Indian Federation of Animal Health Companies popularly known as INFAH is the united progressive force of companies & non-profit organizations working towards animal health care. INFAH heads strong with 52 member companies belonging to different genres of animal husbandry industry of India right from feed manufacturers, medical support systems to researchers.
Created to promote ethical practices and enhance Animal health Industry’s value and contribution in the society, INFAH also offers a dynamic platform to create awareness about controlling diseases, provide effective treatments and improve overall productivity of animals.
One of the major challenges of the poultry farmers are the diseases and damages caused by it in the sector and this causes huge losses and failures year after year. “Disease free poultry production is the only way to increase farmer’s income”.
All India Poultry Breeders Association (AIPBA) organized a webinar on the topic “Building a Disease-Free Indian Poultry sector” on 22nd June 2021 in online mode. The objective was to discuss the concern of diseases and problems faced by the stakeholders with the policymakers of the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India, in an attempt to develop disease-free Indian Poultry sector.
This was the biggest poultry webinar in the country with participation of more than 1500 poultry farmers through webinar’s app and 3572 poultry farmers through Facebook and YouTube. Also, representatives associated with the poultry sector and from the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Govt. of India (GoI), ICAR and other stakeholders participated in the event.
The webinar was hosted and conducted by Shri Gulrez Alam, Secretary, AIPBA & Director, IB Group.
Delivering the opening remarks, Shri Bahadur Ali, Chairman, AIPBA and M.D. of IB Groupwelcomed all panelists and officers of the Animal Husbandry Deptt. including Dr Praveen Malik, Animal Husbandry Commissioner, Dr O. P. Choudhary, Jt. Sect. (NLM/PC), Shri Upamanyu Basu Jt. Sect. (LH), invited as special guests.
Shri Bahadur Ali said that the concerns of the farmers should be discussed before with the policymakers of the GoI to overcome the problems of the poultry sector. He said that from Dec 2019 onwards, the situation has remained very difficult for the poultry farmers. He thanked the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, GoI for extending all possible help, yet there still were many problems in the sector. “Today, through this webinar discussions, policymakers, Scientist and poultry sector representatives will be able to exchange ideas for a better understanding of the problems of poultry disease and to provide steps towards appropriate solutions”.
Welcoming all the participants, Shri Suresh Chitturi R, Vice President, AIPBA said that about 5 million farmers are associated with the poultry sector and the sector also provides direct and indirect employment to more than 10 million people. The webinar was very important for poultry industry because the poultry farmers could now discuss their problems directly with the policymakers with a hope of a proper solutions.
As a special guest Dr Praveen Malik, Animal Husbandry Commissioner, GoI, while addressing stated that few diseases like Influenza and Mycoplasma in Indian Poultry often trouble the farmers and such diseases should be eradicated instead of just controlling it. For this, the biosecurity, hygiene and proper waste management must be followed. The poultry sector must cooperate with the government to make the poultry sector disease-free.
By taking forward the subject Dr O. P. Choudhary, Jt. Secretary (NLM/PC) Animal Husbandry Department expressed various steps taken by the government to help poultry farmers and also said that it is very important to develop vaccines following OIE standard to avoid disease occurrence. This basic need for the poultry sector must be discussed in detail with probable solutions.
Shri Upamanyu Basu, Jt. Secretary (LH), Deptt. of Animal Husbandry said that vaccination is very important because it is the most effective way to control any viral disease from the root, but along with vaccination, all the scientific methods and steps should be taken by farmers and poultry sector for maintaining the hygiene, which is important and required for overall betterment of the sector.
The moderator of the webinar Prof. P.K. Shukla, Dean and Registrar DUVASU Veterinary University, Mathura and former Joint Commissioner, GOI, and Mr Vijay Sardana, Advocate, Techno-legal expert and Advisor, AIPBA conducted the respective technical sessions webinar efficiently.
In Panel Discussion-1, “Diseases in Poultry and its impact on Poultry Farming and Farmers’ Income”, leading poultry sector names participated.
