Effect of feed form on performance, gut morphology and cecal microflora on late-phase laying hens under cyclic high ambient temperature

Document Type : Research Article (Regular Paper)

Authors

Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

Abstract

Feed form and heat stress (HS) are two major critical issues that affect feed intake (FI) in poultry. Limited research has been conducted on the impact of feed form on the intestinal morphology of laying hens. Additionally, the influence of feed form on the intestinal microbiota of laying hens under HS conditions remains unexplored.  One hundred and forty-four laying hens (90 weeks of age) were used in a completely randomized design with two treatments (pellet and mash). Each treatment contained six replicates of 12 hens each. Laying hens were subjected to a cyclic heat stress regimen of 32 ± 3°C for 6 hours per day at a humidity of 35–40% during the late laying period (weeks 90–97). Feed form had no effect on egg production and feed conversion ratio (P>0.05), but egg weight and mass, FI, and body weight gain increased in the birds fed the pelleted diet (P<0.05). Feeding the pelleted diet decreased the shell weight and thickness, as well as the yolk color score (P < 0.05), but did not affect other egg quality parameters (P>0.05). Villus width and villus surface area were higher in hens fed the pelleted diet (P<0.05) than those fed the mash diet, but villus height, crypt depth, and the villus height-to-crypt depth ratio were not affected by the treatments (P>0.05). There were no significant differences between treatments regarding cecal bifidobacteria spp. lactobacillus spp. and coliforms populations (P>0.05). However, feeding laying hens with pelleted diet resulted in greater numbers of cecal Enterococcus spp. compared to those fed the mash diet (P<0.05). This study indicated that feeding the pelleted diet improved the egg mass production and intestinal morphology, reduced the shell weight and thickness, and increased the population of Enterococcus spp. in the ceca of late-laying hens exposed to HS. The economic benefit from performance improvement with the pelleted diet may have offset the higher feeding cost.
 

