Zootecnica International - English edition - 12 December - 2021 by Zootecnica International

Zootecnica International – December 2021 – POSTE ITALIANE Spa – Spedizione in Abbonamento Postale 70%, Firenze

Gut health in poultry production: why, what and how Managing heat and minimum ventilation systems in the broiler house Optimizing immunization through proper vaccination in turkeys

12 2021

The new feeders of the «Gió» range, specifically developed for great poultry farms, thanks to the easiness in the regulation of the feed and to the absence of grill (that avoid chicks perching) have many advantages: they are easy to use and their cleaning is extremely easy and fast too, leading to an overall reduction in labour costs.

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EDITORIAL In our Italian September issue we published the news that the use of animal proteins in poultry feed has been readmitted. In fact, on June 22nd this year, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) of the European Parliament voted in favour of the amendment of the Regulation dated 22nd May 2001, which had prohibited the use of animal proteins in order to prevent the transmission of spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Although scientific investigations have been carried out on the risk and their conclusions support the reintroduction of animal proteins, we do not agree with this decision which we believe would penalize years of study and research aimed at optimizing animal performance and health. Modern investigation techniques and developments in nutritional formulations have made it possible to almost completely eliminate antibiotics in animal farming and for years poultry have been fed exclusively vegetable feed. This is an important fact when one considers that forty years ago antibiotics were added to the feed as growth promoters. The above mentioned decision appears to be in conflict with the principles of well-being and safety. The Committee in the European Parliament in November 2018 stressed the need to reduce the Union’s dependence on third countries for the supply of vegetable proteins. Once again demagogy tries to prevail. European legislators should think hard and long before rehabilitating products that once were forbidden. Market needs have changed and consumers are increasingly aware and alerted re product safety and animal welfare.

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SUMMARY WORLDWIDE NEWS............................................................................. 4 COMPANY NEWS................................................................................... 8 COMPANY FOCUS Sustainable poultry production through responsible, balanced breeding........ 10

INTERVIEW Moroccoan company Tecnoimpianti, exclusive dealer of AZA International.... 12

DOSSIER General overview and installation of light traps in broiler breeder rearing....... 14

FOCUS Gut health in poultry production: why, what and how...................................... 20

MARKETING

Patterns and dynamics of the EU poultry industry: a status report Part 1 - Laying hen husbandry, egg production and egg trade....................... 22

TECHNICAL COLUMN Managing heat and minimum ventilation systems in the broiler house............ 28

MANAGEMENT How to minimize litter caking issues at the beginning of a flock...................... 34

NUTRITION Bacterial bile salt hydrolase: a gut microbiome target for enhanced poultry production.................................................................... 38

VETERINARY Optimizing immunization through proper vaccination in turkeys...................... 44 A novel microbiome metabolic modulator improved growth performance and intestinal morphology during a coccidiosis outbreak................................ 48

MARKET GUIDE................................................................................... 52

UPCOMING EVENTS.......................................................................55 INTERNET GUIDE.............................................................................56

WORLDWIDE NEWS

EuroTier 2022 with guiding theme “Transforming Animal Farming” Next EuroTier and EnergyDecentral trade fairs will be held from 15 to 18 November 2022 in Hanover, Germany.

The next EuroTier, the world’s leading trade fair for animal farming and livestock management, will take place in 2022 and be held alongside EnergyDecentral, the leading trade fair for decentralized energy supply, from 15 to 18 November in Hanover, Germany.

German Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) supports the participation of German startups at the trade fair.

The organizer DLG (German Agricultural Society) has selected the guiding theme “Transforming Animal Farming” to underpin the technical program.

For the first time at EuroTier 2022, DLG will be adding a new award category “Agrifuture Concept Winner” to its EuroTier innovation award scheme. The new award will recognize innovative and pioneering concepts for the animal husbandry of tomorrow. This award category allows exhibitors to submit concepts and future visions that are not yet market-ready and still in the development phase but already demonstrate strong potential for improved professional practice or process optimization.

“Production and value chains, as well as social and environmental demands on livestock farming are constantly evolving,” emphasizes EuroTier project manager Ines Rathke. “Together farmers, farm managers and agricultural companies are actively shaping the future, in management, purchasing and marketing. As an international platform, EuroTier presents innovations and solution strategies – not just for the current hot-button topics,” adds Rathke.

New award: “Agrifuture Concept Winner”

Virtual industry network “DLG-Connect” – DLG’s online platform

New at EuroTier 2022 is the dedicated start-up area “DLG-AgrifutureLab” for newly founded innovative companies.

DLG-Connect, DLG’s online platform, is an online professional venue that accompanies DLG’s trade fairs and events in the agricultural, agri-food and food industries, presenting topical and current content relevant to the industry as well as networking and a comprehensive market overview along the value chain.

This prime location within the trade fair allows both national and international company founders to launch their presence prominently, attracting plenty of footfall. The

For further information: www.eurotier.com, www.energy-decentral.com and www.dlg-connect.com

New: platform for startups

- worldwide news -

WORLDWIDE NEWS

Shell Egg Academy announces 2022 schedule The Shell Egg Academy (SEA) from Purdue University Extension is looking ahead to 2022 with optimism, after a very successful virtual event in June 2021 that brought together over 65 participants to learn about egg quality and food safety from academia, government regulators, and egg industry experts. Based on feedback from the SEA Planning Committee and participant survey results, the 2022 Shell Egg Academy events will be held as follows: April 25-29, 2022 – An in-person SEA will be held in Lafayette, Indiana, and geared toward managers of egg companies and those in similar positions who are looking for deeper dive class sessions and networking on egg quality and food safety. August 15-19, 2022 – A virtual SEA will be held on Zoom and focus on egg quality information and an interactive experience that is useful for employees who work in egg

barns and processing plants – more of an “Eggs 101” approach with the ease of joining from their computers. “The 2021 Shell Egg Academy’s virtual edition provided a high level of information and interaction for participants seeking to further their knowledge about egg quality and egg safety,” said Dr. Darrin Karcher, SEA founder and Associate Professor and Poultry Extension Specialist at Purdue University. “We’re excited to build upon this success and provide two distinct learning opportunities to fit the needs of the egg industry in 2022.” Complete schedules for each SEA event will be fleshed out by the planning committee and posted to the SEA’s website, www.shelleggacademy. org, when available. Registration and sponsorship opportunities will open in early January 2022. Program questions about the academy may be directed to Dr. Darrin Karcher at: dkarcher@purdue.edu.

inal !

The Orig

LUBING "EASYLINE 2.0" WATERING SYSTEM FOR TURKEYS REARING AND FINISHING Consisting of a system with the pendulum as the main element, which ensures a perfect water supply at all times •The pendulum is activated every time the animal moves it with its head to drink. •The new pendulum with two nipples guarantees even greater reliability of the drinker, both in terms of durability and ease of maintenance. •Cleaner litter and the best results in both the rearing and finishing phases at every age of the turkey.

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- december 2021 -

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WORLDWIDE NEWS

In memory of Jim Hunnable – 1947-2021 unbelievable large network in the industry in the UK and the rest of the world through which Jim has been able to bring people together and help them in their business. Jim has been a mentor to many people who currently are in key positions in the industry and has motivated a lot of young people to join the business. He has always been a highly respected person who never gave up and even after nearly 60 years of service to the broiler industry Jim was still enormously committed to the poultry industry in the UK & Ireland and other countries abroad. In addition to the chicken industry, Jim had another great passion, he was very proud of his small collection of old cars and loved going to car rallies all over the country. In 2006, Positive Action Publications and VIV Europe presented Jim with the “European Poultry Breeder of the Year” award acknowledging his more than 40 years of experience and in-depth knowledge of the international poultry industry through his several roles in the international breeding business. In 2017, the UK Poultry Industry awarded Jim with the well-deserved “BPC/ForFarmers Poultry Person of the Year” award. A few months before he received this award, Jim sadly lost his lovely wife Ruth very unexpectedly. She was his best friend who fully supported him all his life through both good and bad times. Since then, he missed her very much every day.

Jim Hunnable, born in May 1947 in Braintree (Essex), started his career in the poultry business at the age of 15 in 1962 as a trainee at Cobb in the UK and worked his way up from being a Broiler Breeder Fieldsman, Area Service Manager, Technical Service Manager and General Manager to MD of Cobb Breeding Company Limited. After the closure of Cobb’s European operation in 2001, Jim was appointed as non-executive director at Poultry First and Q-International and remained a non-executive director with LA Systems. In 2003 he joined Hubbard to support them to further develop their business in the UK, Ireland and in overseas markets like South Africa, Zimbabwe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Over the years Jim has been a member of several committees in the UK, including EPIC, and played an active role in the sponsorship of the Nuffield Scholarship. He had an

Jim was in great form when he attended the National Egg & Poultry Awards in London on Tuesday October 19th. Being a real people person, Jim was extremely pleased to finally meet the people in the poultry industry in real life after such a long period of Covid lockdown. On Friday October 22, Jim passed away completely unexpectedly at his home in Braintree. He will be remembered as a dear friend by all who have come across Jim. We send our condolences to his daughters Suzie and Victoria, his son Stuart and their families including his grandchildren and to the rest of his family. We hope the respect and affection many people had for Jim will give them support for their huge loss. Jim really was a great family man and very proud of them all. May he rest in peace and finally be able to raise a glass of white wine again with his beloved Ruth. The Hubbard team

- worldwide news -

WORLDWIDE NEWS

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- december 2021 -

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COMPANY NEWS

Hy-Line International launches new online management guide system Hy-Line International, the global leader in poultry layer genetics, launched a new online management guide system on hyline.com to bolster its efforts to serve Hy-Line customers. The new system’s user-friendly application is simple to access and download important documents such as management guides, technical updates, and supplemental digital content. “Hy-Line’s initiative to provide valuable resources in the most efficient and accessible manner directly relates to the profitability of our customers,” said Gustavo Wassermann, Commercial Director. “The updated platform is more visual, practical, and detailed to provide valuable answers and guidance to the management of Hy-Line varieties in order to achieve the highest genetic potential.” The new format of online guide system contains Hy-Line’s resourceful content and information for each variety with more flexibility and accessibility features. Users can still print the complete management guide documents. The system now allows users an advanced search of key words or phrases, that direct you to the specific pages or topics that are needed. In addition, more digital resources are available such as how-to videos and customer tes-

timonials within each section. “The management guides bring a wealth of information based on R&D, flock performance and technical experts’ tips and advice to show and direct Hy-Line flock management to excellence,” said Wassermann. Technical Updates will also be displayed in the new online management guide system. This provides a faster distribution of important updates to our customers with the capabilities to view and print as needed. Hy-Line Brown variety management guides are the first versions available with the new system in English, Spanish and Russian. Users can expect our other five varieties to be launched in several languages soon.

- company news -

COMPANY NEWS

- december 2021 -

COMPANY FOCUS

Sustainable poultry production through responsible, balanced breeding Our global population is predicted to grow to 9.8 billion by 2050. As we approach the challenge of how to produce enough food to meet the needs of these extra 2 billion people, the world’s producers must do so in a way that is environmentally responsible. passes everything we care about: we know that our customers are passionate about their birds, and so are we. That is why we make bird health and wellbeing a top priority and a major focus of our research and development. You may find it interesting that, through balanced breeding, we have been able to improve more than 50 production, health and welfare traits simultaneously, while at the same time protecting biodiversity. (Learn more about our commitment to biodiversity in our article, “Biodiversity – Breeding choice for markets of today and tomorrow”, see Zootecnica International, October 2021).

