Early nutrition has a lasting effect on broilers
Success on broiler units starts from the first day the chicks arrive. This was the focus of a workshop run by Cargill, in collaboration with Slate Hall Veterinary Services and Aviagen earlier this summer. Presentations focused on the influence of gut development on lifetime performance, and on the environmental factors and cleanout protocols on early chick health.
Cargill UK’s technical poultry specialist Luke Barnard highlighted the challenges faced by chicks from day zero, and the lasting impact that improved nutrition in the first few days can have on flock performance.
“There’s a lot going on immediately post hatch, and a huge amount of growth is required – the relative growth rates of a very young chick are far greater than in older birds,” he said. “And this is meant to happen when the gastro-intestinal tract is still very immature, and enzyme secretion and the gut microbiome is just starting to develop.”
Enzymes are responsible for digesting protein, starch and fat. “But they are very ‘under-powered’ for at least the first four days of life,” he said. “This means the digestion of nutrients is far from optimal.
“For example, protein digestion can be around 20% behind where it is in mature birds in this under-developed digestive system, before it starts ramping up.
“At the same time, the small intestine and the villi, which line the intestine and are responsible for nutrient absorption, start to grow and develop rapidly. Meanwhile, the developing but still immature immune system, faces its own challenges.”
Early nutrition
Early nutrition is, therefore, key in newly hatched birds when these animals are expected to gain 20% of their body weight each day, for approximately the first four days.
“It’s vital that these newly hatched birds are encouraged to eat,” said Barnard. “We’ve seen those birds receiving feed earlier post hatch had better overall development compared with those with delayed access to feed in the first 48 hours particularly.
“And it’s important to make the feed as digestible as possible to encourage intakes and support growth. This will support the development of the small intestine, improve nutrient absorption and reduce the risks of undesirable substances, such as harmful bacteria, passing through the gut wall unchecked.”
Early feed intakes and the promotion of gut development will also impact the development of the microbiome.
“We know a lot more about this now. A delay in the gastrointestinal development at birth will negatively affect microbiome populations, and this has a knock-on effect on its function and productivity later in life.”
Learning to eat
Encouraging intakes is paramount, particularly as the bird progresses from ‘feeding’ off the yolk, to learning to eat.
“Making the feed as palatable as possible is vital at all stages, but particularly in the early days,” said Barnard. “The mini pellet has improved intakes and comparing this feed form with crumbs and mash shows relative benefits on weight gain and feed efficiency.”
Feeding highly digestible ingredients will also have a lasting impact on flock performance. “We can select ingredients known to be ‘kind’ to the animal, and the benefits of this are shown in studies where soyabean meal was replaced at varying levels with the more digestible soy protein concentrate.”
The work showed improved daily weight gain up to day 10, when the soy protein concentrate was fed in increasing amounts in place of soyabean meal.
“What was particularly interesting was that even when the soy protein concentrate was fed for only the first 10 days, the improvements in weight gain and FCR were still present, and even magnified, at day 42,” said Barnard.
The inclusion of additives in the early bird diet can also improve performance and reduce stressors associated with early life.
Selecting additives that are known to help the bird to mature faster, as well as manage the oxidative and metabolic stress associated with the growth its undergoing, is a key part of the early nutrition strategy.
“If we improve feed form and dietary ingredients, and have a conscious selection of feed additives, we will be steering the microbiome in the right direction and ‘priming’ it towards healthy and productive populations later in life that will support flock health and performance. It is important to drive these pathways from day zero.”
Barnard said Cargill’s Neochicc starter diets embrace these latest findings in early bird nutrition. They come as a 1.8mm mini pellet, proven to optimise intakes, and it contains highly digestible materials and a cocktail of proven feed additives.
UK commercial field trials with matched parent flocks have shown reductions in feed conversion rates of up to seven points in flocks fed on Neochicc compared with flocks fed on a typical standard starter crumb.
In the most recent UK trials, carried out in February 2024, five flocks of approximately 25,000 birds each were fed Neochicc and the results were compared with two similar sized flocks fed a standard mini pellet.
Reduced mortality, improved daily liveweight gain and an improved feed conversion ratio gave an average economic return of 2.5p per bird, taking account of feed and chick costs, Barnard said.
Getting the chick off to the best possible start by using the latest nutritional knowledge is a cost-effective strategy.
“There are a lot of ‘internal’ systems that must be established and developed from day zero to seven and, at the same time, these chicks must perform like athletes in terms of growth rates,” added Barnard.
“It’s a big ask, but we’ve seen that improved nutrition can help the bird, and by putting this into practice we can promote performance.”