NUTRITION FOR EFFECTIVE BROILER CHICK REARING

NUTRITION FOR EFFECTIVE BROILER CHICK REARING

Sonali Prusty¹*, Devi Prasanna Swain², Raina Doneria¹ and Meenu Dubey¹

Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Anjora, DSVCKV, Durg, Chhattisgarh; ²Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension Education, WBUAFS, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

*Corresponding author: world.sonalindri@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION

Poultry production in the country has undergone an exemplar shift from backyard rearing to major commercial enterprise during the last four decades. Currently, poultry industry is one of the most dynamic and fastest expanding segments in the agriculture as well as animal husbandry sector. Better performance has been achieved through development of broiler with high growth potential to even achieve the body weight of about 2.4-2.6 kg by 6 weeks of age. Emphasis has also been laid on improving other production associated parameters like feeding, housing, management and disease control. With the gaining momentum in poultry production sector a substantial growth of  16.8% of population has happened during the 20th livestock census As compared to that of 19^th livestock census. In the 20th census along with commercial bird rearing, backyard poultry sector also witnessed  a tremendous growth that was evident from the 45.78% increase in population of backyard poultry related to 4.5% increase in commercial poultry. A large proportion (89%) of  rural livestock household rear poultry as important supplementary source of income. As per 19^th livestock census about 30 million farmers are doing backyard poultry farming. The flourishing backyard poultry sector is chiefly owed to the improved breeds/varieties of chicken developed to accommodate for low-input backyard poultry rearing. The broiler varieties/breeds developed in India include Caribro-Vishal, Cari-Rainbro, Caribro-Dhanraja, Caribro-Mritunjai, Krishibro, Gramalakshmi and Gramasree. India ranks third largest among the egg producer and 5th largest among the meat producer in the World (DAHDF, 2015-16).  Still there is enormous opportunity in poultry sector as the per capita annual availability of eggs (61/person per year) and meat (3.1 kg/ person per year) is much less (DAHDF, 2015-16) against the recommended requirement of 180 eggs and 10.5 kg poultry meat per head per annum by ICMR (2019). But the growth in poultry sector is dependent upon the resilience to adapt to the shifting demand of the growing population. Though, sustainable poultry farming is further dependent on accessibility of feed and processing facilities. As per the National Action Plan for Egg & Poultry-2022 report by DAHDF (2017) the total feed requirement of organized poultry sector is about 23 MMTs of compounded feed. The requirement is anticipated to go as high as 35 million tonnes by 2025 (ICAR, 2013). The accessibility and cost of maize and soybean meal generally determine the poultry feed cost.

ENERGY NUTRITION OF BROILER

Nutrient requirement in broiler is assessed concerning the optimization of growth rate. Poultry tend to eat to meet their energy needs, provided other essential nutrients are adequate in the diet, especially at thermo neutral zone. However, birds fail to regulate the energy intake effectively under heat stress condition or sudden change in dietary energy concentration. If a diet is deficient or excess in any nutrient, daily feed consumption may decrease in relation to the severity of the deficiency or excess. But when amino acid is marginally deficient there may be a small increase in feed consumption (NRC, 1994). During formulating broiler diet, energy is considered the first criteria. Adequate energy level most likely results in the lowest feed cost per unit of product in broilers.

Generally, poultry feed is maize-soy based, maize being the most common energy source. Fats and oils have very high energy value (8,200 to 8,600 kcal ME kg). The inclusion rate of maize is around 55-65% and soybean meal around 25-30% in poultry feed. Other ingredients included in formulating poultry feed are grains like wheat, sorghum, bajra, ragi and broken rice, grain by-products like rice polish, de-oiled rice bran and maize gluten meal; oilseed cakes/meals of mustard, groundnut and sunflower and animal protein sources like fish meal, whole fish, meat and bone meal, poultry-by-product meal etc. In cereal grains starch is the major component that is readily digested and assimilated by poultry. However, some other polysaccharides, such as cellulose, hemicellulose, pentosans are poorly digested by poultry. Rather the pentosans of rye and beta glucans of barley and wheat increase the viscosity of digesta and thereby interfere with nutrient utilization by poultry. Maize, wheat, broken rice, sorghum, fats and oils are high energy supplements and pearl millet, finger millet and other small millets, rice polish or bran, de-oiled rice bran, wheat bran, molasses, tapioca flour, etc. are low energy supplements. Soya lecithin is a rich source of energy (5,600 kcal ME/kg) and choline, that aids in improving fat digestibility. Feed and feed  supplements represent the major cost of poultry production, constituting up to 70% of the total recurring cost. Feed supplements like amino acids and additives such as  probiotics, vitamins, minerals, mould inhibitors, coccidiostats, enzymes, preservatives, antioxidants etc. are added to improve the performance. Inclusion of locally available feed ingredients could reduce the production cost though, verification regarding their nutritive quality and safe or effective level of inclusion is inadequate.

The energy requirement of broiler birds is expressed in terms of dietary concentration i.e. kcal (metabolizable energy) ME/kg diet, since there is daily change in body weight of growing birds. For commercial white broilers energy requirement (ICAR, 2013) is 3000 kcal ME/ kg from 0-14 days (pre-starter phase), 3050 kcal ME/ kg from 14-21 days (starter phase) and 3100 kcal ME/ kg from 21-42 days (finisher phase). Coloured broilers grow at a slower rate owing to a comparatively  lower requirement i.e. 2950 kcal ME/ kg from 0-21 days and 3050 kcal ME/ kg from 21-42 days (ICAR, 2013). Feed to gain ratio is expressed as FCR in broilers. FCR is the most important economic trait in broiler. High dietary ME concentration is significant for achieving better FCR. Environmental temperature significantly decreases feed intake and weight gain, increased FCR, altered meat quality in broilers and increased mortality rate.

PROTEIN NUTRITION OF BROILER

For better feed FCR, a level of balanced protein along with other nutrients is necessary in broiler diet. Their diet constitutes both vegetable and animal protein supplements. Vegetable sources include groundnut cake/meal, soybean meal, mustard cake, cottonseed cake, sunflower cake, safflower cake, sesame cake and guar meal etc. Another very good source of protein and fat for broilers is roasted full-fat soybean meal. Maize gluten meal, rice gluten meal, dried distiller’s grains with soluble (DDGS) etc. are also rich sources of protein. Among animal protein supplements meat meal, meat-cum-bone meal and fish meal are better sources over others. Meat and bone meal, feather meal and poultry offal meal could be included safely upto 5% in broiler diet. Several synthetic amino acid supplements are available in the market. Birds with high genetic potential for growth need a diet with high protein concentration. As per ICAR (2013), the CP in the diet of prestarter, starter and finisher white broilers is 22%, 21.50% and 19.50%, respectively. Simultaneously, calorie: protein ratio is important for effective utilization of the supplied amino acids. There are 10 essential amino acids in poultry viz. arginine, valine, histidine, isoleucine, methionine, phenylalanine, leucine, lysine, threonine and tyrosine. Their supplementation is necessary through diet. Additional amino acids viz. glycine and proline are essential for broilers. Essential amino acids those are in shortest supply relative to need are known as limiting amino acids. The protein is considered good quality when the composition of essential amino acids is very nearer to body protein or the product. Deamination of amino acid leads to formation of ammonia which is mostly excreted as uric acid in urine. If the diet is rich in poor quality protein there is more deamination resulting greater N loss in urine, but the loss is least in diet rich in quality protein with appropriate amino acid profile. Lysine and threonine are limiting in cereals, whereas methionine and tryptophan are limiting in soybean meal and maize, respectively.  In broiler diet lysine and methionine are the first two and threonine is the third limiting amino acid. Lysine, methionine and threonine requirement not only relate to growth and FCR, but also breast meat yield and carcass quality. Digestible lysine supplementation at 13.0 and 12.8 g/kg improved body weight gain, FCR, protein deposition and reduced fat deposition in 8-21 days old broilers (Oliveira et al., 2013). Breast meat that constitutes major (25%) part of meat is rich in lysine. Threonine is important for synthesis of gut proteins and mucins, thus maintain gut function and health.

Limiting amino acids are often offered as synthetic supplements, with the decrease in usage of animal protein sources. In conventional maize-soya based poultry diet methionine supplementation improves dietary amino acid balance and increase protein deposition and breast meat mass and prevent undesirable fat deposition. Synthetic form of DL-methionine or DL-2-hydroxy 4-methylthiobutanoic acid (DL-HMB) is commercially available as calcium salt. Tryptophan is the 4^th limiting amino acid in poultry diet. Tryptophan plays role in protein synthesis and is a precursor of melatonin and serotonin (neurotransmitter) that is involved in the regulation of feed intake. Dietary level of at least 0.18% tryptophan is necessary to maintain optimal productivity in starter phase (Rosa et al., 2001).

Table 1. Requirement of amino acids for optimum growth and FCR in broiler (ICAR, 2013)

Table 2. Recommended ideal dietary amino acid profile ratio relative to lysine in broiler

*European research project report

The selection for high production in poultry has resulted in correlated susceptibility of birds to emerging diseases and poor health conditions. The host immune response to pathogens in the earliest stages of infection is a critical determinant of disease resistance and susceptibility. Amino acids are one of essential nutrients important in maintaining proper immune function Pathogens entering body are recognized by macrophages and macrophages produce cytokines. Thymus the organ for production of T cell precursors is sensitive to phases of amino acid deficiency. Higher weight of bursa (17%), thymus (7%) and spleen (16%) was observed with 1.02% dietary threonine compared to 0.96% (Mandal et al., 2006). Deficiency of amino acids lowers IgG production.

Table 3. Amino acids influence on immunity

CONCLUSION

There is enormous opportunity in broiler sector due to the large gap still existing in the recommended requirement and per capita availability of meat product. For the breeds to produce at par with their genetic potential, it is necessary to properly feed the chicks following scientific feeding standards. Energy and proteins are the most important  nutrients in broiler chicken diet. High dietary ME concentration, optimum dietary CP as well as concentration of essential amino acids in the broiler diet are contributory in achieving higher growth rate in broilers. Limiting amino acids in diet could be fulfilled through synthetic amino acids supplementation. Amino acids positively impact the immune status of broilers to attain growth according to their genetic potential.

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