According to Magnus Swalander, Director of R&D and General Manager of Aviagen® Ltd, the answer may lie in achieving “balance”. Swedish author Rachel Brathen once said, “Balance is key. In everything you do,” and Aviagen has made “Balanced Breeding” #3 of its Top 5 Commitments. Through this balanced approach, Aviagen addresses three of the five United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) prioritised by the International Poultry Council: Zero Hunger (SDG2), Good health and wellbeing (SDG9) and Climate Action (SDG13). In this article, Magnus further explains Aviagen’s Balanced Breeding philosophy.

Magnus Swalander,

Health and welfare – Foundation of sustainability

Director of R & D and General Manager, Aviagen Ltd

“Balanced is the best word to describe our breeding programme, because it encom-

- company focus -

We work daily to support our customers in their effort to eradicate hunger in their local communities by supplying an affordable, nutritious and popular source of protein – the production of which is gentler on our planet compared to other meats (source: OurWorldinData). Another compelling reality is that birds with better health and welfare also perform better and, in doing so, contribute to the economic sustainability of poultry growers. For example, they have better liveability, and are hardier, more resistant to the world’s varying climate conditions. This goes back to our goal of balanced breeding, and some of the same technologies that have assisted our selection of birds with greater health, have also improved performance for the benefit of our valued customers. We are thus able to help provide better economics with birds that have superior meat yield and daily weight gain on the broiler side, and excellent reproductive traits, chick and egg numbers and hatchability as breeder traits.”

COMPANY FOCUS

ing optimal water intake also benefits the birds with more robust gut function and better footpad health (through enhanced litter quality). Continuing our theme of balanced breeding, the FCR advantage balances environmental benefits with economic gains. What do you think represents the single highest cost of doing business for our world’s chicken meat producers? You no doubt thought ‘feed’, and you guessed correctly. Therefore, with outstanding feed efficiency, farmers are able to produce more with less, and that is a significant value proposition. The social implication is they are now in a great position to make healthy and nutritious chicken meat readily available to families in their local communities, leading to #ZeroHunger worldwide”.

FCR – Driver of sustainability “Aviagen is devoted to protecting the planet and providing a positive environmental heritage for our children and grandchildren. A main driver of sustainability has been our year-on-year advancement in Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR), or the efficiency with which feed is converted to body weight. Through selection, a reduced amount of feed is needed to produce healthy, robust birds with excellent welfare, which has a distinct positive impact on the environmental, economic and social pillars of sustainability. Improvement in FCR is therefore a major component of sustainable poultry production. Here is some background. In the 15 years between 2003 and 2018, our selection strategy led to diminishing the feed requirement per kilogram (kg) of broiler live weight by 215 grams. This means that our broilers now require about 0.5 kg less feed to reach 2.5 kg than they did 15 years ago. In addition, a lower feed intake decreases nitrate and phosphate excretions by 20%, and lessens greenhouse gas production by 15%. Less feed also equates to not as much land needed to grow the feed. It has been estimated that our yearly FCR improvements have translated to land savings of about 0.656 million hectares (1.6 million acres) per year. That is twice the size of the country of Luxembourg. Preserving our land is important, as the land that is saved can be used to grow crops for food production, or left alone as natural wildlife habitats. What’s more, when birds consume less feed, they also need a smaller amount of water, offering further advantages by preserving one of the world’s most valuable resources. A robust, 2.5-kilogram bird now has a 1-liter decrease in water requirements than was true 15 years ago. Achiev-

Health, welfare and sustainability – The perfect balance “Because of our balanced breeding approach, Aviagen shows a dedication to steadily and responsibly enhance bird performance, and at the same time promote health, welfare and sustainability. Balance is an essential element in feeding a growing global population, while minimising the carbon footprint of poultry production and its impact on climate change. Balanced breeding of a valuable food source is a commitment we take seriously, because we care about our customers and the communities they serve, our birds, and the planet we call home.” Read more on Aviagen’s Top 5 Commitments in this interactive Breeding Sustainability presentation [https:// eu.aviagen.com/assets/Sustainability/2021/index.html?global=1].

- december 2021 -

INTERVIEW

Moroccoan company Tecnoimpianti, exclusive dealer of AZA International Moroccoan company Tecnoimpianti, exclusive dealer of AZA International, leader in pig, poultry and cattle feeding equipment, have been selling and installing several feeding systems all over Morocco for more than 7 years.

Mr Mouaize Abdelatif (left), CEO of Tecnoimpianti with Mr Paolo Pandolfi (right), export managing director of AZA International

Mr Mouaize Abdelatif, CEO of Tecnoimpianti, has recently met Mr Paolo Pandolfi, export managing director of AZA International, to discuss about the feeding systems for roosters equipped with the Self-Dosy feed pans, designed by AZA International and installed at Zalar group’s farms at Etnine Chtouka in El Jadida region, northern Morocco. Mr Mouaize, how did you persuade your customer to choose AZA International and why did he decide to purchase the Self-Dosy feed pans? “Well, he chose AZA International because it’s been synonymous with quality and reliability. I’ve been selling your systems since 2014 and I dare say that the market is really appreciating your products, thus increasing the prestige of the “Made in Italy” trademark here in Morocco. The technical manager of Zalar group has understood immediately the innovations brought to light by the Self-Dosy system in comparison to other existing systems in the market and, as a consequence he decided to install it in his farms”.

- interview -

INTERVIEW

Briefly, what are the main advantages that he noticed in the Self-Dosy system rather than in the pans made by other competitors? “The main thing is that a weighing scale and weighing machines aren’t necessary at all to adjust the feed which will fall inside every pan, as the Self-Dosy is supplied with one dosing device with centralised adjustment of the feed volume. In a few words, the same quantity of feed falls in every pan according to the farmer’s needs and the quantity of roosters in the farm. My customer knows perfectly the quantity of feed which has been distributed without weighing it before the distribution starts, lowering in this case the costs of the entire line”. Could you explain how the system you sold to Zalar group works? “Referring to the growing scale of the roosters, my customer easily adjusts the quantity of feed that must fall in every pan by means of one adjusting centralised device, installed at the beginning of the line. In his specific case, every day he manually loads the additional hoppers of the lines which will fill the dispensers of all the pans. After this operation, my customer activates the winch and the closing balls inside every pan raise so that the quantity of feed previously set is dispensed. Then he releases the winch, all the balls return to their closed position and while birds are eating, the system starts again preparing the next meal for the day after. By doing so, birds remain quiet and unstressed even while hearing the noise of the loading of the meal for the next day. I can assert that the quantity of feed falling in each pan is uniform; in fact when we installed the first system, we weighted the feed con-

“The Self-Dosy is sturdy, easy to wash and its design prevents roosters from wasting feed during their meal. At this moment, we have several requests for this kind of system for such a niche market, as well as for your Breedaza, your new system for layers and breeders” – Mouaize Abdelatif

tained in each pan and the difference never exceeded 10 grams. Inside more technological farms we use a flex auger below the silo which fills automatically the additional hoppers of the inner lines. It’s possible to use an electrical actuator for the opening and closing off the balls too which works by means of a timer installed inside the control board. The Self-Dosy is sturdy, easy to wash and its design prevents roosters from wasting feed during their meal. At this moment, we have several requests for this kind of system for such a niche market, as well as for your Breedaza, your new system for layers and breeders. Considering the results, my customer intends to increase the use of this system in his future farms”. Sponsored text by Aza International

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Both magazine and website offer a broad overview on the poultry industry, providing in-depth news on international markets, business management, trends and practices in poultry, genetics, incubation, nutrition, veterinary and management.

- december 2021 -

DOSSIER

General overview and installation of light traps in broiler breeder rearing Designing a ventilation system for a dark out tunnel ventilated rearing house can be challenging. There are many different models and designs of light traps available, each with different light restriction capacities. Resistance to airflow Resistance to air flow is usually presented in graphical format with static pressure in Pascals (Pa) or inches of water column (in wc) plotted against light trap face velocity in meters per second (m/s) or feet per minute (fpm). When comparing light traps at a given face velocity, a lower static pressure will indicate a lower air flow resistance. Resistance to light transmission Test facilities will place high wattage lamps outside the light traps to simulate direct sunlight. Light intensity is measured at the outside and inside surfaces of the light traps. The light reduction factor is calculated by dividing the outside light intensity by the inside light intensity. When comparing different light traps/filters, the higher the light reduction factor, the greater the resistance to light transmission. The light trap should have a light reduction factor of at least 2,000,000 to one. Ideally it should be in excess of 10,000,000 to one.

Some general light trap choices and installation tips

Andrew Bourne, World Technical Services Specialist, Cobb-Vantress

The air flow restriction does not necessarily correspond with the light reduction factor. Some light traps with very high light reduction factors have very low air flow restriction. The amount or area of light trap needed will primarily depend on the fan capacity needed to achieve the target house velocity. Light traps or light filters can be compared in terms of two criteria.

- dossier -

A. Light traps are available in both a cellular and blade design. Blade or vane type light traps are suitable for fan installations (Photo 1). They must be installed with the vanes vertically orientated to prevent dust accumulation. Cellular types are not suitable for fan installations, but can be used in perimeter and tunnel inlets. Cellular types are more difficult to clean and disinfect.

DOSSIER

at the tunnel fan end, due to the light reduction factor offered by the evaporative pads and a darkened dog house (painted black or the use of shade cloth). D. An efficient installation option for the tunnel fan light traps, is to construct a false wall that incorporates the light traps, placed 1.5 m (5 ft) from the tunnel fan end. This allows air to pass through all light traps reducing the pressure drop when the house is not in full tunnel mode (Photo 4).

Photo 1 – A light trap in a blade design

B. Light traps placed directly over fans will cause a significant drop in fan performance, thus they are not the best option in a high-speed tunnel houses (Photo 2). In a cross ventilated pullet house, a 150 cm × 150 cm or 2.25 m² (60 in x 60 in or 25 ft²) light trap can be placed directly over a standard 120 cm fan (48 in). The light trap must be mounted at least 25 cm (10 in) from the fan shutter.

Photo 4 – Light trap in a false wall in front of tunnel fans

E. An alternative is to install the tunnel fans on the sides of the house, each with a plenum type room (doghouse) for the installation of the light trap false walls (Photo 5). This is by far the most efficient, since fan and light trap area requirements in high speed rearing houses usually require more light trap area than can fit into the house cross section. Photo 2 – Light traps mounted over fans can reduce fan performance, and are not the best option in high-speed tunnel houses

C. When installing both tunnel inlet light traps (Photo 3) and evaporative pads in a pullet rearing house, the tunnel inlet light traps can have a lower light reduction factor and lower air flow resistance than those installed Photo 5 – Tunnel fan light trap false wall installed in a vestibule plenum (dog house) in front of tunnel fans installed on the sides of the house

Photo 3 – Tunnel inlet light trap

F. Perimeter inlet light traps are installed in a windproof box/cover on the outside of the house (Photo 6). The cross sectional area of this box/cover should be at least 30% larger than the perimeter inlet itself. The light traps are similarily sized to fit into the opening of the box/cover.

- december 2021 -

DOSSIER

Table 1 – Estimated transition pressures and pipe pressure along the length of the house per 30 m (100 ft) with varying tunnel air speeds. Tunnel Speeds

Transition pressure

Pipe pressure per 30 m (100 ft)

m/s

fpm

in wc

2.0

400

0.02

0.87

0.0035

2.5

500

7.5

0.03

1.5

0.006

• Pipe pressure produced as the air moves down the length of the house will depend on velocity (see Table 1 for estimates per 30 m (100 ft) of house length).

Photo 6 – A perimeter inlet light traps installed in a box or wind proof cover

• Any extra equipment or obstructions over the length of the house could also potentially increase the house pipe pressure. If possible, do not use obstructive equipment. This is particularly relevant for combined rearing and production houses. Therefore, if possible, keep nest boxes outside the house during rearing.