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

References
Abdollahi, M.R., Ravindran, V., Svihus, B., 2013. Pelleting of broiler diets: an overview with emphasis on pellet quality and nutritional value. Animal Feed Science and Technology 179, 1-23.
Abdollahi, M.R., Ravindran, V., Svihus, B., 2014. Influence of feed form on growth performance, ileal nutrient digestibility, and energy utilisation in broiler starters fed a sorghum-based diet. Livestock Science 165, 80-86. 
Amerah, A.M., Ravindran, V., Lentle, R.G., Thomas, D.G., 2007. Influence of feed particle size and feed form on the performance energy utilization, digestive tract development, and digesta parameters of broiler starters. Poultry Science 86, 2615-2623.
AOAC, 2005. Official Methods of Analysis. 14th ed. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Washington, DC. USA.
Bozkurt, M., Kocer, B., Ege, G., Tuzun, A.E., Biyik, H., Poyrazoğlu, E., 2019. Influence of the particle size and form of feed on growth performance, digestive tract traits and nutrient digestibility of white egg-laying pullets from 1 to 112 D of Age. Poultry Science 98, 4016-4029.
Bozkurt, M., Kucukyilmaz, K., Catli, A.U., Cınar, M., Binta, E., Coven, F., 2012. Performance, egg quality and immune response of laying hens fed diets supplemented with manna oligosaccharide or an essential oil mixture under moderate and hot environmental conditions. Poultry Science 88, 2368-2374.
Butcher, G.D., Miles, R.D., 2017. Egg Specific Gravity-Designing A Monitoring Program. Document number VM72, U.S. Department of Agriculture, UF/IFAS Extension Service, University of Florida,
Cera, K.R., Mahan, D.C., Cross. R.F., 1988. Effect of age, weaning and post weaning diet on small intestinal growth and jejunal morphology in young swine. Journal of Animal Science 66, 574-584.
Chen, F., Zhang, H., Du, E., Jin, F., Zheng, C., Fan, Q., Zhao, N., Guo, W., Zhang, W., Huang, S., Wei, J., 2021. Effects of magnolol on egg production, egg quality, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal health of laying hens in the late phase of the laying cycle. Poultry Science 100, 835-843.
Ege, G., Bozkurt, M., Kocer, B., Tuzun, A.E., Uygun, M., Alkan, G., 2019. Influence of feed particle size and feed form on productive performance, egg quality, gastrointestinal tract traits, digestive enzymes, intestinal morphology, and nutrient digestibility of laying hens reared in enriched cages. Poultry Science 98, 3787-3801.
Elsherbeni, A.I., Youssef, I.M., Hamouda, R.E., Kamal, M., El-Gendi, G.M., El-Garhi, O.H., Alfassam, H.E., Rudayni, H.A., Allam, A.A., Moustafa, M., Alshaharn, M.O., 2024. Performance and economic efficiency of laying hens in response to adding zeolite to feed and litter. Poultry Science 103, 103799.
Frikha, M., Safaa, H.M., Serrano, M.P., Arbe, X., Mateos, G.G., 2009. Influence of main cereal of the diet and feed form on growth performance and digestive traits of brown-egg laying pullets. Poultry Science 88, 994-1002.
Hafeez, A., Mader, A., Rohe, I., Ruhnke, I., Goodarzi Boroojeni, F., Yousaf M.S., Manner, K., Zentek, J., 2015. Effect of millingmethod, thermal treatment, and particle size of feed on exterior and interior egg quality in laying hens. European Poultry Science 79, 1-11.
Hamilton, R.M.G., Proudfoot, F.G., 1995. Effects of ingredient particle size and feed form on the performance of Leghorn hens. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 75, 109-114.
Haugh, R.R., 1937. The Haugh unit for measuring egg quality. US Poultry Magazine 43, 552-573.
Karcher, D.M., Jones, D.R., Abdo, Z., Zhao, Y., Shepherd, T.A., Xin, H., 2015. Impact of commercial housing systems and nutrient and energy intake on laying hen performance and egg quality parameters. Poultry Science 94, 485-501
Koçer, B., Bozkurt, M., Kucukyılmaz, K., Ege, G., Aksit, H., Orojpour, A., Topba, S., Tuzun, A.E., Binta, E., Seyrek, K., 2016. Effects of particle sizes and physical form of the diet on performance, egg quality and size of the digestive organs in laying hens. European Poultry Science 80, 159-174.
Luo, X., Zheng, C., Xia, W., Ruan, D., Wang, S., Cui, Y., Yu, D., Wu, Q., Huang, D., Zhang, Y., 2018. Effects of constant or intermittent high temperature on egg production, feed intake, and hypothalamic expression of antioxidant and pro-oxidant enzymes genes in laying ducks. Journal of Animal Science 96, 5064-5074.
Mahdavi, R., Osmanyan, A.K., Fisinin, V.I., Ghazi Harsini, S., Arkhipova, A.L., Shevyakov, A. N., Kovalchuk, S.N., Kosovsky, G.Y., 2018. Impact of mash and crumble diets on intestinal amino acids transporters, intestinal morphology and pancreatic enzyme activity of broilers. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition 102, 1266-1273.
Markovicva, R., Sefera, D., Krsticvb, M., Petrujkicva, B., 2009. Effect of different growth promoters on broiler performance and gut morphology. Archivos de Medicina Veterinaria 41, 163e9.
Massuquetto, A., Durau, J.F., Schramm, V.G., Netto, M.V.T., Krabbe, E.L., Maiorka, A., 2018. Influence of feed form and conditioning time on pellet quality, performance and ileal nutrient digestibility in broilers. Journal of Applied Poultry Research 27, 51-58.
Massuquetto, A., Panisson, J.C., Marx, F.O., Surek, D., Krabbe, E.L., Maiorka, A., 2019. Effect of pelleting and different feeding programs on growth performance, carcass yield, and nutrient digestibility in broiler chickens. Poultry Science 98, 5497-5503
