Dr. Yogesh Paharia

Article

Alternatives of Corn & Soybeans

As most of the protein in poultry feeds comes from soybean meal, the impact of high soy prices is felt by everyone from major poultryproducing corporations to the owner of the backyard flock. A number of small & medium poultry producers have contacted to me and asking about less expensive alternatives to soybean meal as a source of protein. If the following feed ingredients are available locally, they can be used to partially replace soybean meal in most poultry feeds.

Alternatives to Soya Meal

Ÿ Peas Ÿ Fish Meal Ÿ Linseed Meal Ÿ Sunflower Meal Ÿ MBM Meat Bone Meal Ÿ Cotton seed meal Ÿ DDGS Distiller's Dried Gains with Soluble Peas is having nutritive value is 22 – 24% CP, 2500 kcal/kg average energy

Limitations for the usage:

Ÿ Low Sulphur Amino Acids Ÿ Tannins Higher tannin varieties will reduce protein digestibility approx. 6% protein digestibility reduction for every 1% of tannins Maximum usage without any adverse effects Limited to 20 – 25% in most poultry diets. Fish meal is having nutritive values 58 – 72% protein, 2800 – 3000 kcal/kg

Limitations to feeding

Ÿ High oil varieties- may cause off flavouring due to the fish oil Ÿ High oil meals, should not exceed 5% of the ration Ÿ Low oil varieties- May contain higher levels contaminants, antibiotics or heavy metals Limited to be used in most of the poultry feed is 8-10 % Linseed meals having nutritive value 30-37% protein, 2300- 2700 Kcal/kg Generally only used in ruminant feed. If kept fresh and not oxidized, works well in poultry and swine feeds.

Limitations to be used

Ÿ Off flavouring Ÿ Fish flavour or a paint like smell from the high oil content at levels above 30% In most of poultry feed Can fed up to 20% of the diet safely without off flavouring Use with caution in combination with fish meals and other high Omega 3 oils. Sunflower meal is having nutritive value 34-38% CP, 2200- 2400 Kcal/kg and it is aby product of the oil seed industry Limitations: highly oxidative and very high non-digestible fibre When fresh, can be used in most of poultry feed up to 10 -15% of the diet

Dr. Yogesh Paharia

B.V.Sc , M.V.Sc (Nutrition)

Meat and Bone Meal

The typical meat and bone meal has about the same protein level as soybean meal. However, it has the advantage of also being high in calcium and phosphorus, 10% and 5%, respectively. A 5% level of inclusion of meat and bone meal is popular.

Cottonseed Meal

Cottonseed meal has somewhat l e s s p r o t e i n t h a n s o y (approximately 42%) and like peanut meal, is not a good source of lysine. Unless synthetic lysine can be added to the diet, use of cottonseed meal is usually limited to 4-5%.because of Gossypol is a compound found in cottonseed meal, which at high levels can depress growth and discolour the yolk of eggs. However, for the backyard flock, levels of inclusion of 5% should not cause noticeable problems.

Distiller's Dried Gains with

Soluble

Thisingredient,commonlyknownas DDGS, is a by-product of fermentation. In past years, most DDGS came from the beverage industry. More recently, tremendous amounts are becoming available when corn is fermented to produce ethanol for motor fuels. DDGS has about 27% protein, which is about half way between that of corn and soy. Research at the University of Georgia indicates that DDGS can be used in all types of feeds, with maximum levels being between 10 and15%. All of the ingredients mentioned abovearepricedlowerthansoybean meal,andmightbeconsideredwhen attempting to produce a lower cost feed.However,itisnecessarytobear in mind that all protein is not of the same quality. The amino acid composition of alternative protein sources must betaken into account when preparing feeds for the backyard flock so that the birds are not subjected to nutrient deficiencies.