Shri G. B. Sundararajan, MD, Suguna Foods Pvt. Ltd. said that there are many uncertainties in the poultry sector. The poultry farmer doesn’t know whether he will get the right price for his birds the next day. Due to the rumors about the poultry, small farmers suffer the most. And the diseases further add problems to growth. The Govt. should do something to end the uncertainty to support poultry farmers.
Raising important issues, Mr Balram Singh Yadav, MD, Godrej Agrovet Ltd. said that the poultry sector needs to think from the consumer’s point of view also so that the image of the poultry sector can be improved further. In the last 1-2 years, the poultry sector has suffered a loss of about 25-30 thousand crores every year, because whenever any viral outbreak is there, be it covid or bird flu, poultry sector is affected badly due to misinformation and lack of consumers education.
Talking about the technical aspects, Dr R.K. Jaiswal, President, IB Group shared that in the last few years, there has been a rapid spread of viral diseases that cannot be stopped through biosecurity alone. LPAI (low pathogenic avian influenza), is one of the main diseases, due to which thousands of farmers lost crores of rupees. There has been massive mortality mainly due to the non-availability of useful vaccine against this disease. It is an industry demand that, like other countries, early permission for the development or import of useful vaccine in India must be given and the correct antigen be provided to the vaccine manufacturers by collaborating with NISHAD (National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases) Bhopal and there should be a mass vaccination done in poultry too in the whole country like Covid vaccination. This will be the first step for the betterment of poultry farmers.
Mr Paul Gittens, Advisor, Aviagen India, said that biosecurity and proper vaccines are the basic needs of the animal protein sector. Keeping the health of the birds in mind the government should allow the production and vaccination against those diseases so that the poultry sector can be protected from Avian Influenza etc.
Mr Gurminder Singh Bisla, President, Broiler Breeders Association North (BBAN) said that Avian Influenza is the most damaging disease problem of the poultry sector in North India and said that vaccination is the most effective way to prevent it. Due to spread from migratory birds to poultry birds, there is nothing farmers can do except vaccination. It is also very important to correct the policy for the poultry sector concerning disease control.
Panel Discussion-II – “Possible alternatives to reduce the adverse effects of Poultry Diseases”.
The session was moderated by Sh. Vijay Sardana. To initiate the discussion, Dr S.K. Garg, former VC, DUVASU Veterinary University, Mathura said that the vaccine should be developed after studying the pattern of disease occurrence in the poultry sector in different parts of the country.
Government should make such labs that can detect and diagnose these diseases and be able to forecast easily. Talking about the poultry feed, the number of antibiotics used by some feed manufacturers should be avoided because they reduce the export quality of meat.
Suresh S Honappagol, former VC, Karnataka Veterinary University and former Animal Husbandry Commissioner, GoI, shared that the poultry sector was well organized but at the time of any emergency, due to unavailability of data, the planning process is hampered.
He suggested a serious effort to collate all data and proposed National Poultry Register be prepared so that proper decision and relief be provided to the farmers whenever necessary.
Dr Ashok Kumar, ADG (AH), ICAR, New Delhi said that the poultry sector could benefit by using modern technology and by creating more awareness among the farmers about biosecurity and good practices.
Talking about disease surveillance, diagnostics, and forecasting, Dr A.K. Tiwari, Director, CARI, Izatnagar, shared that only migratory birds were not responsible for all diseases. With the right research and proper and timely interventions, the diseases of poultry can be prevented. It is necessary to maintain biosecurity and hygiene.
Dr N.K. Mahajan, Member of Empowered Committee to monitor Animal Health, Animal Husbandry Department, and GoI said that broiler, breeder, and layer all are three categories of birds. These viral diseases cause a lot of damage, but to avoid it, giving a lot of antibiotics causes more damage. Vaccination is the only option to avoid this loss along with following other important measures like biosecurity and hygiene.