Photo 7 – When using evaporative pads, a shaded inlet area can eliminate the need for inlet light traps. Alternatively, the best option would be to use a light trap with a considerably lower light reduction factor and pressure drop

• The target pressure drop across the tunnel fan light trap is 20 Pa (0.08 in wc). This will vary depending on suppliers and the required light reduction factor. • When installing light traps, it is very important to know the pressure drop across the light trap. Use this information to ensure the correct fan capacity is installed to meet the air velocity requirements of the flock.

Rearing house air velocity and operating pressure standards

• The light trap supplier will supply the expected pressure drops (Pa or in wc) over a range of face velocities (m/s or fpm).

House air velocity standards

• The airspeed or face velocity of the light trap is a representation of its area relative the total tunnel fan operating capacity.

• Pullet house air velocity requirement: 2.0 to 2.5 m/s (400 to 500 fpm). • Rear, grow, lay house air velocity requirement: 2.5 m/s to 3.0 m/s (500 to 600 fpm).

• Ideally the sum of all the pressure drops, or the total amount of work the fans need to do, should not exceed 37.5 Pa (0.15 in wc).

Operating pressure drops standards

The pressure readings will increase from the front to the extraction end of the house. The pressure reading at the extraction end is an indication of the amount of work the fans must do to move the air down the length of the house. It is the sum of the following pressure drops:

• The target pressure drop across the tunnel inlet light trap is 5 Pa (0.02 in wc). This will vary depending on suppliers and the required light reduction factor. • The installation of an evaporative cooling system increases the pressure drop by 12.5 Pa (0.05 in wc). • Generally the transition pressure drop (turn pressure drop, caused by drawing incoming air through a large inlet area and squeezing it into the smaller house cross section) will contribute a combined 5.0 to 7.5 Pa (0.02 to 0.03 in wc).

1. evaporative pad pressure drop; 2. tunnel inlet light trap pressure drop; 3. transition or “squeeze” pressure drop; 4. pipe pressure drop, (including resistance created by objects such as nest boxes and feed hoppers); 5. tunnel fan light trap.

- dossier -

DOSSIER

Table 2 – Estimated fan operating pressures for 120 m (400 ft) rearing houses operating at 2.0 m/s (400 fpm) with and without evaporative pads. Pressure (Pa)

Pressure (in wc)

Evaporative pad pressure drop

12.5

0.05

Tunnel inlet light trap pressure drop

5.0

0.02

Transition pressure drop

5.0

0.02

Estimated pipe pressure drop

3.4

0.014

Tunnel fan false wall light trap pressure drop

20.0

0.08

46.0

0.18

33.4

0.13

Pressure Source

Total fan operating pressure with evaporative pads

Total fan operating pressure without evaporative pads

A rearing house without evaporative cooling should ideally operate at about 37 Pa (0.15 in wc) in full tunnel mode. In reality this can be achieved if the house is designed for 2 m/s (400 fpm), but is very difficult to achieve if an air velocity of 2.5 m/s (500 fpm) is needed. If an evaporative cooling system is installed, and air velocity is increased to 2.5 m/s (500 fpm), the house operating pressure will be more than 50 Pa (0.25 in wc) in full tunnel ventilation.

Light trap sizing example - Rearing house without evaporative pads Information needed from equipment suppliers includes: A. tunnel fan capacity at pressure to ensure required air speed is achieved; B. light trap pressure and face velocity curves (this will be used to calculate light trap area requirement). Tunnel fan capacity at pressure to ensure required air speed is achieved Rearing house dimensions for this example:

Figure 1 – Evaporative pad. Total fan operating pressure with evaporative pads 46 Pa (0.18 in wc). Total fan operating pressure without evaporative pads 33.4 Pa (0.13 in wc).

• 120 m × 12 m × 2.4 m (cross section area – 29 m²) 400 ft × 40 ft × 8 ft (cross section area – 320 ft²) Tunnel fans in this example: • Cone fan 1.44 m (57 in)

Table 3 – Test results for example tunnel fan (from BESS lab). Static pressure (in wc)

air flow volume (cfm)

rpm

volts

amps

watts

cfm/ watt

static pressure (Pa)

air flow volume (m3/hr)

0.00

32600

530

230.5

4.77

1302

25.0

55400

42.6

0.05

30900

528

229.4

4.92

1388

22.2

52400

37.8

0.10

28800

526

230.3

5.09

1470

19.6

49000

33.3

0.15*

26500

524

229.6

5.25

1549

17.1

37*

45000

29.1

0.20

23700

522

229.0

5.39

1618

14.6

40200

24.8

(m3/hr)/W W/1000 m3/hr

0.25

20100

521

230.6

5.51

1673

12.0

34100

20.4

0.30

14500

520

230.3

5.57

1704

8.5

24700

14.5

Test results indicate the fan runs at 45,000 m³/h or 12.5 m/s at 50 Pa (26,500 cfm at 0.15 in wc). *Ideal operating pressure is 37 Pa (0.15 in wc). Total fan capacity needed to achieve 2.5 m/s (500 fpm)* = house cross section × air velocity. *(Air velocity standards for a rearing house are 2.0 to 2.5 m/s (400 to 500 fpm). 29 m² × 2.5 m/s = 72.5 m³/s ÷ 12.5 m³/s per fan= 5.8 or 6 fans*. 320 ft² × 500 fpm = 160,000 cfm ÷ 26,500 cfm per fan = 6 fans. *(When calculating fan numbers, always round the final number up to determine the total number of fans required. Expect fan strength to diminish over time).

- december 2021 -

DOSSIER

Light trap pressure and face velocity curves – calculating light trap area requirement Figure 2 is an example of a BESS LAB test results for a vertical blade type light trap. • The pressure drop across the light traps and light reduction factor were measured over a wide range of face velocities. • The light trap face air velocities used for calculating the areas of light trap for both inlet and tunnel fan false wall were extrapolated from the pressure curve.

• Tunnel inlet light trap area needed: 75 m³/s ÷ 1.5 m/s = 50 m² 159,000 cfm ÷ 300 fpm = 530 ft² • Tunnel fan light trap area needed: 75 m³/s ÷ 2.5 m/s = 30 m² 159,000 cfm ÷ 500 fpm = 318 ft² Potential problem The cross section of the house used in the example is 29 m² (320 ft²). Installation of 30 m² (332 ft²) of tunnel fan light trap false wall will be impossible since the light traps need to be mounted on a concrete stem wall above the litter. This problem will be further compounded in a combined rearing and production house with slats. Solution An alternative is to install the tunnel fans on the sides of the house with a plenum type room (dog house) for the installation of the light trap false walls (see light trap choices and installation tips E).

Figure 2 – Vertical blade type light trap resistance to airflow in Pa and m/s. Light reduction factor - 1,900,000:1.

The tunnel inlet light trap was sized at 1.5 m/s (300 fpm) with a pressure drop of 8 Pa (0.03 in wc). The tunnel fan light trap was sized at 2.5 m/s (500 fpm) with a pressure drop of 20 Pa (0.08 in wc). See the values highlighted in red.1

Note: when sizing a light trap to be installed across a perimeter, tunnel inlet or in the light trap wall in front of the tunnel fans, the area of trap required is a function of the air velocity required across the inlet or light trap wall.The larger the area the lower the pressure drop.

Sizing the light traps As a general rule both the tunnel inlet and fan false wall light traps can be sized over a range of face velocities. The tunnel inlet light traps can be sized at 1.5 to 2.5 m/s (300 to 500 fpm) and the tunnel fan false wall light traps at about 2.5 to 3.8 m/s (500 to 700 fpm). This can vary depending on suppliers and the required light reduction factor. The area of the light trap will always depend on the amount of fan capacity installed. Sizing the tunnel inlet light trap Based on our standard requirements in terms of maximum house pressure drop to not exceed 37 Pa (0.15 in wc), the tunnel inlet and tunnel fan light traps are sized at 1.5 m/s (300 fpm) and 2.5 m/s (500 fpm), respectively. • Tunnel fan capacity installed: 6 x 12.5 m³/s (26,500 cfm) = 75 m3/s (159,000 cfm)

Figure 3 – Light trap area.

Light trap area m2 (ft2) = Tunnel fan capacity m3/s (cfm) ÷ Light trap face velocity m/s (f/m).

Conclusions The choice and installation of light traps are very important when upgrading or in new builds. In many parts of the world where rearing and production are in the same house, the light traps need to be removed at light stimulation. Choosing a high quality modular light trap that can be easily dismantled and safely stored is critical. In the future, with increases in stocking densities and the need for higher air velocities in rearing, the choice and sizing of light traps will become important for successful management during hot weather.

These pressure and velocity values in the graphs are estimates of the values published by BESS LAB. The pressure and face velocities used are only close approximations – for more accurate data contact your light trap supplier.

- dossier -

DOSSIER

- december 2021 -

FOCUS

Gut health in poultry production: why, what and how Gut health has become a dominant topic in the global poultry industry. But why did the topic emerge to become so important to the industry? What is gut health and how should the poultry industry deal with such a complex challenge?

Marcos H. Rostagno Technical and Regulatory Director Phytobiotics North America, LLC 202 New Edition Court, Cary, NC 27511

Gut health has attracted a lot of interest over the past few years, quickly becoming a dominant topic in the global poultry industry. But, why did the topic emerge to become so important to the industry? The effective function of the intestinal tract is crucial in determining animal health, welfare and productive performance. In the increasingly competitive poultry industry, the pressure for more efficient production systems is a constant. Considering that feed is by far the main cost of production for any poultry production system (broilers, turkeys and layers), it is easy to understand why the health of the intestinal tract becomes a determinant factor for the efficient utilization of the nutrients provided in the diets to the birds. Moreover, the increasing market pressure and quick shift of producing food without the use of antibiotics has created the need for options to support the intestinal health

- focus -

FOCUS

of the birds. For many years, the ample utilization of antibiotics as interventions allowed to keep many intestinal challenges under control, which re-emerged during the process of withdrawing this type of additives from the diets. Consequently, an incredible vast number of new feed additives becomes continuously available in the market with the purpose of managing gut health challenges and maintaining production efficiency.

An additional factor to consider in this complex scenario is the variety of external factors commonly present in any poultry production system that can affect the intestinal tract, such as diet (composition, texture/form, quality of ingredients used, and feed management), presence of mycotoxins, pathogens, and use of feed additives (antimicrobials or non-antimicrobials), as well as occurrence of stress (physical, psychological, or environmental).

However, what is gut health, and is there a definition? As a very complex and intricate system, the intestinal tract is still viewed by most as a “black box” with many basic and important gaps of knowledge that still need to be uncovered. Besides, the intestinal tract actively interacts bidirectionally with many other complex systems in the animal’s body, making it very difficult to fully unravel this multifaceted interrelationship. Over the past few years, defining the concept of “gut health” has been a challenge amongst nutritionists, veterinarians and scientists, worldwide. However, while gut health has become a very popular topic in scientific conferences, peer-reviewed scientific journals, and industry publications, a clear scientific definition is still lacking.

So, how should the poultry industry deal with such a complex challenge? As it is evident that gut health is a very complex (and costly) challenge, it should be clear that there is no simple solution of “magic bullet”. Therefore, realistic expectations and multipronged solutions are required. In order to successfully manage gut health challenges, it is critical that we start thinking differently, and more broadly, from better understanding and applying combined health and nutrition concepts and strategies to dedicating more attention to simple animal management and welfare. Developing and applying interventions based on targeted mode of action is also important. The poultry industry must be more focused the application of science-based approaches, instead of simple “trial and error” exercises routinely done in the field.