The alternatives for the Maize (Corn ) The Value of What's Being Replaced

Corn is having nutritive values 7 – 9% Protein &1475 – 1600 k i l o c a l o r i e s p e r p o u n d Xanthophyll's (yellow colour) for yolk and body colour

Alternative Grains Energy alternative sources for Corn

Ÿ Wheat Ÿ Barley Ÿ Grain Sorghum (Milo) Ÿ Triticale Sorghum (Milo) is having the nutritive values 7-9% protein and energy 2900 Kcal/kg Ÿ The most suitable replacement for corn. Ÿ Feeding value is essentially 95–96% the same as corn Limitation in feeding is tannin content Ÿ The red or rusty colour of the seed = higher tannins Ÿ White or light varieties are have less tannins which allows feeding higher levels In most of the poultry feed should be limited to 30-40% of the total diet based on tannin content. Wheat is having nutritive value 916% protein, 3100 kcal/kg Ÿ Hard, red spring wheat varieties tend to have higher protein Ÿ Soft, white winter varieties lower protein Limitations to be used in poultry feed is Pentosans content and the lack of Xylanase enzymes produced by the poultry digestive tract In poultry Diets should be limited to 30% for young poultry and 50% for mature poultry Triticale is having nutritive value of 11-13% protein & energy 2800 kcal/kg , Hybrid of wheat and rye Limitations: Pentosans content and the lack of Xylanase enzymes produced by the poultry digestive tract Ÿ Similar to wheat Ÿ Diets should be limited to 30%

for young poultry and 50% for mature poultry Barley is having nutritive values are 11-12% protein & energy 2600 kcal/kg Limitations for the use in poultry feed : are due to β-Glucan content of barley, 5-8% Ÿ Should be limited to 15 – 20% of the diet Ÿ May be fed at higher levels if βGlucanase enzymes are added to the diet Oat is having nutritive values are 10-12% protein and energy 2400 kcal/kg Limitations are due to β-Glucan content of oats, 5-8% Ÿ In poultry feed should be limited to 15 – 20% of the diet Ÿ May be fed at higher levels if βGlucanase enzymes are added to the diet Profit margins are getting smaller daily because of feed costs. But broiler meat prices have been firmer in most part of India and poultry farmers may not able to f e tc h a m o n e y o r to d o production in spite of the higher costs. Some have changed their market strategies, such as selling b i rd s a t d i f f e re n t s i z e s . Commodities or by-product feeds providing a source of protein and energy can also be used to decrease the cost of the grain mix. But all livestock industries are dealing with the extreme volatility in feed prices and companies will not be expanding this year at the rates they normally would.

Epigenetic Effects in Poultry: Concepts and Way Forward

Pratik Jadhav, Amitav Bhattacharyya and Pankaj Kumar Shukla

Introduction

Epigenetics is the branch of biology which studies the causal interactions between genes and their products which bring the phenotype into being (Waddington, 1968). It can be also defined as the study of mitotically and/or meiotically heritable changes in gene function that cannot be explained by changes in DNA sequence (Riggs and Porter, 1996). The literal meaning of the term epigenetics is “on top of or in additiontogenetics”orsometimesthisterm is used for “non-conventional genetics”. Evolutionary biology uses the term epigenetics to study the transfer of nongenetic information across generations as well (Youngson and Whitelaw, 2008). The term was initially used to describe the switching on or off of genes required to produce the permanent changes that are associated with the differentiation of diverse cell types. TheseriesofchemicaltagsthatmodifyDNA and its associated structures constitute the epigenome and include any genetic expression modifier independent of the DNA sequence of a gene. It includes any process that alters gene activity without changingtheunderlyingDNAsequenceand leads to modifications that can be transmitted to daughter cells. Epigenome refers to the entire pattern of epigenetic modi-fications across all genes, including methyl DNA tags, methyl-histone tags, acetyl histone tags and others. These tags alter mainly the DNA accessibility and chromatin structure at the molecular levels, thusdecidingwhichgeneswillbeexpressed andwhichnot(LoscalzoandHandy,2014).It is the epigenome of a cell that instructs a specific expression of genes during different physiological, developmental and disease states (Kanherkar, Bhatia-Dey and Csoka, 2014). Over the past decades, epigenetic studies primarily have focused on embryonic development, aging and cancer. Presently, epigenetics studies have importance in many other fields viz. inflammation, obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases and immune diseases. Because epigenetic modifications can be altered by externalorinternalenvironmentalfactorsand have the ability to change gene expression, epigenetics is now considered an important mechanismintheunknownetiologyofmany diseases. As far as poultry is concerned, epigenetics possesses a great potential for optimizingproductionandhealth.