Delivering the closing remarks, Mr Jagbir Singh Dhal, President, AIPBA thanked all the panelists, poultry experts, and farmers for joining the webinar and expressed hope that this discussion will help in making the right policies in the interest of the poultry sector.
All the panelists were unanimous that there should be biosecurity, hygiene, and most importantly vaccination in the poultry sector so that the small farmers of our poultry sector can avoid the massive economic loss caused by the disease.
All the officers present from the Animal Husbandry Department supported AIPBA webinar initiative and assured that all the key points of the webinar would be considered for redressal.
Follow-up Activity: Based on the outcome of the webinar, AIPBA will take up the relevant issues with policymakers to ensure that the development of the poultry sector continues and poultry farmers and related stakeholders like corn farmers and soybean farmers should also continue to benefit from the poultry sector.
All India Poultry Breeders Association was formed in 2004-5 (restructured 2020-21) with the objectives – To make Indian Poultry Atma Nirbhar and produce world class Indian Poultry Protein. – Ensure that all industry stakeholders, associations are connected through a single platform. – To Enable and provide Technological advancements to the industry. – To act as a Bridge between Indian policymakers and Industry for Poultry Industry Policy matters in overall industry coverage.
Office Bearers of the Association
– Chairman: Shri Bahadur Ali
– President: Shri Jagbir Dhull
– Vice President: Shri Suresh Chaturi
– Secretary: Shri Gulrez Alam
– Executive Director: Dr AK Rajput
– Treasurer: Dr Rama Krishna
Chennai, Tamil Nadu – June 10th, 2021 – Novus Animal Nutrition (India) Pvt. Ltd. hired Dr. Shaveta Sood as National Sales Manager – North, West & Central India. Dr. Shaveta will be responsible for sales function for North, West & Central India region reporting to Neeraj Kumar Srivastava, Managing Director – South Central Asia.
Dr. Shaveta Sood brings with her 13 years of experience working across the sales, marketing, and product management functions with companies like Vetina Healthcare, Pranav Agro, Polchem hygiene and Animal Husbandry department, Himachal Pradesh. In her last assignment she was titled Business Unit Head – Poultry Business with Vetina Healthcare. She holds a master’s degree in animal nutrition from college of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Palampur and completed Senior Management Programme with IIM, Kolkata. Dr. Shaveta, said I am delighted to be part of a wonderful Novus family and would like to express my deep gratitude. A great place with good work culture and wonderful team. I look forward to bringing my experience, skills, and network of contacts to help build on its sterling reputation.
Neeraj Kumar Srivastava, MD of Novus Animal Nutrition (India) Pvt. Ltd., said we are very excited to have Dr. Shaveta Sood on board, with her experience, technical knowledge, and management capabilities will complement our growing team.
Natural is future 2.0 is a webinar series powered by Natural Remedies Pvt. Ltd., where we invite eminent speakers across the globe to share their thoughts on the most relevant topics of the animal health industry. In the month of May, we invited Mr. Vijay Sardana, a member of the commodity derivatives advisory committee for SEBI, the Government of India as a guest speaker.
His discussion was aimed at providing the poultry farming community with an insight into the unprecedented fluctuations in the prices of raw materials for the poultry feed industry especially soybean & maize in the past few months.
“BUSINESS IS ALL ABOUT RISK-TAKING, MANAGING UNCERTAINTIES, AND TURBULENCE” BY GAUTAM ADANI
“RISK COMES FROM NOT KNOWING WHAT YOU ARE DOING” BY WARREN BUFFETT.
Mr. Sardana started his talk with these quotes. It is needless to say that his talk was about risk management which is the key to the growth of any organization. He pointed out that the Indian poultry industry has been able to manage issues such as feed conversion ratio (FCR) and disease control on par with the international poultry industry, but lags in financial risk management. And that it is time to change perspectives and have more informational discussions around cash flow, finance, and other business management aspects of poultry for a better resilient, sustainable and profitable future.
