Productive performance of brown-egg laying pullets from hatching to 5 weeks of age as affected by fiber inclusion, feed form, and energy concentration of the diet

Abstract

The effects of fiber inclusion, feed form, and energy concentration of the diet on the growth performance of pullets from hatching to 5 wk age were studied in 2 experiments. In Experiment 1, there was a control diet based on cereals and soybean meal, and 6 extra diets that included 2 or 4% of cereal straw, sugar beet pulp (SBP), or sunflower hulls (SFHs) at the expense (wt/wt) of the whole control diet. From hatching to 5 wk age fiber inclusion increased (P<0.05) ADG and ADFI, and improved (P<0.05) energy efficiency (EnE; kcal AMEn/g ADG), but body weight (BW) uniformity was not affected. Pullets fed SFH tended to have higher ADG than pullets fed SBP (P=0.072) with pullets fed straw being intermediate. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) was better (P<0.05) with 2% than with 4% fiber inclusion. In Experiment 2, 10 diets were arranged as a 2×5 factorial with 2 feed forms (mash vs. crumbles) and 5 levels of AMEn (2,850, 2,900, 2,950, 3,000, and 3,050 kcal/kg). Pullets fed crumbles were heavier and had better FCR than pullets fed mash (P<0.001). An increase in the energy content of the crumble diets reduced ADFI and improved FCR linearly, but no effects were detected with the mash diets (P<0.01 and P<0.05 for the interactions). Feeding crumbles tended to improve BW uniformity at 5 wk age (P=0.077) but no effects were detected with increases in energy concentration of the diet. In summary, the inclusion of moderate amounts of fiber in the diet improves pullet performance from hatching to 5 wk age. The response of pullets to increases in energy content of the diet depends on feed form with a decrease in feed intake when fed crumbles but no changes when fed mash. Feeding crumbles might be preferred to feeding mash in pullets from hatching to 5 wk age.

Effects of the inclusion of sunflower hulls in the diet on growth performance and digestive tract traits of broilers and pullets fed a broiler diet from zero to 21 d of age. A comparative study

“…The analytical values of the SFH batch were within the range reported by other authors (Cancalon, 1971;FEDNA, 2010;Guzmán et al, 2015a). The NDF content was 70.0% and the GMD ± GSD was 675 ± 1.68 μm.…”

“…The authors have not found any research comparing the effects of dietary SFH on growth performance of these 2 chicken lines. In pullets, Guzmán et al (2015a) observed a 6.4% increase in ADG from zero to 21 d of age with the inclusion of 2% SFH in the diet. Similar results were reported by González-Alvarado et al (2007) and Jiménez-Moreno et al (2011, 2013a in broilers.…”

Comparative study of the inclusion of sunflower hulls in the diet on growth performance and digestive tract traits of broilers and pullets from 0 to 21 days of age

“…The analytical values of the SFH batch were within the range reported by other authors (Cancalon, 1971;FEDNA, 2010;Guzmán et al, 2015a). The NDF content was 70.0% and the GMD ± GSD was 675 ± 1.68 µm.…”

“…Information available suggests that the beneficial effects of dietary fiber in poultry diet might depend on the birds age with more noticeable effects in young chicks than in pullets and in both type of birds than in laying hens. Research conducted by Guzmán et al (2015a) in which 2% of cereal straw, sugar beet pulp, or SFH were included in pullet diets, showed improved growth performance and energy efficiency with fiber inclusion. However, a further increase to 4% had negative effects on FCR in pullets at 5 wk of age.…”

Influence of feed form and energy concentration of the rearing phase diets on productivity, digestive tract development and body measurements of brown-egg laying hens fed diets varying in energy concentration from 17 to 46 wk of age

“…Two potential nutritional strategies used for increasing the initial body weight (BW) of the hens at the onset of egg production are the feeding of crumbled diets (Frikha et al, 2009a;Gous and Morris, 2001;Saldaña et al, 2015a) and the use of high energy diets (Frikha et al, 2009b;Saldaña et al, 2015b) during the rearing phase. However, Nir et al (1994) and Serrano et al (2013) in broilers and Guzmán et al (2015a) and Saldaña et al (2015a, b) in pullets, have shown that feeding crumbles or pellets reduced the relative weight (g/kg BW) of the gizzard and the development of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) as compared with feeding mash. Also, when the energy concentration of the diet increases, fiber content decreases, which also reduces GIT development (González-Alvarado et al, 2007;Jiménez-Moreno et al, 2009a;Sacranie et al, 2012).…”