Factorsinducingepigeneticchanges

Nutrients: There are now mounting evidences supporting that nutrients may modify the pattern of DNA methylation. Nutrients can reverse epigenetic phenomena such as histone modifications and DNA methylation either by directly inhibiting or stimulating the enzymes that catalyze DNA methylation or histone modification. Li et al. (2016) reported that in ovo feeding of folic acid improves hatchability, FCR, IgG and IgM concentrations. It improves folate metabolism and eventually enhances the immune function of the bird. The molecular mechanism involved in this is splenic expression up-regulation due to histone methylation of IL2 and IL4 promoters and inhibition on the IL6 promoter. Obeid (2013) reported for the first time about the direct delivery of methyl group donors through diet. The methyl donors in feed include methionine, folate, choline, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 etc. This family of methyl groups and their metabolism is such interrelated that deficiency of any one gets compensated by other members of the family. It is noteworthy here that the deficiency of dietary methyl donors tend to cause various metabolic and functional disturbances in birds. The process of DNA methylation improves lean muscle growth in poultry along with improving egg production by increasing the dry matter intake and also positively influences the expression of a protein that increases the growth of pectoralis muscles of broilers. Ratriyantoetal.(2009)reportedthebeneficial effects on intestinal cells and gut microflora following the methyl donor supplementation in poultry feed. Hence, the nutri-epigenetic approachprovidesamolecularfoundationfor understanding the role of feed throughout the life course and its prospective role in augmenting the production potential in poultry(Brienetal.,2014). Environment: Environment also induces epigenetic modifications by affecting the DNA indirectly or by modifying epigenetic factors. Chemical toxin or radiation may enter the cells of a tissue and interface directly with the genetic material (Franks et al., 2015). Environmental stress factors are also thought to produce epigenetic factors. The immune system is also amenable to epigenetic modification by environmental factors. Hormones: Hormones also influence the epigenetic makeup of a cell. Melatonin and/oritsmetabolites,duetotheirstructural identity with known methyl transferase inhibitors, were found to function as inhibitors of DNA methyl transferases enzymes. These are thus involved in the process of epigenetic regulation of different biologicalphenomenon(Zhangetal.,2011).

Applicationsofepigeneticsinpoultry

Embryogenesis period, which is vulnerable totheenvironment,nutritionetc.isthemain focus of epigenetic studies. The initiating factors for fetal programming may be nutrients interacting directly with genes and their regulatory elements at the cellular level, altering patterns of growth and gene expression (Ashwell, 2011). In ovo feeding has been used to evaluate the effect of specific nutrients on epigenome reprogramming, providing an effective approach to the study of nutri-epigenetics. In ovo feeding of folic acid @ 0, 50, 100 and

