Influences of increased levels of biotin, zinc or mannan‐oligosaccharides in the diet on foot pad dermatitis in growing turkeys housed on dry and wet litter

Abstract

Foot pad dermatitis (FPD) is very common in turkeys and it is an animal health and welfare issue affecting not only performance and walking ability but also the carcass quality. Thus, there is a great need to find out the preventive measures against this problem. The potential roles of extra dietary biotin, Zn and mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS) in preventing the development of FPD were assessed in this study which was conducted on 2-week-old female turkeys over a period of 4 weeks. The birds were allotted to four groups, with 29 each, and housed on dry wood shavings in floor pens. The turkeys were fed a control (300 μg biotin and 50 mg Zn/kg), high biotin (2000 μg/kg), high Zn (150 mg/kg) or MOS (1%) diet. Half of the turkeys in each group were additionally exposed to wet litter (27% DM) for 8 h daily in adjacent separate boxes. Foot pads of the birds were examined on days 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 and assessed macroscopically and histopathologically for foot pad lesions. High dietary levels of biotin or Zn significantly reduced the severity of FPD on dry litter (score 1 vs. 2 in control) but not on wet litter. However, MOS did not affect the severity of foot pad lesions either on dry or wet litter. In addition, the severity was overall substantially higher on wet (approximately three times) than on dry litter. The present results suggest that adding high levels of biotin or Zn to the diet could reduce the development and severity of FPD on dry litter but without having any preventive effects on wet litter. Finally, the high litter moisture appears to be the major factor resulting in FPD. Therefore, the litter should be maintained dry to minimize the prevalence and severity of FPD in turkeys.

High dietary biotin levels affect the footpad and hock health of broiler chickens reared at different stocking densities and litter conditions

“…Because litter moisture remained unchanged, the advantage of supplemental biotin seemed to be irrelevant to its effect on environmental quality (Abd El‐Wahab et al., ). Contrasting with what has been described in turkeys (Harms and Simpson, ; Youssef et al., ), the prophylactic effect of biotin fortification was more apparent in birds kept on wet litter, indicating a special litter‐related nutritional requirement for birds' well‐being. One aim of this experiment was to determine the extent of welfare responses to dietary biotin and if it was different under low or high stocking density.…”

“…As in previous work (Youssef et al., ; Abd El‐Wahab et al., ), BW gain and FCR were both positively affected by the HB diet, which should be owed to the involvement of biotin in the metabolism of carbohydrate, protein and fat (Whitehead, ). Growth performance, considered together with the components of gain (more breast muscle deposition and lower abdominal fat percentage), clearly changed towards greater leanness in HB‐fed birds.…”

“…In addition, a decline in blood biotin level was found around marketing age with the HSD treatment or wet-litter pen, reflecting the enhanced biotin metabolism in both conditions for older chickens. As in previous work (Youssef et al, 2012;Abd El-Wahab et al, 2013), BW gain and FCR were both positively affected by the HB diet, which should be owed to the involvement of biotin in the metabolism of carbohydrate, protein and fat (Whitehead, 1977). Growth performance, considered together with the components of gain (more breast muscle deposition and lower abdominal fat percentage), clearly changed towards greater leanness in HB-fed birds.…”

“…An interaction between biotin supplementation and litter quality may exist. In turkeys, supplying the diet with high concentrations of biotin alleviated the footpad burn on dry litter, but not on wet litter (sprinkling water to the litter, Harms and Simpson, ; 73; % moisture, Youssef et al., ). Little is known, however, if supplemental biotin has a relationship with the detrimental effect of HSD on skin condition.…”

Prevalence and severity of foot pad alterations in German turkey poults during the early rearing phase

“…Multiple factors, for example, poor litter condition, especially high litter moisture (Martland, 1984;Clark et al, 2002;Spindler, 2007;Mayne et al, 2007a;Youssef et al, 2010;Abd El-Wahab et al, 2011;Wu and Hocking, 2011) and chemical irritants bound to litter (Martland, 1984), exposition durance (Berk, 2007;Krautwald-Junghanns et al, 2011;Schumacher et al, 2012), stocking density (Clark et al, 2002;Hafez et al, 2005), nutritional deficiencies in biotin (B-complex vitamin) or zinc (Youssef et al, 2012), and genetic factors (Ask, 2010), have been linked to FPD. Within 24 h after birds were initially exposed to wet, not necessary wet and dirty, litter, the first signs of FPD appeared, possibly due to a rapid inflammatory reaction (Mayne et al, 2007b).…”