Some key components of what could be considered a healthy gut are: structural integrity, normal neuroendocrine and motor function, effective digestion of feed and absorption of nutrients, effective immune status, and stable and functional microbiota. As it can be easily noted, the need to consider all these key components creates a complex challenge to any attempt of clearly and objectively develop a definition of “gut health”. Moreover, all these key components interact among themselves by several complex mechanisms and pathways, directly affecting each other.

Additionally, better collection and use of data to generate reliable and actionable information is greatly needed. The bottom line is that the poultry industry needs to change its traditional mindset, going back to basics, while at the same time breaking some old paradigms, if it is to successfully move beyond the current gut health challenges. From the Proceedings of the Midwest Poultry Federation Convention 2020

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- december 2021 -

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Patterns and dynamics of the EU poultry industry: a status report Part 1 – Laying hen husbandry, egg production and egg trade

©telecolor

In two papers, the patterns of the EU poultry industry will be analysed. The first paper deals with laying hen husbandry, egg production and egg trade. The second paper will document the patterns and dynamics of poultry meat production and trade.

Hans-Wilhelm Windhorst The author is Prof. Emeritus of the University of Vechta and visiting Professor at the Hannover Veterinary University, Germany

In 2020, the 27 member countries of the EU shared 7% in the global laying hen population and contributed 7% to global egg production. They played a major role in egg trade. Over 50% of the globally traded eggs originated in one of the member countries, and over 40% of the imported eggs had a member country as destination. Here, the intra-EU trade is included.

High regional concentration in layer flocks and egg production In 2020, 396.6 mill. laying hens were kept in the EU, of which about 36 mill. were hens for producing hatching eggs. The data in Table 1 and Figure 1 document the high regional con-

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MARKETING

Laying hens

Egg production

Total: 396.6 mill.

Total: 6.0 mill. t

2,5%

2,2%

14,4%

2,2%

2,5%

14,2%

2,7% 12,6% 8,4% 12,2%

9,0% 10,3%

Germany Poland France Spain Italy Romania Netherlands Belgium Portugal Sweden others

14,7%

11,3%

2,6%

5,5%

14,3%

9,2% 14,3%

10,4%

11,9%

Germany France Spain Italy Netherlands Poland Romania Belgium Czech Rep. Sweden others

12,7%

Figure 1 – The ten leading EU member countries in the total number of laying hens and in egg production in 2020 (Design: A.S. Kauer based on EU CCOAM data).

centration. The ten leading countries shared 85.6% of the total layer flock, the top five countries even 61.2%. With 56.3 mill. hens, Germany held an unchallenged first rank, followed by Poland and France.

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Table 1 – The ten EU member countries with the largest laying hen flocks and of eggs for consumption production in 2020 (Source: EU,CCOAM; own additions). Laying hens

and only 20% in farms with efficient management systems.

Eggs for consumption production

Member country

1,000

Share (%)

Germany

56,260

14.2

Member country

1,000 t

Share (%)

Germany

885.0

14.7

Poland

50,150

12.6

France

862.0

14.3

France*

48,256

12.2

Spain

860.0

14.3

Spain

47,130

11.9

Italy

785.0

12.7

Italy

41,048

10.3

Netherlands

625.0

10.4

Romania*

35,500

9.0

Poland

553.0

9.2

Netherlands

33,126

8.4

Romania

330.0

5.5

Belgium

10,736

2.7

Belgium

157.5

2.6

Portugal

8,732

2.2

Czech Rep.

151.0

2.5

Sweden

8,726

2.2

Sweden

149.0

2.5

10 countries

339,664

**85.6

10 countries

5,337.5

88.7

EU (27)

396,622

100.0

EU (27)

6,014.3

100.0

* 2019 ** sum does not add because of rounding

Table 1 also shows that the regional concentration in egg production was even higher. The ten leading countries contributed 88.7% to the overall production volume of the EU, the top five countries 66.4%. A comparison of the composition and ranking reveals some remarkable insights. The shares of the countries in the number of laying hens and in egg production differed considerably. Germany’s contribution to egg production was for example only 0.5% higher than its share in the laying hen flock of the EU. In France,

Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, the gap between the share in the laying hen flocks and in egg production was much wider. An imbalance can be observed for Romania. The number of laying hens, as reported by the EU Commission, cannot be correct, as it would demand an average laying rate of over 600 eggs per hen and year. According to FAO data, the number of laying hens in Romania in 2019 was 35.5 mill. The annual laying rate would be 125 eggs. This is more realistic, as about 80% of the hens were kept in small family farms

Considerable differences in the share of housing systems Four housing systems are permitted in the EU: enriched cages, barn resp. floor systems, free-range systems and organic systems. Two of the 27 member countries, Austria and Luxembourg, no longer allow enriched cages and they will be prohibited in Germany from 2025 on. The share of the housing systems differed considerably between the single member countries. Figure 2 documents that in 2020 48.1% of the hens were housed in enriched cages, 34.0% in barn systems, 11.9% in free range and 6.1% in organic systems. Enriched cages dominated in most of the Eastern and Southern European countries, barn systems in Northern and Central Europe, free range systems reached high shares in Ireland, Austria, Germany and the Scandinavia countries. Four member countries had not installed organic systems in 2020 (Bulgaria, Latvia,

Table 2 – The ten member countries with the highest percentage of laying hens in the four housing systems in 2020 (Source: EU Commission, CCOAM). Enriched cages

Barn systems

Free-range systems

% of total flock

Member country

Malta

99.4

Sweden

76.1

Ireland

43.8

Luxembourg

Portugal

86.2

Luxembourg

75.6

Austria

26.5

Denmark

17.4

Lithuania

83.2

Austria

61.0

France

23.0

Sweden

14.7

Estonia

81.7

Netherlands

60.6

Germany

21.2

Germany

13.0

Poland

81.0

Germany

60.1

Sweden

18.1

Austria

12.5

Spain

77.6

Denmark

58.3

Netherlands

17.8

France

11.2

Greece

77.3

Slovenia

55.1

Belgium

13.6

Finland

7.1

Slovakia

76.7

Italy

49.5

Denmark

9.6

Netherlands

6.4

Latvia

75.2

Belgium

93.3

Cyprus

9.6

Belgium

5.9

Cyprus

71.4

Finland

39.3

Spain

8.0

Greece

5.4

Member country

% of total flock

Member country

- marketing -

% of total flock

Organic systems Member country

% of total flock 24.4

MARKETING

tems, the average laying rates are lower. In free-range systems, the average varies between 280 and 290 eggs per hen and year and in organic systems between 270 and 280 eggs.

2020 6,1%

34,0%

48,1%

Enr. cage Free range Barn Organic

11,9%

Total: 371.8 mill. hens Figure 2 – Share of housing systems in EU laying hen husbandry in 2020 (Design: A.S. Kauer based on CCOAM data).

Slovakia and Malta), higher shares showed Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and France (Table 2). The percentages as documented in Table 2 have, however, to be valued in relation to the total number of laying hens in a specific country. The highest absolute number of laying hens in enriched cages in 2020 had Poland with 45.6 mill. birds. In barn systems, Germany ranked in first place with 33.8 mill. hens; this was also the case in freerange systems (11.9 mill. hens), followed by France (11.0 mill. hens), and in organic systems (7.3 mill. hens). The average laying rate of hens in the various housing systems and member countries varied considerably. The difference between enriched cages and barn systems has narrowed over the past decade and hybrid hens lay about 300 eggs per year. In free-range and organic sys-

Spatial patterns of egg trade with non-EU countries The volume of egg trade between EU member countries was much higher than with non-EU countries. For example, Germany imported 376,000 t of shell eggs for consumption in 2019, and the Netherlands exported 318,400 t. In comparison, EU member countries exported 250,324 t to so-called third countries (Table 3) in 2020 and imported only 24,617 t from third countries (Table 4). Table 3 – Selected countries of destination for egg exports from the EU (27) in 2020 (Source: EU Commission, CCOAM). Country of destination

Export (t)

Share (%) in total exports

Japan

68,117

27.2

Switzerland

41,522

16.6

Israel

16,606

5.0

Thailand

10,545

4.2

Korea, Rep.

8,566

3.4

Mauritania

7,778

3.1

S. Arabia

7,500

3.0

Singapore

6,541

2.6

Liberia

2,625

1.0

Gambia

2,434

1.0

10 countries

168,234

67.2

Other countries

82,090

32.8

Total

250,324

100.0

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- december 2021 -

MARKETING

frigerated containers and either further processed in the egg products industry or sold for direct consumption. The percentage of traded eggs with third countries was extremely low. Only 4.1% of the produced eggs was exported to non-EU countries and less than 0.1% of the consumed eggs was imported from third countries. This documents that egg trade with non-member countries was only of minor importance for the EU (27).

Summary and perspectives

As can be seen from the data in Tables 3 and 4, the regional concentration in imports was much higher than in exports. Because of the high self-sufficiency of the EU for eggs, it has been stable at about 105% for years, only small amounts of eggs were imported. The imported eggs were mainly further processed in the egg products industry and mostly produced in conventional cages. Table 4 – EU (27) imports of eggs for consumption from selected third countries in 2020 (Source: EU Commission, CCOAM). Import (t)

Share (%) in total imports

Ukraine

13,457

54.7

USA

4,667

19.0

Argentina

1,825

7.4

Chile

1,348

5.5

435

1.9

5 countries

21,752

88.4

Other countries

2,865

11.6

Total

24,617

100.0

Country of origin

N. Macedonia

One can expect that the egg production volume within the EU (27) will remain stable over the coming years and no major changes in the regional pattern will occur. What impacts a banning of conventional cages in countries outside the EU (27) will have on egg trade is almost impossible to predict.

Data sources and suggestions for further reading EU Commission: Committee for the Common Organisation of the Agricultural Markets (CCOAM): EU Market Situation for Eggs, 22 April 2021. FAO database. http://www.fao.org/faostat. Windhorst, H.-W.: The Champions League of the egg producing countries. In: Zootecnica International 43 (2021), no. 1, p. 26-29.

The leading countries of destination for egg exports were located in Asia and Africa. The eggs were shipped in re-

The preceding analysis could document that the regional concentration of laying hen husbandry and egg production was very high in the EU (27). Over 60% of the laying hen flock was kept in only five member countries and the leading five countries contributed over two thirds to the total egg production volume. Regarding the housing systems, great differences existed between the 27 member countries. In total, 48.1% of the housed laying hens were kept in enriched cages, 34.0% in barn systems, 11.9% in free-range systems and 6.1% in organic systems. The trade with shell eggs for consumption with third countries was only of minor importance for EU member countries. The trade volume between member countries was much higher, especially between the Netherlands and Germany.

Windhorst, H.-W.: The forgotten world: the egg industry in the least developed countries. In: Zootecnica international 43 (2021), no. 2, p. 22-25.

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Managing heat and minimum ventilation systems in the broiler house Tom Tabler, PhD, Extension Professor, MSU Poultry Science Yi Liang, Associate Professor, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, University of Arkansas Jonathan R. Moyle, Extension Poultry Specialist, University of Maryland Extension F. Dustan Clark, Extension Poultry Health Veterinarian, University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service Morgan Farnell, former Associate Professor, MSU Poultry Science Jessica Wells, PhD, Assistant Clinical/Extension Professor, MSU Poultry Science

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TECHNICAL COLUMN

Managing commercial broiler flocks is a challenge at any time of year but especially so during the winter months. When outside temperatures drop and gas prices rise, maintaining the desired inside house air temperature and ventilating to meet air quality needs can be difficult to accomplish successfully and affordably. Ventilation is necessary to provide the healthy environmental conditions broilers need to thrive. However, adequate ventilation often means a decision between increased fuel use and growing birds too cool. Unfortunately, growing birds too cool by failing to maintain adequate house temperatures will force broilers to consume excess feed to maintain body temperature. Feed used for maintenance cannot be used for growth, and this will have a detrimental effect on feed conversion and flock performance. A chick has the potential for its most rapid rate of growth during the first few days of life, when more feed energy goes to growth than at any other time during the grow-out period. Missed

- technical column -

TECHNICAL COLUMN

opportunities and management mistakes made during the early days of the flock will stay with you until catch time.