150 μg on the 11th day of incubation improveshatchability,growth,hepaticfolate concentration,plasmalysozymeactivity,IgG and IgM concentration of broilers. The authors suggested that increased growth and immune-competence is due to epigenetic regulation of immune genes, which has an involvement with the alterations in chromatin conformation and histone methylation in their promoters (Li et al., 2016). In the recent years, in ovo supplementation of critical nutrients on 14th day of incubation has improved the growth of late term embryos/chicks as well as the post-hatch immunity and expression of both growth and immunity related genes in chickens (Bhanja et al., 2004; Bhanja et al., 2014; Bhanja et al., 2015a; Nayak et al., 2015; 2016; Goel et al., 2015). Immunocompetence: There is a possibility of epigenetic modifications through supplementationofinovonutrientsandcan be a promising tool for future epigenetic studies. Having studied the effect of in ovo administrationofnanoparticlesespeciallyof nano silver in combination with amino acids (Bhanja et al., 2015b), they reported enhancement of humoral and cell mediated gene expressions in late term embryo when challenged with lipopolysaccharide at day 19 of incubation. In another study by Natt et al. (2009), the offspring of birds that underwent the unpredictable light regimen wasfoundmorecompetitiveandgrewfaster than the control group. Immunoglobulin gene expression was found to be down regulated in birds with the unpredictable Thermo-tolerance: In chickens, there are reports where conditioning in early-life impartslong-termeffects.Hightemperatures during the first week of life were reported to modulatetheresponsetothermalstresslater in life (Yahav and McMurtry, 2001). By simply increasing the brooding temperature from 30ºCto37.5ºCfor24hrwithinthefirst5days post-hatch, broiler chickens were able to tolerate an acute exposure to a temperature of 35ºC for 6 hr at 42 days of age, while “ unconditioned” birds were unable to acclimate. The mechanism for this conditioned response was not elucidated then. More recently studies have shown the geneexpressionchangesoccurasaresultofa heat stimulus in the neonatal period (Yossifoff et al., 2008; Kisliouk et al., 2011). These researchers reported that the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic Photoperiodism: Photoperiodism refers to the ability of birds to measure environmental day length to ascertain the time of year and adapt their physiological functioning accordingly. As in mammals, melatonin provides the hormonal signal transducing day length in avian species. Thus, melatonin is the fulcrum mediating redistribution of energetic investment among physiological processes to maximize fitness and survival. Melatonin plays an important role in cell differentiation during development via interaction with nuclear melatonin receptors, which has been hypothesized to potentially contribute to epigenetic modifications of oocytes to explain adaptive geographic variations. However, regulation of epigenetic modifications of different genes by melatonin and their role needs to be explored.

FutureImplications

Identification of unique epigenetic factors i.e.,epigeneticcodemaybepotentiallyused as epigenetic biomarkers in future to increase stress tolerance, improve disease resistance, augment breeder fertility level, increase production efficiency and modify behavioral patterns of poultry in changing scenario. Efficient application of markerassisted selection or genomic selection helps in establishing long-term programs for improving the health and production aspects of poultry. There is a possibility for prevention and therapeutic action in metabolic diseases through epigenetic modifications.

factor, a key regulator of thermo tolerance acquisitioninthehypothalamusofthechick, was different between birds grown under normal temperature and those subjected to high temperatures within the first 3 days of life. These changes were associated with increased methylation of CpG sites in the promoter of the brain-derived neurotropic factorgene. Epigenetic changes occurred due to heat conditioning of genes during chick's embryogenesis and there was a two-fold increase in DNA methylation (BDNF gene) over control group chicks. Increased mRNA expression of HSP 70 in liver explained acquired thermotolerance in chicks (Amrutkar, 2012). Thermal exposure during early incubation altered expression pattern of thermoregulatory genes (cFOS, nNOS) and nutrient exporter genes (Cdx) thus improvingphysiologicaladaptability(Soren, 2014). Soren (2014) related the increased thermo-tolerance to epigenetic adaptation either increasing/decreasing metabolic process to establish thermos-tolerance. Loh et al. (2004) concluded that cold adopted embryos on last day of hatching show a higher thermoregulatory heat production in comparison to control, which is a sign of epigenetic adaptation. Gan et al. (2013) concluded that the DNA methylation may play a role in the heat inducible nature of HSP70 because of its negative association with mRNA expression of HSP70. Health: Epigenetic regulation of gene expressionisrecognizedtobeoneofthekey mechanisms governing embryonic development and cellular differentiation and, when misdirected, can lead to diseased states (Stuppia et al., 2015). In normal development, the process of differentiation from embryonic to differentiated cells involves alterations in the epigenetic conformation of the genome, such as DNA methylation or chromatin modifications. In diseased states, abnormal modifications to chromatin can contribute to the malignant transformation of cells. For example, epigenetic changes can promote cell proliferation and inhibit apoptosis during tumors by activating oncogenes and silencing tumour suppressor gene (Aagaard-Tillery et al., 2010). Thus, it is important to understand the mechanism of epigenesis that differentiates the genome of embryonic cells from that of different somatic cells and transformed cells.