He emphasised the fact that any business must have an expense management strategy, revenue generation strategy, and risk management strategy, to generate profits. With his personal experiences, he explained the importance of developing one’s market intelligence, through understanding people dynamics, identifying local market sensors, and developing a network of market intelligence, which would give a deeper understanding of the market and help to make more calculated decisions in their businesses. Here are some of the key questions posed by participants and their answers by Mr. Sardana.
Why is there a fluctuation in the raw material prices? What are the major domestic and international factors? How will it vary in COVID times? And how to do risk management?
Mr. Sardana suggested that the poultry owners should visualize the industry from different perspectives for a better understanding of the rise in prices. The reason for the rise in the prices could firstly be due to the imbalance in the demand and supply in the market; secondly, the competing forces who may not necessarily be in the poultry or oil industry (the major players) but from the financial business who might use commodity as an asset and stock it for a better market price; looking at it from different perspectives and not only from the poultry or oil industry will give a better understanding of the situation. The scenario is the same irrespective of the national or international market since profit maximization is the goal. A better understanding of the players in the market will help to foresee the market trends and plan a better risk management strategy.
What are your thoughts on using insect proteins, and other alternatives along with Soya to manage the cost and mitigate the sudden hike in prices? He immediately pointed out that the free-range or backyard poultry mostly survives by consuming insects and producing higher quality eggs, so why not.
Is the Government under discussion for granting duty-free import of 1.2 million metric tons of Soybean? Will this shipment be allowed, and when during this covid situation? Mr. Sardana mentioned that it is under serious consideration but when it will be approved is uncertain. On the other hand, he urges the poultry industry players to contact international non-GM (genetically modified) soybean meal suppliers and be prepared if at all the Government should issue such a notice. So that one has done their research while waiting for the Government notification. Also to keep a business plan ready, while looking for other resources instead of figuring things out at a later stage.
Is the use of soap sticks, glycerol, and blood meal good for a high oil and fat diet? Would it be economically viable? Mr. Sardana suggested the poultry owners should stride carefully in these lines. Since it is a decision a nutritionist should make as several aspects need to be considered. These supplements would change the fatty acid profile of the diet. Also, its implications on FCR need to be considered. The use of low-price alternatives may need to be compensated with the inclusion of other ingredients into the formulation to keep up the nutrient requirements, finally ending up costing more.
Due to the high prices of protein sources the suppliers are adulterating the raw material with things like Melamine. What kind of negative impact would it have on the broiler and breeder’s performance?
Mr. Sardana pointed to the obvious and said that the FCR would suffer. Since the poultry bird physiology doesn’t consider the level of protein on the label of the packaging; all that matters to them is the amino acid profile. He advised the poultry farm owners to be cautious before signing agreements with vendors and to put up a penalty clause in it. He also urged the poultry farmers to get involved, and make personal visits to the suppliers, and do random sampling of the raw materials based on the FCR and inspect the suppliers instead of looking at the reports. He said, “Do thorough research before selecting the right vendor.”
Why was there a sudden increase in Soymeal DOC (De-oiled cakes) without any speculation, this year?
According to him, there is an imbalance in demand and supply chain. He speculated the following three reasons: firstly, the forecasted production of 12.25 million ton of Soybean for this year was not accurate; The export of Soybean DOC this year was twice as compared to last year; Maybe there has been an increase in protein (Soya) based diet consumption in humans, due to the pandemic. The data for which is yet to be calculated, but can be speculated based on behaviour pattern.
The prices that we are comparing in the Indian market, are non-GM (genetically modified) Soya and in the international market is GM Soya, when will the Indian Government allow GM Soya into the market and any strategy for the future?
Mr. Sardana suggested to analyse this objectively, the cost of GM Soya in the international market last year (2020) was Rs. 26,000 per ton while non-GM Soya in India was Rs. 36,000-38,000 per ton during the season. In such a scenario if GM Soya is allowed into the Indian market, what should happen to the Indian farmers. This will have serious implications.
When will the Soya prices come down to normal?
He asked the farmers to wait for the coming season, about 5 months more. He also advised the poultry farmer to manage their business strategies accordingly, probably by placing fewer birds to reduce the pressure.