Ventilation Systems

Heating system Only a few hours of breathing too much ammonia or being exposed to too-cool temperatures can do significant damage to overall flock performance. That’s why it is important that the house, heating system, and ventilation equipment are all in top condition. However, good housing and equipment are only part of raising good chickens. You are the other part, and you are the most important part.

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It is almost impossible to be successful at raising chickens without spending a large amount of your time in the chicken house with the chickens. There are numerous tools, gadgets, and “toys” that help you assess wind speed, temperature, airflow, static pressure, house conditions, and so forth. But nothing works as well as some of your time and a 5-gallon bucket. You should make it part of your routine to take some time and use that 5-gallon bucket as your “chicken house chair.” Watch and listen and learn what goes on throughout the day (and night), and then apply what you learn. The heating system is one of the most important items in the chicken house. Even in July and August, some supplemental heat is needed at night to maintain adequate house temperature for baby chicks. The heating system is especially critical during the winter, not only for good performance and productivity, but even for chick survival. However, the heating system only works if gas is available. The cold winter of 2013-14 in Mississippi and other parts of the country forced many growers to reassess their normal winter brooding practices. Some birds were grown cooler than normal because growers either could not get adequate gas supplies or could not afford to burn what they would have under normal weather conditions. Propane prices were extremely high, and many growers found it impossible in some cases to have access to adequate propane as suppliers scrambled to meet demands of both residential and agricultural customers. These types of situations make it difficult for growers to maintain a successful profit margin. Because weather is unpredictable, growers should negotiate with their gas providers and attempt to pre-buy their winter fuel supplies during the summer when prices are lower.

INNOVATION IN VENTILATION

- december 2021 -

TECHNICAL COLUMN

“Selecting a heat source and then managing that heat source is no small feat. There are several options available, and an important factor to consider is how much radiant heat is put out. Radiant heat has the advantage of burning more efficiently by being able to travel through still air and heat a surface such as a chicken house floor or a baby chick”

Before winter arrives again, make sure your heating system is well maintained and in optimum working condition. Regardless of weather conditions or season, a heater that doesn’t work properly is wasting fuel. This costs you money in terms of both fuel expense and lost bird performance. This is true whether the heat source is a jet brooder, tube heater, space heater, infrared brooder, or any other type of heater. Poor planning or a lack of maintenance can result in issues such as low gas pressure due to poorly functioning regulators, clogged burner and pilot orifices, misaligned direct spark igniters that result in failure of the brooder to light when needed, leaking hoses and fittings, and undersized gas piping. Low pressure is often easy to recognize because you will notice a weak, yellow flame that produces little heat instead of a strong, blue flame that generates lots of heat. The required working pressure will be different depending on whether your fuel source is propane or natural gas. Propane requires a higher working pressure than natural gas. Brooders or heaters that use propane often operate on 10 to 12 inches of water column. Natural gas heating systems often operate in the 6 to 8 inches of water column range. Undersized piping will often prevent the brooders near the end of the line from remaining lit due to fuel shortag-

es. If they do remain lit, they will often sputter and may not burn in a clean, steady manner because of the limited and unstable fuel supply near the end of the line. Heat output may be reduced and may appear similar to a low-pressure situation. All burner and pilot orifices should be checked for mud dauber nests, spider webs, or other obstructions before they need to be used. Leaking gas hoses and fittings waste fuel are serious fire hazards. Use a bottle of soapy water or solution to check around hose clamps, fittings, or burned spots on the hose. Bubbles will indicate a gas leak. Never use an open flame to check for gas leaks! Selecting a heat source and then managing that heat source is no small feat. There are several options available, and an important factor to consider is how much radiant heat is put out. Radiant heat has the advantage of burning more efficiently by being able to travel through still air and heat a surface such as a chicken house floor or a baby chick. However, not all heat sources are radiant sources, and there can be a difference in energy use among the different types. For example, forced air furnaces were popular in poultry houses at one time but are less so today. They heat the air by convection and are now likely the least preferred method for brooding baby chicks. The pancake or jet-type brooder transfers some heat to the air in convective form, but some energy is transferred to surfaces (baby chicks, chicken house floor) as radiant heat. Radiant brooders transfer most of their heat to a surface instead of warming the air. Radiant brooders offer some additional flexibility in that they operate higher off the floor (4 to 5 feet) than pancake brooders (3 feet) and create additional thermal temperature “comfort zones,” or a wider area of acceptable temperatures, for chicks to choose from. Some growers have chosen to use radiant tube heat instead of brooders. With radiant tube heat, hot air from a burner on one end is forced down a metal pipe, causing the pipe to heat up. The hot pipe then radiates heat to objects, similar to a radiant brooder. The tube usually hangs high in the peak of the ceiling, and any heat reflected upward is forced downward by reflectors over the tube. Hanging high in the house, there is usually not as much of a “hot spot” under the tube, and the floor temperature is fairly uniform.

- technical column -

TECHNICAL COLUMN

Tube heaters are often mounted stationary and are not attached to winching or cable, as brooders often are. Therefore, they do not have to be raised and lowered to accommodate catch crews, clean out crews, and set-up for baby chicks. However, being mounted stationary near the ceiling, especially in a drop-ceiling house, means that additional care must be taken to prevent melting water and fogger lines, electrical conduit and wiring, or the drop ceiling material itself. It is critical to clean the heating system after every flock for optimum performance. A chicken house can be a dusty environment, and dust can decrease the efficiency of the system. An air compressor or leaf blower is a good way to keep the dust blown out of brooders or tubes in between flocks. Between flocks it is also a good time to check for gas hose issues. Gas hoses that have become burned on one side from lying against a hot metal hover, dry rotted, or permanently kinked, will need attention before a new flock is placed. Also watch for brooders with soot buildup. Soot indicates inefficient buring that produces very little heat, wastes fuel, and gives off excess carbon monoxide. It is wise to keep load-out and entrance doors closed as much as possible between flocks, especially during the spring, to keep wild birds out of your houses. Sparrows and starlings love to build nests in brooders if given the opportunity. Always check for bird nests before lighting brooders if wild birds may have had access to your houses between flocks.

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In addition, be mindful of sensor and thermostat placement. Sensors should be placed where they are not affected by excessive heat from the brooders, drafts, or too much air flow from the fans. Sensors too close to the heat source will mean large areas of the house will always be too cool, and sensors in a draft or too close to the fans will mean the heat will run too often, thereby wasting highpriced fuel.

Hygienic housing environment and easy cleaning Good overview and easy management Optimal use of the available space

Minimum ventilation system The heating system is one critical part of wintertime broiler production, but it is not the only part. Just as important is the minimum ventilation system, which includes the fans, sidewall air inlets, and vent machines. It takes a good bit of effort to master successful minimum ventilation. The number of air inlets or vents must be matched with the correct size and number of fans to maintain the correct

Check www.jpe.org for more information

- december 2021 -

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TECHNICAL COLUMN

static pressure, which will pull cold outside air through the inlets high up in the house and keep it riding along the ceiling until it is near the center of the house for proper mixing and warming. A good rule of thumb concerning house pressure is that for every 0.01 inch of static pressure, air travels about 2 feet. Therefore, to get the air from the inlet opening to the middle of the house and keep it near the ceiling requires around 0.10 inch of pressure in a 40-foot-wide house. This means your house should be able to pull 0.15 inch or more of pressure at 1 cfm per square foot of floor space during a fan-powered tightness test. You must have the correct static pressure and inlet opening to achieve the proper air speed and mixing. If your vent door is too wide or too narrow, you will likely be putting cold outside air directly on the chicks instead of tempering and mixing this air before it reaches them. One simple method of monitoring airflow in the house is to hang survey tape or streamers from the ceiling so that you can see how the ventilation system is pulling air to the center of the house. The tape will help you visualize how the air moves, which is difficult to see otherwise. Much like managing the heating system, maintaining vent machines, air inlets, and cables or steel wire is an almost never-ending job. The continuous on and off cycling of ventilation equipment when birds are in the house means that cable or steel rod is always stretching and sometimes breaking and requires almost constant adjustment and repair. In addition, the chicken house environment (dust, high humidity, ammonia, and so forth) can be hard on equipment (gears and bearings in vent machines, hinges on vent doors, fan bearings, etc.). Gears and bearings should be greased regularly, and hinges should be oiled to prevent rust and corrosion from causing equipment to malfunction. All covers and guards should remain in place on equipment for safety purposes and to prevent exposing sensitive equipment to the chicken house environment. Occasionally, check to make sure rodents or litter beetles are not attacking the insulation on the back of the vent doors. Make sure all vent doors close properly. Doors that only partially close reduce house tightness, allow unwanted air leakage, and can make the desired static pressure more difficult to maintain. Keep a supply of spare parts on hand that you can change yourself in case of an emergency. It is sometimes difficult to find a repair person on weekends, holidays, or in the middle of the night. A brooder or a feed line not working even overnight is lost performance that can never be re-

gained. Learning to do many small jobs yourself, such as changing an igniter, replacing a worn or broken fan belt, switching out a feed line motor, or simply pressing the reset button on a motor, will make you and your birds much less dependent on someone else who may not share your level of interest or sense of urgency about getting things put back together. You won’t be able to fix everything, but the more jobs you can do yourself and the fewer times you must wait half a day or longer for assistance, the better it will be for you and your birds.

Summary The science and technical aspects of poultry production have increased greatly over the last 20 to 30 years, especially in terms of housing and equipment. But even with these advancements, much of raising chickens today is still the simple common sense thing that it has always been. First, you must be a dedicated grower who cares about the job you do and the birds in your care. Second, it takes housing and equipment capable of providing the optimum environment for raising chickens. Genetics, feed, and water also play critical roles. Years ago, we thought in terms of days or even weeks when it came to our management programs and when we made adjustments to feeders, drinkers, minimum ventilation settings, temperature, and so forth. That thought process is not sufficient for modern-day broilers; today we must think in terms of hours. Hours lost or mistakes made when conditions are not optimal cannot be compensated for later in the flock. That is especially true of mistakes made with the heating and minimum ventilation systems. Cold birds use feed to stay warm instead of to grow, and that will be a feed conversion disaster at harvest time. A malfunctioning minimum ventilation system or program is a train wreck in the making. Both air quality and litter quality are dependent on the minimum ventilation system doing its job. In turn, areas such as bird health and paw quality are dependent on air and litter quality. Heating and ventilation systems are important to broiler production, but it is the grower who manages these systems that determines how well they do their job and, ultimately, how well the flock performs. Publication 2854 (POD-10-20) Copyright 2021 by Mississippi State University Extension Service. Produced by Agricultural Communications

- technical column -

TECHNICAL COLUMN

- december 2021 -

MANAGEMENT

How to minimize litter caking issues at the beginning of a flock

Michael Czarick, Extension Engineer

A specified minimum ventilation rate based on age of flock in weeks suggests that the amount of moisture needing to be removed from a house doesn’t really change much over the course of a week. Though this may be true towards the end of the flock, it is far from the truth during brooding. The objective is to make adjustments to minimum ventilation fan settings at the first sign that house moisture levels are building, before moisture levels build to the point where the litter cakes over.