Conclusion

This field of epigenetics, though at infancy, has the potential to create wonders for poultry improvement. Currently, epigenetics offers perhaps the greatest potential for the development, poultry health and welfare as well as production. Epigenetic changes are modulated by environmental factors such as nutrients. Various important phenomena in poultry are controlled at epigenetic levels and if exploited may work for eliciting the production and immunity. Epigenetic modifications by nutrients may be applied for improvement of growth, immunocompetence, thermo regulation and health in poultry. Thus, application of epigenetics will have a huge impact on health and production of poultry in future.

Temperature and Relative Humidity effects on Egg Production.

Dr. V. Rajendra Prasad

1. Importance of Temperature and

Humidity on the Per formance productivity and Physiology of poultry cannot be ignored. a) Temperature and humidity in rainy season is usually very high. b) The main purpose of climate control in modern day poultry production is to produce a healthier bird, which enables it to grow more efficiently and live in the most desirable and least stressful environment available. c) Getting it right involves deeper knowledge of the interaction between temperature and relative humidity.

2. The condition of layers , broilers and

breeders become very alarming in India due to the ill effect of the relative humidity leading to drop in production and mortality in the flock. a) These effects could cause reduction in egg size, reduction in growth rate, reduction in egg production, reduction feed intake. b) The effect of rising ambient air temperature and humidity during rainy

season on the physiology of poultry cannot be considered in isolation. c) when high temperature is accompanied by high humidity (over 75 per cent) the birds will rapidly succumb.

3. Temperature:

a) measured in Degrees F ) should be 95°F (35°C ) + 50% RH = 145 (150 or less is OK ), b) 95F (35°C ) + 70% RH = 165 (150+ causes problems),

4. Relative Humidity:

a) < 45% creates irritation to the respiratory system and discomfort to the birds which equals stress. b) > 65% + creates difficulty in respiration (breathing) and impairs the cardio vascular system's ability to deliver adequate amounts of oxygen to the body, resulting in over loading of the respiratory system. c) If either of the two above occurs, the birds will not reach their potential weights, production is decreased and FCR will increase and mortality can occur. 5. House climatic conditions are

dependent on the % RH / temperature inside the house. a) These figures in turn allow us to achieve the correct fan speed required. c) Standard production results are depends on temp.and RH . 6. Most important factor which is neglected in most of the commercial farms and hatchery. a) Different types of stress factors in birds effects productivity: b) Amongalltypesofstressors,environmental stress adversely affects the production performanceofcommercialpoultry.

7. To successfully raise commercial

poultry in today 's setting, one must consider animal health and welfare and implement a multifaceted approach that keeps the bird free from stress .

8. The role of immunomodulation by

using Immuno modulators is just one aspect of an integrated coordinated approach to produce a healthy bird that is also a safe and wholesome product for consumers.

9. Immuno modulators

a) ImmunotechofABTLshouldbeadministered at 250ml for 1000 birds twice a day in water fortwotothreedaystwiceadayfollowedby 100mlforanotherfewweekstwiceadaywill considerablyreducetheintensity. 10. In Layers, broilers and breeders: please use 500 gms for ton of feed for one week followed by 250 gms for ton of feed in birds continuously. 11. Please administer Immunotech of ABTL either in water or feed to reduces stess which stimulates immuno modulation process enhancing productivity and will reduce mortality in stress conditions affecting poultry at all times.