Evaluation of oats with varying hull inclusion in broiler diets up to 35 days

Abstract

Use of local feed ingredients in poultry feed, such as oats, can be limited by their perceived less than ideal nutritional content. Dehulling oats is expensive, and it may be that removing hull is detrimental to the bird in terms of gastrointestinal (GI) development, therefore maintaining some of the high-fiber oat hull (OH) might reduce costs and improve potential for inclusion in poultry diets. Male broilers were fed diets with oats replacing 30% of wheat in diets, either dehulled or with graded inclusions of OH from day of hatch until day 35. Each diet was fed to 8 pens of 8 birds and performance recorded weekly. Samples were collected at day 21 and 35 for analysis of ileal amino acid digestibility, apparent metabolizable energy (AME), and gross gut development measures. No detrimental effect was seen on bird weight with hull inclusion, though higher inclusion levels did deleteriously effect feed intake because of increased gut fill from the fiber. Nitrogen corrected AME was also adversely effected in the highest hull inclusion diets. However, amino acid digestibility was improved with hull addition, which may be because of an increase in GI tract length, improving nutrient absorption. Gizzard development was also significantly improved, and thereby, more efficient grinding of diet may also have improved digestibility. At a lower level of hull inclusion (3% total diet) where digestibility is improved without any detrimental effects on gut fill and intake. Oat hull is well known to improve gut development, especially of the gizzard, with resultant increases in digestibility. This is usually attributed to the mechanical effect of fiber in the gizzard having a grinding effect. However in this study, all fiber was finely ground, so the improvements seen cannot be attributed to a physical cause. Oat including diets with some hull remaining are a cost effective way of using oats as a raw material while maximizing bird performance.

Effect of organic acids–essential oils blend and oat fiber combination on broiler chicken growth performance, blood parameters, and intestinal health

“…Several independent studies have reported the beneficial effects of organic acids ( Paul et al., 2007 ; Adil et al., 2010 ; Kamal and Ragaa, 2014 ), essential oils ( Brenes and Roura, 2010 ; Franz et al., 2010 ), and dietary fibers (specifically moderate levels of OH) ( Hetland and Svihus, 2001 ; Mateos et al., 2012 ; Scholey et al., 2020 ) in poultry nutrition. Here, we present for the first time the synergistic effect of a protected organic acids and essential oils formula (containing organic acids: fumaric, sorbic, malic, citric acids; and essential oils: thymol, vanillin, and eugenol) with or without OH in broiler chickens.…”

What are the limits to feed intake of broilers on bulky feeds?

“…There is growing interest in using alternative feed ingredients in livestock production due to the competition between food and feed, the need to reduce the environmental impact of livestock production and reduce the costs associated with importing non-native ingredients ( Madeira et al., 2017 ; Tallentire et al., 2018b ). As far as poultry are concerned, such alternative ingredients include co- and by-products of food production which are not desirable to humans, such as wheat middlings, rice bran, palm kernel meal ( Ravindran, 2013 ), and oat hulls (OH) ( Scholey et al., 2020 ). Such ingredients are lower in energy ( Robert et al., 1997 ; Sundu et al., 2006 ) and possess a high bulk content than traditional ingredients due to their physicochemical properties, such as water-holding capacity (WHC) ( Jiménez-Moreno et al., 2009 ).…”

“…At the same time, there have been increased concerns about the ability of modern poultry, especially broiler genotypes to cope with bulk intake and a reduction in feed energy content ( Mbajiorgu et al., 2011 ; Gous, 2013 ; Classen, 2017 ; Scholey et al., 2020 ). Historically, there has been an abundance of evidence showing that the GIT of broilers can adapt and increase in size relative to BW when the birds are offered feeds with bulky ingredients ( Griffiths et al., 1977 ; Deaton and Lott, 1985 ; Leeson et al., 1996a ).…”

Nutritional Potentials of Atypical Feed Ingredients for Broiler Chickens and Pigs

“…Studies have shown that inclusion of OH to broiler diets improved feed consumption and starch digestibility, while weight gain and digestibility of other nutrients were not impacted [ 184 ]. The authors reasoned that feeding OH to broiler chickens, especially in the coarse form, increased the weight of the gut and its content, leading to an increased rate of passage and feed consumption [ 184 , 185 ]. Gonzalez-Alvarado et al [ 62 ] also reported an increase in performance, nitrogen retention, and nutrient digestibility of broiler chickens fed OH regardless of the age of the birds ( Figure 4 ).…”

“…Gonzalez-Alvarado et al [ 62 ] also reported an increase in performance, nitrogen retention, and nutrient digestibility of broiler chickens fed OH regardless of the age of the birds ( Figure 4 ). There was no detrimental effect on weight gain and AA digestibility, but energy utilization was reduced in broiler chickens when up to 30% wheat was replaced with OH [ 185 ]. In another study, inclusion of OH in corn-SBM-based diets of growing pigs had positive impacts on weight gain, feed intake, and VFA production, but negatively affected fat digestibility and cholesterol absorption [ 65 ].…”