Brian Fairchild, Extension Poultry Scientist University of Georgia, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Why does litter seem to suddenly cake over just prior to turning the birds out into full house? In many cases it is simply because minimum ventilation fan settings are not being changed quickly enough to keep up with the rapidly increasing amount of moisture the chicks are

- management -

MANAGEMENT

adding to the litter. This often occurs because suggested minimum ventilation fan settings are often provided in terms of age of bird in weeks. The problem with this is that a specified minimum ventilation rate based on age of flock in weeks in a way suggests that the amount of moisture needing to be removed from a house doesn’t really change much over the course of a week. Though this may be true towards the end of the flock, where minimum ventilation rates to control moisture often change less than five percent from week to week, it is far from the truth during brooding, where due to the extremely high chick growth rates minimum ventilation rates, can increase twenty percent or more in just 24 hours. Over the first ten days of a flock, the weight of the chicks typically increase seven-fold. To obtain this tremendous weight gain, the amount of water the chicks consume increases equally dramatically. For instance, water usage increases from approximately 2 gals/1,000 chicks on the placement day to approximately 4.2 gals/1,000 chicks in just 24 hours. By Day 4, water usage increases to over 10 gals/1,000 chicks and by Day 10, 24 gals/1,000 chicks. Roughly a ten-fold increase in water consumption in just ten days (Table 1). Table 1 – Broiler water consumption. Weight (lbs)

Daily Water Usage (Gals / 1,000 chicks )

Daily Water Usage (Gals / 30,000 chicks)

Water Increase

0.09

2.0

0.12

4.2

125

106%

0.15

6.3

190

51%

0.19

8.5

254

34%

0.23

10.6

319

25%

0.28

12.8

383

20%

0.34

14.9

447

17%

0.40

17.1

512

14%

0.47

19.2

576

13%

0.55

21.4

641

11%

0.63

23.5

705

10%

Age (Days)

It stands to reason that as water intake increases dramatically, the amount of moisture the birds are adding to the air and litter in a house will increase in a similar dramatic fashion. Since our goal is to maintain a relatively constant, low litter moisture, minimum ventilation rates need to increase roughly proportionally the amount of water the chicks are consuming each day. For instance, if the birds drink 200 gallons in a day, roughly 200 gallons of water need to be removed from the house through ventilation to maintain a constant level of litter moisture. Though it is true that the chicks will retain roughly 20% of the water consumed to build meat, tissues, blood, etc., they are also “building” a significant number of water molecules as they chemically break down the feed in

- december 2021 -

their digestive tracks. So the chicks are not only drinking water, they are also creating water from the feed. In fact, the chicks are actually producing an amount of water from the feed roughly equal to that which is being retained in the form of body tissues, etc. The net result is that for every gallon of water the chicks consume, roughly a gallon of water is added to the air and litter in the house which needs to be removed through ventilation. Table 2 provides an example of the calculated daily minimum ventilation rates required to remove the moisture that 30,000 chicks are adding to a house over the first ten days of a flock. The values in the table were calculated assuming an outside temperature of 40 °F and a relative humidity of 50%. The inside relative humidity was set at 50%. The calculated minimum ventilation rates to control moisture shown for the first few days of the flock are much lower than would typically be utilized in most poultry houses. This is because the minimum ventilation rates illustrated in Table 2 are only sufficient to remove moisture added to a house by the birds and not the additional moisture which may be added by a house’s heating system. For each gallon of propane, nearly one gallon of water is added to the air in a house. So if on Day 1, 100 gallons of propane are burned to maintain the proper house temperature the moisture added to the house by combustion of 100 gallons of propane could be equal to that added by the 30,000 birds thereby requiring a doubling of minimum ventilation rates shown in Table 2. Another important assumption used in creating Table 2 is that ALL the

MANAGEMENT

Table 2 – Minimum ventilation rates to remove bird moisture and maintain an inside relative humidity of 50% (Min. vent. rates determined using Poultry411 App - outside conditions = 40 °F / 50% Rh). Age (Days)

Temperature (°F)

Daily Water Usage (Gals - 30,000 chicks)

Minimum Vent. Rate to maintain 50% Rh (cfm)

“On Time” for fiveminute-timer (20,000 cfm)

Daily Increase

370

89.5

125

770

110%

190

1,200

55%

88.5

254

1,610

34%

319

2,070

29%

87.5

383

2,540

23%

447

3,020

19%

86.5

512

3,530

17%

576

4,050

15%

85.5

641

4,600

14%

705

5,160

12%

fresh air brought into a house is entering through air inlets and is properly heated and dried before moving down to floor level. Cold air entering through cracks, loose-fitting doors, fan shutters, curtains, etc., can quickly fall to the floor and since its moisture-holding ability is lower than warmed air which entered through the air inlets, it is less effective in removing moisture from the litter. As a result, the looser the house, the more the minimum ventilation rates show in Table 2 would need to be increased to compensate for the fact that the air moving over the litter is cooler and wetter than if it would have been had it entered through the house’s side wall inlets. Last but not least, the minimum ventilation rates provided in Table 2 assume that there is little to no ammonia present and that carbon dioxide concentrations are at an acceptable level. So though the minimum ventilation rates shown in Table 2 may not be precisely what is required to maintain proper air quality over the first ten days of a flock, Table 2 does make clear how quickly minimum ventilation fan settings may need to be increased to keep litter moisture levels from getting out of control. On average, minimum ventilation rates to control bird moisture increase approximately 30% per day during the first 10 days of a flock. If minimum ventilation rates are not adjusted on a nearly daily basis, dry litter can turn to caked litter in just a matter of days.

Figure 1 – Inside temperature and relative humidity during brooding (Day 1-10).

Figure 2 – Inside temperature and relative humidity during brooding (Day 1-17).

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If it is decreasing the minimum ventilation fans are removing more moisture than the birds are adding. If the relative humidity is staying roughly the same from day to day, the minimum ventilation fans are essentially removing all the moisture the birds are adding to the house and litter moisture levels will remain essentially constant (Figure 2). The objective is to make adjustments to minimum ventilation fan settings at the first sign that house moisture levels are building (increasing Rh), before moisture levels build to the point where the litter cakes over, ammonia levels rise, and bird health starts to suffer. Be proactive, not reactive. If the relative humidity is increasing during brooding it is crucial that relatively large changes in minimum ventilation rates are made to bring house moisture levels quickly back in check. Increasing minimum fan settings a few percent will accomplish very little. First, if relative humidity levels are trending upward for a number of days, this means a significant amount of moisture has been added to the litter, which will need to be removed to bring litter moisture levels back down where they are supposed to be. Secondly, less than a 50% increase in minimum ventilation rates will not likely have a significant impact on house moisture levels due to the fact that around a 20% increase in min-

imum ventilation rate would be required just to keep up with the daily increase in the amount of moisture being added to a house by the birds. The quicker the response, and the

more dramatic the change made to minimum ventilation fan settings, the more likely litter caking and all the problems associated with it will be avoided.

The best way to determine you are falling behind when it comes to getting rid of excess moisture is to track the relative humidity of the air in a house on a daily basis. It if is increasing, the birds are adding more moisture than the minimum ventilation fans are removing (Figure 1).

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Jun Lin1, Zhong Wang2, Fuzhou Xu3, Xiao Jian Hu4 1Department

of Animal Science, University of Tennessee, Tennessee, USA 2State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China 3Beijing Key Laboratory for Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases in Livestock and Poultry, Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, China 4Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Bacterial bile salt hydrolase: a gut microbiome target for enhanced poultry production To effectively mitigate antimicrobial resistance in the agricultural ecosystem, there is an increasing pressure to reduce and eliminate the use of in-feed antibiotics for growth promotion and disease prevention in poultry.

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However, limiting antibiotics use could compromise animal production efficiency and health. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop effective alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs). Recent microbiota studies in poultry have shown the growth-promoting effect of AGPs was highly correlated with the reduced activity of bile salt hydrolase (BSH), a gut bacterial enzyme that has negative impact on host fat digestion; consistent with this finding, the population of Lactobacillus species, the major intestinal BSH-producer, was significantly reduced in response to AGP use. Therefore, BSH is a key mechanistic microbiome target for developing novel alternatives to AGPs, such as BSH inhibitors for enhanced feed efficiency and growth performance in poultry. Recently, we have identified a unique BSH enzyme from a chicken L. salivarius strain, developed an efficient high-throughput screening system to discover BSH inhibitors, and performed a series of functional, structural, and broiler studies to test our hypothesis. Our findings have provided compelling evidence that bacterial BSH in the intestine is a promising target for developing alternatives to AGPs. Use of antibiotics clearly serves as a selective driving force to enrich antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes and promote the emergence of resistant pathogens. Thus, reducing or eliminating the use of infeed antibiotics in healthy animals has been a worldwide trend to effectively mitigate AMR and protect food safety. In particular, for more than 60 years, poultry industry has manipulated gut microbiota to increase feed efficiency and body weight gain through the routine use of low-dose antibiotics as feed additives, called antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs). Use of AGPs has been associated with the emergence of antibiotic-resistant human pathogens of animal origins. The European Union has banned AGPs since 2006. US FDA also implemented a new policy to recommend a voluntary withdrawal of medically important antibiotics from routing animal production practices by December 2016. However, AGP bans would have a negative impact on poultry production. Thus, ending the use of AGPs creates challenges for the poultry feed and feed additive industries. Developing effective alternatives to AGPs is urgently needed to maintain current poultry production level without threatening public health. Although various products, such as prebiotics, probiotics, and organic acids, have been used to alter the intestinal

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“Recent microbiota studies in poultry have shown the growth-promoting effect of AGPs was highly correlated with the reduced activity of bile salt hydrolase (BSH), a gut bacterial enzyme that has negative impact on host fat digestion; consistent with this finding, the population of Lactobacillus species, the major intestinal BSH-producer, was significantly reduced in response to AGP use. Therefore, BSH is a key mechanistic microbiome target for developing novel alternatives to AGPs, such as BSH inhibitors for enhanced feed efficiency and growth performance in poultry”

microbiota for enhancing poultry growth performance, very limited data is available to clearly justify the choice of specific bacterial species or products for growth promotion in poultry; not surprisingly, results were inconsistent from independent studies. Examination of microbiota in response to AGP treatment would provide insights into the modes of action of AGPs and facilitate the development of more effective microbiota-based strategies for growth promotion. With the aid of culture-independent molecular approaches, investigations of the effect of AGPs on intestinal microbiota have been initiated in different food animals, including poultry and swine. These microbiome studies

have shed light on the mechanism of mode of action of AGPs and on the development of novel alternatives to AGPs. To examine the response of gut microbiota to AGP treatment in chickens, we simulated environmental conditions used in the poultry industry and obtained the growth-relevant, high-quality fecal samples for microbiota analysis. The fecal samples were subjected to analysis using different culture-independent approaches (phospholipid fatty acid analysis and 16S rDNA clone library analysis). The AGP treatment influenced the diversity of ileum microbiota in the chickens primarily in the Firmicutes division. In particular, Lactobacillus spp populations in each AGP-treated chicken were significantly lower than those found in the ileum of control chickens, which is consistent with the findings from other independent chicken studies. This study and other published information strongly suggest that certain lactobacilli populations in the intestine, such as L. salivarius, have negative impact on chicken body weight gain, likely mediated through production of bile salt hydrolase (BSH), an intestinal bacteria-produced enzyme that exerts negative impact on host fat digestion and utilization. The BSH enzyme produced by gut bacteria catalyzes de-conjugation of conjugated bile acids by hydrolyzing the amide bond and producing free amino acids and unconjugated bile acids; this is an essential gateway reaction in the metabolism of bile acids in the small intestine. The bile acids have dual digestive and signaling roles in the host; therefore, it has been recognized that intestinal BSH plays an important role in host lipid metabolism and energy harvest. L. salivarius NRRL B-30514, a strain isolated from chicken intestine, displayed potent BSH ability to hydrolyze conjugated bile salts. A unique and potent BSH gene was identified and characterized from this L. salivarius strain. The identified BSH displayed potent hydrolysis activity towards various conjugated bile salts. Different compounds that are used as dietary supplements in animal feeds were randomly selected for testing their inhibitory effects on the activity of the recombinant BSH using a standard in vitro BSH assay. Several dietary compounds, such as CuCl2, CuSO4, and ZnSO4 displayed potent inhibitory effect on the rBSH. The inhibitory effect of copper and zinc on the rBSH is of particular interest. Recently, copper and/or zinc have been used at high concentrations (up to 250 ppm for copper and 3.000 ppm for