Mateos, G.G., Jimenez-Moreno, E., Serrano, M.P., Lazaro, R.P., 2012. Poultry response to high levels of dietary fiber sources varying in physical and chemical characteristics. Journal of Applied Poultry Research 21, 156-174.
Mateos, G.G., Lazaro, R., Gracia, M., 2002. The feasibility of using nutritional modifications to replace drugs in poultry feeds. Journal of Applied Poultry Research 11, 437-452.
Mousavi, S.N., Fahimi, E., Taherkhani, R., 2016. Effects of different feed forms and cage densities on laying hen performance and stress status. European Poultry Science 80, 163-171.
Nawab, A., Ibtisham, F., Li, G., Kieser, B., Wu, J., Liu, W., Zhao, Y., Nawab, Y., Li, K., Xiao, M., An. L., 2018. Heat stress in poultry production: mitigation strategies to overcome the future challenges facing the global poultry industry.  Journal of Thermal Biology 78, 131-139.
Röhe, I., Ruhnke, I., Knorr, F., Mader, A., Goodarzi Boroojeni, F., Löwe, R., Zentek, J., 2014. Effects of grinding method, particle size, and physical form of the diet on gastrointestinal morphology and jejunal glucose transport in laying hens. Poultry Science 93, 2060-2068.
Roland, D.A., 1980. The ability of young and old hens to change shell deposition with sudden natural drastic changes in egg size. Poultry Science 59, 924-926.
Ruhnke, I., Rohe, I., Kramer, C., Boroojeni, F.G., Knorr, F., Mader, A., Schulze, E., Hafeez, A., Neumann, K., Lowe, R., Zentek, J., 2015. The effects of particle size, milling method, and thermal treatment of feed on performance, apparent ileal digestibility, and pH of the digesta in laying hens. Poultry Science 94, 692-699.
Sakamoto, K., Hirose, H., Onizuka, A., 2000. Quantitative study of changes in intestinal morphology and mucus gel on total parenteral nutrition in rats. Journal of Surgical Research 94, 99-106.
Saldaňa, B., Guzman, P., Camara, L., Garcia, J., Mateos, G.G., 2015. Feed form and energy concentration of the diet affect growth performance and digestive tract traits of brown-egg laying pullets from hatching to 17 weeks of age. Poultry Science 94, 1879-1893.
Scott, T.A., Silversides, FzG., Tietge, D., Swift, M.L., 1999. Effect of feed form, formulation, and restriction on the performance of laying hens. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 79, 171-178
Serrano, M.P., Valencia, D.G, Mendez, J., Mateos, G.G., 2012. Influence of feed form and source of soybean meal of the diet on growth performance of broilers from 1 to 42 days of age. 1. Floor pen study. Poultry Science 91, 2838-2844.
Shi, D., Bai, L., Qu, Q., Zhou, S., Yang, M., Guo, S., Li, Q., Liu, C., 2019. Impact of gut microbiota sturcture in heat-stressed broilers. Poultry Science 98, 2405-2413.
Sugiharto, S., Yudiarti, T., Isroli, I., Widiastuti, E., Kusumanti, E., 2017. Dietary supplementation of probiotics in poultry exposed to heat stress-a review. Annals of Animal Science 17, 591-604.
Svihus, B., 2014. Function of the digestive system. Journal of Applied Poultry Research 23, 306-314.
Thomas, M., Van Vliet, T., Van Der Poel, A.F.B., 1998. Physical quality of pelleted animal feed 3. Contribution of feedstuff components. Animal Feed Science and Technology 70, 59-78.
Wahlström, A., Elwinger, K., Thomke, S., 1998. Total tract and ileal nutrient digestibility of a diet fed as mash or crumbled pellets to two laying hybrids. Animal Feed Science and Technology 77 229-239.
Wahlström, A., Tauson, R., Elwinger, K., 1999a. Production and egg quality as influenced by mash or crumbled diets fed to laying hens in an aviary system. Poultry Science 78, 1675-1680.
Wahlström, A., Tauson, R., Elwinger, K., 1999b. Total tract and ileal nutrient digestibility of a diet fed as mash or crumbled pellets to two laying hybrids. Animal Feed Science and Technology 77, 229-239.
Wan, Y., Ma, R., Khalid, A., Chai, L., Qi, R.,  Liu, W., Li, J., Li, Y., Zhan, K., 2021. Effect of the pellet and mash feed forms on the productive performance, egg quality, nutrient metabolism, and intestinal morphology of two laying hen breeds. Animals 11, 701.
Wang, M.L., Suo, X., Gu, J.H., Zhang, W.W., Fang, Q., Wang, X., 2008. Influence of grape seed proanthocyanidin extract in broiler chickens: effect on chicken coccidiosis and antioxidant status. Poultry Science 87, 2273-2280.
Wang, X.J., Feng, J.H., Zhang, M.H., Li, X.M., Ma, D.D., Chang, S.S., 2018. Effects of high ambient temperature on the community structure and composition of ileal microbiome of broilers. Poultry Science 97, 2153-2158.
Xing, S., Wang, X., Diao, H., Zhang, M., Zhou, Y., Feng, J., 2019. Changes in the cecal microbiota of laying hens during heat stress is mainly associated with reduced feed intake. Poultry Science 98, 5257-5264.
Zhang, P.W., Yan, T., Wang, X.L., Kuang, S.C., Xiao, Y.C., Lu, W.W., Bi. D.R., 2017. Probiotic mixture ameliorates heat stress of laying hens by enhancing intestinal barrier function and improving gut microbiota. Italian Journal of Animal Science 16, 292-300.
Zheng, Y.W., Zhao, L.H., Wei, Y.M., Ma, Q.G., Ji, C., Zhang, J.Y., 2020. Effects of main cereal type and feed form on production performance, egg quality and egg sanitary indices of laying hens. British Poultry Science 61, 164-168.
Journal of Livestock Science and Technologies
Volume 12, Issue 2
December 2024
Pages 21-29

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics