Special edition: Reports from IPPE

Layn highlights broiler weight gain, gut health at IPPE

By Aerin Einstein-Curtis

- Last updated on GMT

© GettyImages/Ruslan Sidorov
© GettyImages/Ruslan Sidorov

Related tags Broiler antibiotic alternative antibiotic growth promoter Feed additives

Layn Corp is launching new botanical-based poultry feed additives and highlighting their role in broiler weight gain following a series of feeding trials.

The botanical extract and feed additive company has expanded its line of polyphenol extract-based feed additives with a focus on supporting gut health and improving bird’s oxidative status.

Layn shared details of feeding trials using the newly launched products – TruGro Max and TruGro GH – at the International Production and Processing Expo (IPPE) in Atlanta, Georgia in January.

The company has focused on poultry production in several countries including Europe, Latin America and the US, said Mary Joe Fernandez, global VP of sales and business development, Layn. However, products are set to be available globally.

“We are really proud with how things have been progressing,”​ she told us regarding Layn’s development in the feed additive space. The company’s work has found a continued need for products to support antibiotic-free poultry production in several regions.

Even in areas where regulations do not limit the use of some antibiotics as growth promoters, there is increasing consumer interest in non-medicated feed additives, she said. “The consumer wants to see no antibiotic is in their meat and a good taste – so it’s not only considering the animal itself but considering the consumer,”​ she added.

The company has been running feeding trials to assess the functionality of its blended, botanical extract-based feed additives, said Fernandez. Along with the feeding studies, Layn examined the meat generated by animals fed using it for several qualities including taste.

Feeding trial highlights

The company's feed additives incorporate blends of different ingredients and are intended to influence different areas within the bird, said Juan Javierre, animal nutrition scientist, Layn.

TruGro MAX was developed to improve metabolic status and complement a bird’s natural antioxidant capability, he said.

“This saves energy, and this energy is free for the animal to increase its growth rate,”​ he said. “At the same time, it also has local effect and we’ve seen an increase in villus height and nutrient digestibility.”

In the feeding trials, which were conducted at the University of Tolima and the University of Applied and Environmental Sciences in Colombia, more than 600 broiler chickens received a basal diet with or without the feed additive, according to company information. Birds receiving the trial diet with the additive saw improved body weight throughout the trial and had a 6% weight gain compared to the control group.

Similarly, the gut health-focused additive showed improved body weight in broilers compared to those getting the control diet, as per data from Layn. Birds showed an 8% weight gain improvement compared to birds on the control diet during the 42-day feeding trial.

“We did some analysis of the meat, and we did some sensory studies of that meat and we did a sensory panel with consumers,” ​added Hernandez. “We’ve had good results and the consumers preferred the meat and products made with meat from birds fed with our ingredients.”

Both texture and color intensity were improved in the tissue generated by the birds receiving the antioxidant-focused feed additive, said Javierre. It also was found to reduce oxidation during storage.

“We’re not targeting only production, we’re targeting the whole cycle,”​ he said. “We’ve shown that we’re able to target it not in the initial parameters, but we found out that we can extend the benefit into the meat instead of just keeping them in the animal – this is very important, and we’ll continue exploring other ways to test that in future experiments.”

The additives are intended for use throughout a broiler’s production cycle, he said. “The intended use is whole-cycle because the energy use is whole-cycle and gut integrity is best maintained whole-cycle,” ​he added.

Currently, the company is running feeding trials looking at use of a product specifically designed to be an alternative antibiotic growth promoter, said Javierre. However, data from the trial is not available at this time.

“We used coccidia vaccination at a 10x dose as a way to create a microbial imbalance in the intestine, so we can reveal the effects of removing antibiotics and see how we can compare against an antibiotic containing diet,”​ he said.

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