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NUTRITION

zinc) to aid in feed efficiency and growth promotion in poultry. To date, there is a lack of scientific evidence to explain why copper and zinc function as growth promoters at elevated concentrations. Our BSH study strongly suggest that the elevated concentrations of copper and/ or zinc in feed exert inhibitory effect on the activity of intestinal BSH, consequently leading to enhanced lipid metabolism and host energy harvest. This finding strongly supports our hypothesis that BSH inhibitors may serve as promising alternatives to AGPs. Given the potential problems with long-term use of high doses of copper or zinc in animal feed, such as copper/zinc toxicosis and environmental contamination, novel BSH inhibitors with low toxicity and minimal environmental impacts should be identified. Subsequently, by taking advantage of the unique feature of the L. salivarius BSH enzyme, an efficient high-throughput screening system was successfully developed and used to discover BSH inhibitors. Five compounds, caffeic acid phenethyl este, riboflavin, epicatechin monogallate, gossypetin, and carnosic acid, have been validated for their inhibitory on the L. salivarius BSH and are potential alternatives to AGPs for promoting poultry growth. Unlike many BSH from other bacteria that have narrow substrate spectrum, the L. salivarius BSH displayed potent hydrolysis activity towards both glycoconjugated and tauroconjugated bile salts. The broad substrate specificity nature of this BSH makes it an ideal candidate for screening desired BSH inhibitors. This speculation is further supported by our recent study showing the identified BSH inhibitors also exhibiting potent inhibitory effects on a phylogenetically distant BSH from L. acidophilus. At present, structural basis of BSH function is still largely unknown, which has hampered development of BSHbased strategies for improving poultry production. Clearly, structural studies on BSH also will directly facilitate future translational research, such as using molecular docking to develop BSH inhibitors-based alternatives to AGP for growth promotion in poultry.

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As an initial step towards structure-function analysis of BSH, the C-terminal His-tagged BSH from L. salivarius NRRL B-30514 was crystallized recently. The 1.90 Å crystal structure of the L. salivarius BSH was determined by molecular replacement using the starting model of Clostridium Perfringens BSH. It revealed this BSH as a member of the N-terminal nucleophile hydrolase superfamily. Crystals of apo-BSH belonged to space group

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P21212, with unit cell parameters of 90.79, 87.35, 86.76 Å (PDB entry 5hke). Two BSH molecules packed perfectly as a dimer in one asymmetric unit. Comparative structural analysis of the L. salivarius BSH also identified potential residues contributing to catalysis and substrate specificity. Notably, unlike the binding pocket in other BSH that shows an open entrance with shallow bottom, a panel of unique residues in the L. salivarius BSH make this BSH enzyme display narrow entrance of the binding pocket and the increased inner capacity of the binding pocket, which may enable substrate to sit deeply in the pocket with different conformation and lead to the different enzyme-substrate interaction (or broad spectrum of specificity). Future in-depth structural analysis of the lsBSH (e.g. in complex with specific substrate) in conjunction with comprehensive amino acid substitution mutagenesis would help us discover critical residues in catalysis and help us discover novel BSH inhibitors. In addition to discovering more novel BSH inhibitors, comprehensive animal trials are essential to further evaluate and select desired BSH inhibitors for use as alterna-

tives to AGPs. Recently, the in vivo efficacy of riboflavin, an identified BSH inhibitor was evaluated in a preliminary chicken study. Briefly, 200 one-day-old Hubbard broiler chicks were randomly allotted to 20 floor pens (10 chicks per pen) and assigned into two treatment groups (10 pens per group) that received a basal diet (control) or a basal diet supplemented with riboflavin (20 mg/kg of diet). At 21 days of age, average body weight per bird in riboflavin-treated group (0.4966 kg) is significantly higher (P=0.005) than that in control group (0.4605 kg). The gain/feed ratio per bird in riboflavin-treated group (0.6546) is also significantly higher (P=0.003) than that in control group (0.5925). Although riboflavin could have multiple modes of action on host physiology, this chicken study supported our hypothesis, and provided strong rationale for us to continue to comprehensively evaluate novel BSH inhibitors as non-antibiotic AGPs in conjunction with intestinal bile profile measurement. References are available on request From the Proceedings of XXV World’s Poultry Congress

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VETERINARY SCIENCE

Optimizing immunization through proper vaccination in turkeys

Kelli H. Jones, DVM, MAM, diplomate ACPV Manager of Technical Services, Ceva Animal Health

When we talk about optimizing immunization through proper vaccination in commercial turkeys, we are really talking about optimizing drinking water vaccination when we think about what takes place on the farm. Most of the time, when water vaccination audits are performed, companies are amazed at the opportunities that are identified. Seems pretty simple, add vaccine to the drinking water, and consider them vaccinated. This talk will focus on how to avoid having to wait on an audit to identify opportunities for improving the immunization process. We will also briefly touch on how to maximize your coccidiosis vaccination through field management.

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Drinking water Vaccination in commercial turkeys is almost exclusively done via the drinking water, so obviously there needs to be a strong focus on this aspect of the program. Not only should drinking water be fresh and clean, it should be free of disinfectants and impurities at the time any vaccine is added. Vaccines administered in the drinking water are live organisms, so preserving their viability is critical. Vaccine stabilizers are a good idea if simply used as insurance against anything in the water that could denature the vaccine organisms. Water sanitation should be discontinued at least 12 hours prior to vaccination. Water line biofilm in drinker lines should also be considered. Biofilm typically harbors pathogenic bacterial and viral organisms, and has a window to proliferate when water sanitation is discontinued for the vaccination process to take place. I am very partial to the continuous water line sanitation programs such as chlorine dioxide systems that do wonders to eradicate biofilm when flocks are in the barn. With something like this, you are at a lower risk of the biofilm wreaking havoc in turkey flocks because biofilm levels are minimal when the system has to be turned off for vaccination.

“Now that we have discussed the importance of having clean water for use during the water vaccination process, let’s discuss what critical control points must be observed along the way. Let’s start with the vaccines themselves. This starts at the supply cooler back at the office or warehouse. Proper cold chain should be observed, and you should follow manufacturer’s recommendations for storage. Some sort of temperature monitoring during storage should become routine. If at any time during the handling and storage process cold chain is disrupted, viability of live vaccines is at tremendous risk”

Cold chain Now that we have discussed the importance of having clean water for use during the water vaccination process, let’s discuss what critical control points must be observed along the way. Let’s start with the vaccines themselves. This starts at the supply cooler back at the office or warehouse. Proper cold chain should be observed, and you should follow manufacturer’s recommendations for storage. Some sort of temperature monitoring during storage should become routine. If at any time during the handling and storage process cold chain is disrupted, viability of live vaccines is at tremendous risk. In addition, appropriate inventory and storage of vaccines should be performed. Older serials should be moved forward when new serials arrive so that the oldest products are used first. Having said this, ensure vaccines are used within the expiration dates. Serial numbers and expiration dates should be recorded for every bottle removed from the cooler prior to

heading out to the farm. That way, if there are concerns down the road, then there are records to examine if needed. In addition to preserving cold chain during storage, it is just as important to ensure vaccines are transported and handled properly in route to the farm. For instance, I don’t know how many live fowl cholera bottles I have swabbed over the years, and have not been able to recover any Pasteurella from the bottles during a vaccination audit. It is important to remove only the amount of vaccines needed for that particular vaccination. Record the number of bottles you remove. Take only what is needed! Vaccines should be immediately placed in a transport cooler with frozen ice packs. Depending on manufacturer’s recommendations, most typically suggest a transport temperature of 35-45 °F. If you can have the cooler pre-cooled,

- december 2021 -

VETERINARY SCIENCE

then that is even better. Temperature guns or probes work well as field monitoring tools to ensure coolers don’t become too warm.

raised until the dye appears at the end of the lines. Only now are the birds ready to be vaccinated.

Vaccinating birds Farm prep Prepping the farm for the vaccination is perhaps one of the most critical steps of the entire process. We already discussed discontinuing water sanitation at least 12 hours prior to vaccination, but it also makes sense that the birds should be thirsty before you offer them vaccinated water. Turkeys drink most of their water in the first few hours of daylight, so drinking water should be turned off early enough for the birds to drink most of the water out of the lines well prior to vaccination. Water vaccination should take place first thing in the morning. It is very helpful to raise, drain and prime water lines with vaccine water prior to lowering lines for birds to access. Five gallon buckets at the end of the lines work well, and you would be surprised at how much water actually drains even after “water restriction” is implemented.

Once the drinkers are lowered, the birds should be very ready for a good drink of fresh vaccine water. The goal should be for every bird to get a drink, so if birds are observed not on the drinker then try to stir them by walking the flock. The vaccine reservoir should be emptied within 2-4 hours after the lines are lowered. This is about the time where most of the live vaccines start to lose a lot of their viability outside of the cold chain. You should be able to return water sanitation around one to three hours after the reservoir completely empties. Do not forget to do this step, as biofilm will quickly take advantage of any opportunity to develop.

Checking vaccination

Prior to even thinking about mixing up vaccines, the water reservoir and pump system used to mix and administer the vaccines should be cleaned and flushed well. It is important to ensure cleaners are thoroughly rinsed out, as they could have a negative effect on live vaccines. Generally a good thorough flush just with clean water after vaccination, and again prior to the next vaccination should keep it acceptably clean.

Tongue checks work very well for determining uptake of the vaccine in a barn. One hundred or so birds is a good rule of thumb to check. Checks should be randomly conducted throughout the barn, and should be done pretty soon after vaccination, as the dye only causes a brief temporary staining of the tongues. Blue dye may also be visible through the skin around the crops of vaccinated birds. Every bird without dye should be considered a missed bird. Monitoring will help identify potential opportunities for improving your process if needed.

Vaccine mixing

Coccidiosis vaccine field management

Fill water reservoir with enough clean water to last 1-3 hours (25-40% of the birds’ daily intake) and stabilizer. Mix the vaccines per labeled directions with (preferably distilled) water and stabilizer in a separate bucket, and ensure vaccine is released and dissolves quickly. Opening vials under the water takes advantage of a pressure change that causes a rush of water into the vials that helps to release and dissolve the vaccine. It is a good practice to rinse the empty bottles in the water to make sure all vaccine is flushed from the bottles. Add the vaccine water bucket to the larger reservoir, and mix well.

Over 80% of a coccidiosis vaccination actually occurs in the field, so it would be a disservice not to at least touch on this. It is important to allow birds to re-cycle vaccine cocci oocysts for a minimum of three good cycles. If birds cycle weekly, then that makes the first three weeks of life a focus. Only fecally shed vaccine oocysts that undergo sporulation will become infective to activate another life cycle. Oocysts need certain parameters to sporulate, namely moisture, heat and oxygen. Targeting litter moisture of 25-35% will help with this, as will density control to ensure birds shed oocysts in their feces throughout the barns appropriately.

Some sort of submergible pump stirring apparatus works well. Add dye, and make sure everything is stirred well. Turn on the pump and flush the drinker lines while still

From the Proceedings of the Midwest Poultry Federation Convention 2021

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S. Ramirez1, V. Jacquier2, M.C Walsh3, J.M. Geremia4 1

DSM Nutritional Products, Singapore

DSM Nutritional Products, ANH, CRNA, Village-Neuf, France

DSM Nutritional Products, ANH, Kaiseraugst, Switzerland 4 Midori USA Inc., Cambridge MA, USA

A novel microbiome metabolic modulator improved growth performance and intestinal morphology during a coccidiosis outbreak The present study was designed to investigate the effects of a precision glycan Microbiome Metabolic Modulator (MMM) on growth performance and gut health parameters in broiler chickens. The MMM nutritional product was compared against conventional essential oil products and an antibiotic positive control.

- veterinary science -

VETERINARY SCIENCE

During the study, a natural coccidiosis outbreak appeared, obliging us to conclude the study at 28 days for welfare purposes, but providing us an opportunity to evaluate treatment effects on the emergent coccidiosis. Day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly allocated to one of six treatments with 8 replicate pens per treatment and 15 birds per pen. Dietary treatments included: 1) negative control (NC); 2) NC with Avilamycin (10 ppm); 3) NC with essential oil product #1 (commercial dose, 40 ppm); 4) NC + essential oil product #2 (commercial dose, 150 ppm); 5) NC + essential oil product #3 (commercial dose, 300 ppm); and 6) NC with MMM (400 ppm in final feed). Body weight (BW), feed intake (FI), and mortality rate were recorded throughout the trial. Feed conversion ratio was corrected for mortality and adjusted to a common body weight (cFCR). Intestinal lesions were scored at the end of the study. Histology samples were also fixed for intestinal morphological determination. In this study, the MMM treatment improved cFCR versus the NC (P<0.05). At the level of the entire intestine, the MMM treatment resulted in reduced intestinal lesions compared to the essential oil treatments and similar to the antibiotic treatment (P<0.05). At the same time, in the duodenum, both the MMM and essential oil treatments reduced the severity of intestinal lesions compared to the NC. Both the MMM and Avilamycin treatments resulted in greater mucosa thickness in the ileum (P=0.02) and villus length (P=0.04) compared to the essential oil treatments. In conclusion, the supplementation of diets with MMM resulted in similar and in some cases superior performance to the Avilamycin treatment and in all cases superior performance to the essential oils treatments. Harnessing the functionality of the microbiome through modulation of microbial metabolite output is a promising new approach to supporting the nutritional health, performance and sustainability of broiler production.

Introduction Coccidiosis is caused by Apicomplexa protozoa of the family Eimeriidae. In poultry, most species responsible for coccidiosis belong to the genus Eimeria, which infect various sites in the intestine. Coccidiosis is recognized as one of the most common and economically important diseases in broilers, with an estimated $16.7 billion in losses globally per year. The average cost of coccidiosis per chicken produced is estimated to be $0.21. Tradition-

“Coccidiosis is caused by Apicomplexa protozoa of the family Eimeriidae. In poultry, most species responsible for coccidiosis belong to the genus Eimeria, which infect various sites in the intestine. Coccidiosis is recognized as one of the most common and economically important diseases in broilers, with an estimated $16.7 billion in losses globally per year”

ally, coccidiosis has been controlled through the use of chemical coccidiostats, ionophores, and vaccines. But there is an ongoing effort to decrease the use of chemical and ionophore anti-coccidials due to consumer and regulatory pressure to reduce the overall use of medicated feed additives in broiler production. The industry therefore seeks alternative approaches to managing coccidiosis. This study evaluated the effect of a novel precision glycan microbiome metabolic modulator (MMM) on birds’ resilience that encountered a natural (unintended) coccidiosis outbreak during the grow-out, compared to various common essential oil products.

- december 2021 -

VETERINARY SCIENCE Table 1 – Composition of basal experimental diet and calculated nutrient composition. Starter 1-10 d

Grower 11-24 d

Finisher 25-28 d

Wheat

558.8

556.3

582.2

Ingredient

Soybean meal

281.2

225.6

172.4

Canola meal

42.5

60.0

70.0

Meat meal

40.0

32.0

25.2

Canola oil

26.0

35.5

40.8

Barely

20.0

40.0

50.0

Canola seed

10.0

30.0

40.0

Limestone fine

7.33

7.53

7.70

Salt

3.16

2.83

2.03

DL-Met

2.93

2.47

2.13

Lys-HCL

2.61

2.39

2.36

Vitamin-mineral premix

2.00

L-Thr

1.43

1.11

0.88

Na bicarbonate

1.03

1.20

1.35

Choline chloride (70%)

0.50

Protease

0.20

Phytase

0.20

Carbohydrase

0.10

Starter

Grower

Finisher

Crude protein

2990

3100

3180

Dry matter

Specifications Calculated nutrient AME (Kcal/Kg) NE (Kcal/Kg)

2362

2472

2551

Dig. Lys

231

213

194

Dig. Met

908.0

908.4

908.3

Dig. M+C

12.74

11.53

10.27

Dig. Thr

6.03

5.43

4.92

Dig. Iso

9.45

8.73

8.05

Dig. Leu

8.56

7.73

6.85

Dig. Trp

8.56

7.82

7.04

Dig. Arg

14.88

13.70

12.62

Dig. Val

2.56

2.36

2.11

Crude fat

14.06

12.74

11.30

Crude fibre

9.59

8.90

8.01

Calcium

51.85

70.00

79.69

Available phosphorous

34.67

37.63

38.54

Method Seven hundred and twenty 1-day-old male broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to one of six dietary treatments with eight replicates of 15 chicks per treatment. The birds were fed either a basal diet without any additives as a negative control (NC), the NC diet supplemented with Avilamycin (10 ppm, Surmax 200) serving as a positive control (PC) or the NC diet supplemented with either 40 ppm essential oil product 1, or 150 ppm essential oil product 2, 300 ppm essential oil product 3 and 400 ppm MMM product. Diets were formulated to meet Ross 308 nutritional recommendations (Table 1) and fed over 3 phases including starter (1-10 d), grower (11-24 d) and finisher (25-28 d). The additives were added and mixed homogenously to the basal diets. All diets contained Ronozyme ProAct (200 ppm), Ronozyme HiPhos (2000FYT with only Ca (0.20%) and P (0.18%) and Na (0.02%) matrices applied) and Ronozyme Multigrain (100 ppm), and were steam pelleted and starter diets were further crumbled. Feed and water were provided ad libitum. Birds were reared on reused litter materials from farms previously known to have had coccidiosis challenge. The used litter was topped up with fresh wood shavings to a depth of 3 cm prior to arrival. Chicks were individually weighed on arrival (37±0.5 g) and subsequently pen body weight and feed consumption were determined weekly for 4 weeks. Feed conversion ratio was corrected for mortality and adjusted to the study average body weight. Birds were individually weighed on days 7, 14, 21 and 28 to calculated coefficient of variation for body weight (CV%). Growth performance and histology data were subjected to a genTable 2 – Effects of dietary treatments on feed intake (0-28 d), final body weight (28 d) and corrected FCR (0-28 d). Feed intake 0-28 d (g/b)

Final body weight 28 d (g/b)

cFCR 0-28 d

% Mortality 0-28 d

Negative Control (NC)

2865

1409

2.236b

10.0 9.2

Treatments

Total phosphorous

9.00

8.50

8.00

NC + Avilamycin

2702

1489

1.917ab

Sodium

4.50

4.25

4.00

NC + Essential oils

2796

1432

2.038ab

9.2

Chloride

4.99

4.69

4.34

NC + MMM

2602

1469

1.859a

10.0

Potassium

2.20

2.10

1.80

SEM

207.1

29.4

0.115

2.74

DEB meg/kg

3.30

3.02

2.49

P value

0.56

0.13

0.046

0.98

8.33

7.75

7.11

215

204

190

a,b

Within a column values with different superscripts are significantly different (P<0.05).

- veterinary science -

VETERINARY SCIENCE

Table 3 – Effects of dietary treatments on and lesions score in duodenum, ileum, cecum and full intestine at 28 d. Duodenum lesion score

Treatments Negative Control (NC) NC + Avilamycin NC + Essential oils NC + MMM P value

Ileum Cecum lesion score lesion score

Full intestine lesion score

2.31a

1.44a

0.13

3.44a

0.69b

0.31b

0.44

1.44b

1.29b

1.08a

0.71

3.06a

0.56b

0.31b

0.38

1.38b

<0.001

0.07

<0.001

a,b

Within a column values with different superscripts are significantly different (P<0.05).

eralized linear mixed-effects models, with blocking as random effect, implemented in R. Lesions scores, noted from zero to four (zero for a normal appearance of the intestine and four being severe intestinal damage) were analyzed with a non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test, using the kruskalmc function from the pgirmess package of R.

cFCR compared to the negative control. There were no differences in mortality rate among treatments. Intestinal lesions scores on day 28 are reported in Table 3. Severity of lesions was greater in the duodenum than that in the ileum, suggesting that E. acervulina and E. maxima were the cause of this coccidiosis outbreak. Both MMM and Avilamycin reduced the degree of damage due to coccidia throughout the intestine, while the essential oil treatment group provided only a limited reduction. Specifically, in the duodenum, all treatments improved lesion scores compared to the NC treatment. However, in the ileum only the Avilamycin and MMM treatment reduced the lesion score compared to the NC treatment. Intestinal morphological parameters are reported in Table 4. MMM significantly increased villus height and mucosa thickness compared to essentials oils and NC treatments, but was not different to the Avilamycin treatment. Villus height:crypt depth ratio was significantly higher in the Avilamycin treatment compared to all other treatments (P=0.03).

Results The study was halted at 28 d due to a natural coccidiosis outbreak. Oocysts counts were performed and indicated that oocyst counts were above 4000 opg for all treatment groups. The growth performance results are summarized in Table 2. As there were no significant differences between the three essential oil products, the data were combined into a single treatment, presented as: NC + Essential oils. Under the conditions of the study, the feed intake and the final body weight at 28 d were not different between dietary treatments. Despite the high variability observed in cFCR, MMM significantly improved the Table 4 – Effects of dietary treatments on ileum morphology at 28 d. Treatments

Mucosa Villus length Crypt depth thickness (μm) (μm) (μm)

Villus/crypt

Negative Control (NC)

584.7a

323.5a

246.5

1.380a

NC + Avilamycin

774.4c

517.7c

242.2

2.349 b

NC + Essential oils

676.6b

401.3b

261.4

1.636a

NC + MMM

782.4c

461.1c

306.4

1.633a

SEM

48.4

45.8

17.6

0.22

P value

0.019

0.039

0.058

0.033

a,b Within

a column values with different superscripts are significantly different (P<0.05).

Discussion In this study, MMM was more effective than essential oils at reducing intestinal damage and maintaining growth performance due to a coccidiosis outbreak. MMM resulted in similar increases in ileal mucosa thickness and villus length compared to the Avilamycin treatment. Interestingly, Blokker et al. reported similar effects of MMM on gut morphology following a nutritional and vaccine overdose challenge. Authors suggested that MMM may contribute to reducing dysbacteriosis and promoting resilience to coccidiosis infection. This is consistent with the findings of this present study where intestinal lesions were reduced with MMM, reducing the severity of coccidia infection and loss in feed efficiency similar to the antibiotic treatment. In conclusion, modifying the functional pathways of the microbiome through the use of a precision glycan microbiome metabolic modulator was an effective tool at creating resilience to an enteric insult as seen through reduced performance losses and intestinal damage. References are available on request From the Proceedings of the Australian Poultry Science Symposium 2021

- december 2021 -

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