to 51 wk of age during which the performance of laying hens was monitored. The birds were weighed at the start (41 wk of age) and end (51 wk of age) TABLE 2. The ingredient and chemical composition of experimental diets (as fed) 1 of the trial. The initial and final weights of hens were 1,708 ± 128 and 1,729 ± 130 g, respectively. Feeds intake was recorded weekly. Egg production was determined daily. Egg weight was determined weekly by weighing all the collected eggs from the experimental groups. Egg internal [albumen and yolk percentages, Haugh unit (HU), and albumen and yolk heights] and Ingredient, % Control 5% FM 5% PBPM 4% FM + 4% PBPM FM (88% CP) PBPM (63% CP) Corn Wheat Full-fat soybean (37% CP) Soybean meal (48% CP) Fish meal (73% CP) Poultry fat Limestone Dicalcium phosphate Salt NaHCO Vitamin + mineral mix Methionine HA L-Lysine HCl Phytase Total Calculated analysis, % ME, kcal/kg 2,800 2,800 2,800 2,800 Crude protein Ether extract Crude fiber Calcium Available phosphorus Sodium Lysine Methionine Methionine + cysteine Diet 1 FM = feather meal; PBPM = poultry by-product meal. 2 Provided per kilogram of diet: vitamin A, 8,000 IU; vitamin D 3, 2,500 IU; vitamin E, 30 mg; vitamin K 3, 2.5 mg; vitamin B 1, 2 mg; vitamin B 2, 5 mg; vitamin B 6, 2 mg; vitamin B 12, 0.01 mg; niacin, 30 mg; calcium-d-pantothenate, 8 mg; folic acid, 0.5 mg; D-biotin, mg; choline chloride, 800 mg; vitamin C, 50 mg; Mn, 70 mg; Fe, 35 mg; Zn, 70 mg; Cu, 8 mg; I, 1 mg; Co, 0.2 mg; Se, 0.25 mg.

4 SENKOYLU ET AL.: POULTRY OFFAL IN LAYER DIETS 545 TABLE 3. Effects of feather and poultry by-product meals on laying performance (42 to 51 wk of age) 1 Egg production Feed intake Egg weight Egg mass FCR Diet 2 (%) (g/hen/day) (g/egg) (g/hen per d) (g of feed/g of egg) Control a ab FM ab b PBPM ab b FM + PBPM b a SEM P a,b Means in the same column with different letters differ significantly (P < 0.05). 1 Means represent 6 replicates and 12 birds in each, comprising 72 birds per treatment. 2 FM = feather meal; PBPM = poultry by-product meal. external (eggshell weight, thickness, and breaking strength) quality parameters were determined on 4 randomly selected eggs from each replicate at the end of each week (24 eggs/treatment per wk). After eggs were weighed individually, they were broken by sheer press to measure breaking strength, and then the shells were washed and dried at room temperature for determination of shell weight. The shell thickness was measured by taking the mean of 3 pieces (from the 2 ends and from the middle) using a micrometer [14]. The FCR was calculated as grams of feed consumed per day per hen divided by grams of egg mass per day per hen. All the collected data were recorded on a weekly basis and statistically subjected to AN- OVA using the GLM procedure in a Windowsbased statistical package program [15]. The differences between the means of groups were separated by Duncan s multiple range test. The significant level used for the group comparisons was set at P < RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The results of Table 3 showed that egg production, feed intake, and egg mass were not significantly (P < 0.05) affected by the dietary treatments, whereas egg weight and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly (P > 0.05) affected. Egg weight was significantly (P < 0.05) lowered only by the diet with 4% FM + 4% PBPM compared with the control group: 62.0 vs g, respectively. The FCR was significantly (P < 0.05) improved by the diets containing 5% FM or 5% PBPM compared with the diet containing 4% FM + 4% PBPM, whereas this improvement in FCR was not significantly (P > 0.05) different from that of control diet. Significant (P < 0.05) differences in FCR and numerical differences in feed intake and egg weight among the diets of singly or combined inclusion of PBPM and FM were likely to be caused by the uneven inclusion levels of dietary protein sources other than PBPM and FM. For instance, one could observe that the diets with inclusion of PBPM only or FM only were balanced for CP with full fat soybean, soybean meal, and fish meal at higher levels than the diet with incorporation of PBPM + FM (combined inclusion; Table 2). For example, fish meal (an important amino acid source) was absent from the diet with 4% FM + 4% PBPM, which might result in an amino acid imbalance and increased variation. Amino acid imbalance might have been responsible for this variation. However, we do not have any data regarding the amino acid contents of FM and PBPM or of their mixture to support this idea. Although no inclusion criteria have yet been set up for the formulation of layer diets, for broilers inclusion greater than 10% PBPM is not recommended due to the resulting depressed growth rate and feed efficiency [16]. Thus, it can be suggested that FM should be well balanced for quality of protein (amino acids) and PBPM for energy and/or mineral imbalances (discussed later) when considering high inclusion ratios. From the results on egg composition and quality parameters (Tables 4 and 5), we observed that feeding based on FM or PBPM significantly (P < 0.05) affected internal egg qualities such as HU and albumen and yolk percentages, but none were significantly different than controls.

5 546 JAPR: Research Report TABLE 4. Effects of feather and poultry by-product meals on internal egg quality (42 to 51 wk of age) 1 Albumen Yolk Yolk/Albumen Albumen height Yolk weight Albumen Diet 2 (%) (%) ratio (%) (mm) Haugh unit (g) weight (g) Control 53.3 ab 29.6 ab 55.7 b 7.35 a 84.6 a FM 54.0 a 29.9 ab 55.4 b 7.04 ab 82.6 a PBPM 52.0 b 29.1 b 56.1 ab 5.92 b 72.5 b FM + PBPM 52.0 b 30.5 a 58.8 a 6.85 ab 81.6 ab SEM P a,b Means in the same column with different letters differ significantly (P < 0.05). 1 Means represent 6 replicates and 4 eggs in each, comprising 24 eggs/treatment per week. 2 FM = feather meal; PBPM = poultry by-product meal. However, none of the inclusions of FM or PBPM in layer diets significantly (P > 0.05) affected egg breaking strength, shell weight, albumen weight, or yolk weight. The differences in egg weight among dietary treatments were observed to be proportionally similar to the changes in internal egg quality parameters. When compared with the effect of control diet, a significant reduction in egg weight occurred when hens were fed 4% FM + 4% PBPM. The decrease in HU was more pronounced for the effect of PBPM rather than FM compared with the effects of the control diet. These effects might be attributed to amino acid imbalance in PBPM. Because there were no significant changes in the weights of albumen and yolk, differences in the percentages of albumen and yolk and height of the albumen were TABLE 5. Effects of feather and poultry by-product meals on eggshell quality (42 to 51 wk of age) 1 Shell breaking Shell thickness Shell weight Diet 2 strength (kg/cm 2 ) ( ) (g) Control ab 7.5 FM b 7.4 PBPM ab 7.3 FM + PBPM a 7.2 SEM P a,b Means in the same column with different letters differ significantly (P < 0.05). 1 Means represent 6 replicates and 4 eggs in each, comprising 24 eggs/treatment per week. 2 FM = feather meal; PBPM = poultry by-product meal. observed to accompany differences in HU, and the role of PBPM on reduced HU was greater than that of FM. The fact that egg weight is affected by the dietary treatments indicated that this finding could be due to differences in the amino acid contents between PBPM and FM. However, we need to gather more evidence to clearly establish the effects of nutrient variability, especially CP, amino acids, Ca, and P, on egg quality parameters. Nevertheless, layer diets with up to 5% FM or PBPM and up to 8% of these in combination could be used to feed the laying hens to maintain reasonably high egg laying performance during the postpeak periods without detrimental effects on performance or egg quality. Further nutrient fortifications of poultry offal may inevitably be necessary for high inclusion cases. CONCLUSIONS AND APPLICATIONS 1. The FM and PBPM can be incorporated up to 5% separately and up to 8% (4 + 4%) in combination with minimal adverse effect on laying performance and egg quality. 2. When considering the high inclusion levels, the lowered Haugh unit by PBPM should be taken into consideration in terms of the nutrient variability (amino acids).

6 SENKOYLU ET AL.: POULTRY OFFAL IN LAYER DIETS Inclusion level of FM could be increased in laying hens due to its high ME content, but the quality of amino acids in the case of FM must be considered. REFERENCES AND NOTES 1. Fuller, H Utilizing rendered products: Poultry. Page 107 in The Original Recyclers. D. A. Franco and W. Swanson, ed. Assoc. Am. Feed Control. Off., Oxford, IN. 2. Ravindran, V., and R. Blair Feed sources for poultry production in Asia and the Pacific. III. Animal protein sources. World s Poult. Sci. J. 49: Jackson, N., and K. B. Fulton Composition of feather and offal meal and its value as a protein supplement in the diet of broilers. J. Sci. Food Agric. 22: Bhargava, K. K., and J. B. O Neal Composition and utilization of poultry by-products and hydrolyzed feather meal in broiler diets. Poult. Sci. 54: Wang, X., and C. M. Parsons Order of amino acid limitation in poultry by-product meal. Br. Poult. Sci. 39: Gohl, B Tropical Feeds. Feed Information Summaries and Nutritive Values. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome. 7. Papadopoulos, M. C Processed chicken feathers as feedstuff for poultry and swine. A review. Agric. Wastes 14: Allen, R. D Feedstuffs ingredient analysis table. Feedstuffs 56(30): Fuller, H. L Utilizing rendered products: Poultry. Page in The Original Recyclers. D. A. Franco and W. Swanson, ed. National Renderers Association, Alexandria, VA. 10. Baker, D. H., R. C. Blitenhal, K. P. Boebel, G. L. Czarnecki, L. L. Southern, and G. M. Willis Protein-amino acid evaluation of steam-processed feather meal. Poult. Sci. 60: Cabel, M. C., T. L. Godwin, and P. W. Waldroup Reduction of abdominal fat content of broilers with feather meal and glycine during the finisher period. Poult. Sci. 65(Suppl. 1):19. (Abstr.) 12. Cabel, M. C., T. L. Godwin, and P. W. Waldroup Reduction in abdominal fat content of broilers by addition of feather meal during the finisher period. Poult. Sci. 65(Suppl. 1):157. (Abstr.) 13. Bovans White Gures Tavulculuk A. S., Saruhanli, Manisa, Turkey. 14. Type D/ , 0.01 mm to 0 25 mm micrometer, Mauser, Germany. 15. SAS Institute SAS User s Guide. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC. 16. Escalona, R. R., and G. M. Pesti Research note: Nutritive value of poultry by-product meal. 3. Incorporation into practical diets. Poult. Sci. 66: Janssen, W. M. M. A European table of energy values for feedstuffs. 3rd. ed. Spelderholt Center for Poultry Research and Information Services, Bekbeergen, The Netherlands. 18. AOAC Official Methods of Analysis. 15th ed. Association of Agricultural Chemists, Arlington, VA. Acknowledgments The cooperation and the support made by the National Renderers Association (Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, UK) and BANVIT (Bandirma, Turkey) are gratefully acknowledged.