Effect of wheat cultivar and enzyme supplementation on nutrient availability and performance of laying hens

Abstract

Rafuse, J. L., Silversides, F. G., Bedford, M. R. and Simmins, P. H. 2004. Effect of wheat cultivar and enzyme supplementation on nutrient availability and performance of laying hens. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 84: 397-402. This study examined the effect of four wheat cultivars (Belvedere, Glenlea, Norboro, and Walton) grown in the Maritime provinces of Canada and dietary enzyme supplementation on apparent metabolizable energy (AME), digestibility of crude protein (CP), and performance of laying hens, and compared these values to those obtained using a corn-based diet. Forty groups of three adjacent battery cages, each housing two hens, were fed each diet which included the wheat samples (61.0%) or locally obtained corn (65.1%), with or without commercial enzymes containing a mixture of xylanase, protease, and amylase for corn-based diets and a mixture of xylanase and protease for wheat-based diets. Excreta samples were collected at 17 d for analysis of nutrient retention. The diet that the hens consumed had no significant effect on performance. The feed conversion ratio of hens was lowest (1.79) in the final week of the experiment when egg production was highest (97.0%) and feed intake lowest (109 g bird -1 d -1 ). The diet significantly affected both AME and digestibility of CP. The wheat cultivar influenced the AME and digestibility of CP when these diets were fed to laying hens, with enzyme supplementation reducing the AME and digestibility of CP for diets containing three (Belvedere, Glenlea, and Walton) of the four wheat cultivars. The significant improvement with enzyme supplementation of the corn-based diet is promising and should be the basis of future studies. Pour cela, ils ont nourri des poules logées deux par deux dans quatre groupes de trois cages adjacentes avec chaque ration, à savoir celle incluant les échantillons de blé (61,0 %) et celle faite de maïs cultivé localement (65,1 %) avec ou sans prépara-tion commerciale d'enzymes (xylanase et protéase dans le premier cas; xylanase, protéase et amylase dans le second). Le 17 e jour, ils ont prélevé des échantillons d'excréments en vue de préciser la quantité d'éléments nutritifs assimilée. La ration que consomment les pondeuses n'a aucune incidence sur le rendement de ces dernières. Le ratio de valorisation des aliments a atteint sa valeur la plus faible (1,79) la dernière semaine de l'expérience, quand la ponte était à son maximum (97,0 %) et l'ingestion des aliments à son point le plus bas (109 g par volatile et par jour). La ration a une incidence significative sur l'EMA et la digestibilité des PB. Le cultivar influe aussi sur ces deux facteurs chez les poules nourries avec du blé, mais le supplément enzymatique réduit la valeur des deux paramètres pour les rations contenant trois des quatre cultivars (Belvedere, Glenlea et Walton). L'importante amélioration que le supplément enzymatique permet d'obtenir avec la ration à base de maïs s'avère prometteuse et mériterait des études plus poussées. Mots clés: Blé, pondeuses, EMA, enzymesThe apparent metaboliz...

Potential Enhancing Effects of a Carbohydrase Mixture on Phytase Efficacy in Late-Phase Laying Hens Fed Wheat-Based Diets

“…However, as expected, egg yolk colour was markedly lower than that normally reported for laying hens consuming maize-based diets (Pérez-Bonilla et al, 2012;Li et al, 2013). Similar to the results of the present study, Rafuse et al (2004) observed that diets based on wheat with a mixture of xylanase and protease did not affect albumen height, yolk weight, eggshell weight or albumen weight when measured three weeks (32 weeks old) after the hens began to consume the experimental diets. In addition, as in the present experiment, Boling et al (2000) showed that feeding diets containing 1.0 g NPP/kg, 1.5 g NPP/kg or 4.5 g NPP/kg without or with phytase supplementation had no effect on specific gravity.…”

Effects of wheat cultivar, metabolizable energy level, and xylanase supplementation to laying hens diet on performance, egg quality traits, and selected blood parameters

“…Roberts & Choct (2006) reported that enzyme supplementation improved eggshell breaking strength in hens fed wheat-based diets. In contrast, Rafuse et al (2004) observed that diets based on wheat with a mixture of xylanase and protease did not affect albumen height, or weight of yolk, eggshell and albumen when measured 3 wk (32 wk of age) after the hens began consuming the experimental diets. Likewise, Çiftci et al (2003a) reported no effect on eggshell thickness when 30% corn was substituted by wheat in diets for SCWL hens from 27 to 43 wk of age.…”

Interactions of dietary wheat cultivars and NSP‐degrading enzyme on productive performance and egg quality traits

“…However, there was a significant effect of dietary treatments on the Haugh unit between some wheat cultivars on week 67. Rafuse et al (2004) also reported no significant influence of dietary wheat cultivars and supplemental enzymes on egg quality traits in hens. In the present study, eggshell weight (%) was higher in the layers fed with the enzyme-supplemented diets, including (week 67 of age).…”

“…Decreased EP in laying hens fed diets with high levels of NSPs with supplemental enzyme was reported during 25-28 weeks of age (Nguyen et al, 2021). Rafuse et al (2004) examined the effect of four Canadian wheat varieties with or without enzyme on the performance of laying hens and reported no significant effect of the experimental diets on EP, FCR and EW. In contrast, a significant decrease in EW and EM with no significant effect on EP were observed in the research study with increasing levels of dietary wheat (Mirzaie et al, 2012), but supplementing diets with xylanase improved EM, EP and FCR.…”

“…In the study of Hadorn et al (1996), FI was not significantly affected by enzyme addition in laying hens fed with wheat-based diet. Rafuse et al (2004), who evaluated the effects of supplemental enzymes on the performance of laying hens fed with diets contained four wheat cultivars, found that FI was significantly affected by the bird age, so that the highest and the lowest FI were observed in the first and third weeks of trial. In a study, the use of NSP levels with xylanase supplementation in the rations of layers was examined.…”