It was an insightful discussion where Mr. Sardana, started his talk with the importance of understanding the market and strategizing for risk management; he reminded the simple basics of business, the demand-supply chain; and also gave examples from his experiences in strategizing for the unknown risks that one might encounter. To watch the talk, click Natural is Future 2.0: Webinar with Mr. Vijay Sardana – YouTube
Mr. Puneet Gupta, Director M/S Panchkula Farms Pvt Ltd, Barwala, district Panchkula, Haryana (India), has been appointed Member of Haryana Audit Advisory Board. Apart from commercial layer poultry farming, they are also in the business of producing Bio CNG from poultry litter and other organic matters.
There is no magic bullet for gut health. Whilst no single non-antibiotic product that is currently available on the market appears to be able to fully replace the functional effects of AGPs and can match similar gut health conditions. There are a variety of products that operate on similar axes and may form part of a multi-factorial displacement strategy for good gut health.
As per Law of diminishing returns, AGPs as well as alternative therapeutics or other agents will have improved functionality in populations of animals with poor performance and in diets with compromised nutritional value. Up late there has been so much of research on gut health benefits of enzymes. In this article, we will try to discuss on the same.
Exogenous enzymes and intestinal microbiome:
Inclusion of exogenous enzymes shift the site of digestion to anterior intestinal segments thereby ‘starving’ the microbiome of the posterior gut, producing fermentable oligosaccharides from previously largely inert fibrous material with a beneficial effect on intestinal pH and enterocyte proliferation. Also, use of enzymes improve the integrity of intestinal mucin, increase gastric residency of feed, reduced inflammatory responses and other beneficial effects on immune function and resilience.
Enzymes and enteric resilience:
Consideration of exogenous protease effects in reduction of undigested dietary and endogenous protein flow to the caudal gut, reduced inflammatory effects associated with proteinaceous antinutrients and improved gut tensile strength and tight junction integrity. Thus, exogenous enzymes may improve the stability of the gut by reducing substrate for putrefactive organisms, increasing substrate for beneficial fermentative organisms, and enhancing the ability of the intestine to defend itself against unwanted bacterial Colonization.
Use of enzymes stabilize endogenous losses:
Nonetheless, it is apparent that Xylanase, phytase and Protease influence both the digestibility of ingested nutrients and the secretion and loss of endogenous nutrients. Accurate partitioning of the value of feed enzymes between exogenously derived benefits and those of an endogenous persuasion is important to ensure additivity of nutrient release (or matrix) values. Exogenous enzymes may be effective agents in maintenance of gut health through promotion of a more stable mucin layer.
Role of enzymes in gastric emptying:
Xylanase addition to both a maize/wheat-based and a maize-based diet resulted in an increase in peptide YY (PYY) concentration in the serum of broilers. As PYY is one of the hormones responsible for gastric emptying it is possible that xylanase may influence passage rate of feed, or residence time in the gastric phase of digestion, possibly via the ileal brake mechanism. The ileal brake mechanism is a control system that detects increased fermentation in the hind gut via VFA production by the microflora and stimulation of the enterocytes. When xylanases are added to poultry diet they generate xylo-oligomers which are more readily fermented in the hind-gut than their source polymers, stimulating ileal-brake effects and PYY.
Enzymes alter bacterial fermentation:
Elevated caecal temperature was observed in birds fed xylanase of approximately 1.5 °C, effects that imply increased fermentative activity. Altered substrate flow to the hind gut may originate from increased nutrient removal from the intestine by the host and a change in fermentable substrate for the resident bacteria in the posterior gut.
Enzyme influences immune proteins:
The amino acid profile of acute phase and other immune proteins are also known. A challenge (pathological or environmental) that increases the need for protective measures such as acute phase proteins or mucin, will have a somewhat calculable influence on amino acid requirements and the ideal ratio between amino acids may change.
Enzyme Combination Suiting Best For Gut
Whilst some biomarkers for like mucin flow or digestibility in general do exist it may be necessary to use more low-tech approaches such as measurement of litter moisture, water intake, excreta characteristics (moisture, consistency, colour, pH), observation of animal behavior and so on. The more information is available on the relative health and performance of the population and diet characteristics the more bespoke the enzyme recommendation can become.
In the absence of such inputs then an enzyme solution should ideally be broad-spectrum but comprised of individual activities that are specifically monitored and guaranteed (thermotolerant, measurable and so on). Activities that have been shown to improve nutrition and health status include Xylanase, Glucanase, Arabinofuranosidase, Amylase, Protease, Phytase, Pectinase, Mannanase and Alpha-galactosidase.
It is likely that not all of these enzymes will be required but a reasonable admixture that covers a wide range of substrates is logically useful and will assist the animal to manage the intestinal environment and ensure stability. Use of Phytase, Xylanase and Protease is crucial in maintaining performance and reduction of variation among growing birds in Indian conditions providing support to gut health.
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(This article is a work of Novel Life Consultant and is for public information purpose only. This has been written to share knowledge on poultry nutrition and is not a legal information or statement. Reference to any specific product or entity doesn’t constitute an endorsement or recommendation by the company. The views expressed by the writer are their own and their appearance does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.)
Natural Remedies is spreading its wings to new geographies and is growing at a rapid pace.
In the last year, we performed exceptionally well and look forward to growing at an accelerated pace in the upcoming years.
Helming this growth is no easy task, and this requires the insight and ability of a veteran in this field.
In this regard, Mr. K. Narender Reddy is being promoted as the Chief Operating Officer from his current role of Commercial Director.
Mr. Reddy has been with Natural Remedies for over 30 years and has risen to this position from being a Veterinary Sales Representative.
Mr. Reddy will be leading the organisation by building a strong culture that embodies the vision, and values that NRPL stands for.
In this new role as the COO, apart from sales, marketing, formulation & development functions, he will take care of the entire operations for providing strong customer support. He will also oversee strategic customer success and relationships in Asia Pacific and European markets. He will also spearhead the operations in the Australia, UK and US markets as Natural Remedies continues into its next phase of growth.
We wish Mr. K. Narender Reddy the very best as he takes up this monumental responsibility.
Nutricare is now in Philippines with the concept of “Optimization of farm productivity using phytogenics”.
They had their recent product launch in Philippines with their partner Enovet. Both Enovet and Nutricare team emphasized on reducing antimicrobial resistance by minimising use of Antibiotics. Phytogenics was the talk show and was detailed by experts from the industry. Nutricare has now Mintoliv, Dysen 00, Imcare and Respomint-25 in Philippines with many more coming in future.
Nutricare is a four-decade old company having global certifications like GMP+ Certification from Control Union, Netherlands, Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP), ISO 9001-2015, Organic Certification and Halal Certification and currently exporting in more than 25 countries across the globe.
“We offer products in segments like Gut health, General health care, Liver care, Skin and wound management, Respiratory care, Immunomodulation and many more. We follow philosophy of green and organic products, so no chemicals are used and these products are potential replacement of antibiotics”.
From recent past, they are exporting to countries like Bangladesh and Nepal and looking for good market in other countries as well with the aim of providing promising solutions in field of phytogenics.
The article suggests how incorporating natural sources in diet as feed additives can help to ameliorate negative impact of stress in birds.
Quite a few problems with poultry can be attributable to the general term ‘stress’. Chickens suffer stress just as we humans do. The general health of your chicken depends on how much stress the birds are exposed to during their everyday life. Stress can directly affect bird’s health, but also have long term implications, and it can even be critical. While many people would not normally associate a chicken as being a possible victim of stress, once you describe the causes of stress in a chicken and the detrimental effects of various factors on their health, reproduction and performance, you will identify what harm it can cause.
What is stress??
The term “stress” has been widely used in biology to describe a set of physiological and behavioural changes elicited by aversive stimuli. It is sympatho-adrenomedullary (SAM) system’s attempt to regulate homeostasis when threatened by a variety of stressors. Stress occurs when animals have to make extreme and prolonged, physiological and behavioral adjustments in order to cope with their environment. In short “STRESS” is Situations That Release Emergency Signals for Survival.
Factors causing stress
The factors which can cause stress are called stressors. Although birds might be able to tolerate a single stressor for a short period of time, multiple stressors over a long period of time may lead to distress and suffering.
Physical: Accidental injury, poor handling during treatment and vaccination, transportation stress.
Physiological: Rapid growth, sexual maturity.
Environmental: Sudden rise and fall in temperature, poor ventilation, wet litter etc.
Social: Overcrowding during brooding, difference in body weight.
Nutritional: Insufficient or excess feed, imbalance in nutrient ratio, change in type/texture of feed.
Psychological: Fear of predators, poorly handled by catchers.
Pathological: Exposure to infectious agent bacteria, viruses and fungi producing mycotoxins, or excessive stimulation of the immune system allow body succumb to disease.
How to recognize stress??
There are many factors that are responsible for stressing chickens out. Pushing these ‘high-stressors’ on a repetitive cycle causes problematic avian disease. Recognizing and understanding causes of these stress-induced problems is key to solving them. The first obvious symptom of stress will be that layers will stop laying eggs, sometimes for up to 3-4 weeks.
The first stage is a ‘fright or flight’ reaction, which is short term, neurological stage based on adrenaline release which triggers the release of glucose into the blood and helps the bird prepare to power the muscles to escape.
Second stage, Adaption is based on the endocrine system where hormones are released to control the long-term effects of stress as they adjust to the new changes in their environment. They can be identified by the level of cortisone in the blood. Diseases associated with long term stress, can be attributed to high corticosteroid production.
The third stage, Exhaustion occurs when a bird does not recover from the stressor, its body reserves are depleted, and the metabolism of normal function fails, leads to death.
Heat stress causes changes in the intestinal microbiome
Due to reduced feed intake and impaired intestinal function, the presence and activity of the commensal microbiota can also be modified. Heat stress can lead to reduced populations of beneficial microbes. At the same time, it can boost the growth of potential pathogens and lead to dysbiosis, increased gut permeability, as well as immune and metabolic dysfunction. Pathogens such as Clostridia, Salmonella, and Coliform bacteria increase in poultry exposed to heat stress, while the populations of beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria decrease. Heat stress causes damage in the gut microbiota, intestinal integrity, and villus morphology, as well as immunosuppression.
Oxidative stress is a consequence of heat stress
Oxidative stress, occurs when the amount of reactive oxygen species exceeds the antioxidant capacity of the cells. Oxidative stress damages cell proteins, lipids, and DNA, and reduces energy generation efficacy. Heat stress leads to higher cellular energy demand, promoting the generation of ROS in the mitochondria, which exceeds the antioxidant capacity of the organism. Both acute and chronic heat stress increase gut permeability, partly by increasing oxidative stress and by disrupting the expression of tight junction proteins. When the tight junction barrier is compromised, luminal substances leak into the bloodstream, which constitutes the condition described as “Leaky gut”.
Stress and immune interactions
Stress can suppress immune function. However, the ways in which chronic stress suppresses the immune system are highly specific, and only some types of defense against disease are affected. When the stress response involves the release of glucocorticoids or catecholamines, the capacity of cellular immune mechanisms is reduced. During respiratory infectious diseases and Salmonella sp. infection susceptibility towards stress is increased. Although the precise mechanism explaining this effect is not known, it has been suggested that the function of the natural-killer cells could be impaired as a result of stress and this in turn could lead to an increased susceptibility of the body to infectious agents.
Nutritional manipulation to alleviate stress
Stress has negative effects on physiological response, growth performance and laying performance, which appeared in the form of reducing feed consumption, body weight gain, egg production, feed efficiency, meat quality, egg quality and immune response. Nutritional manipulations can help in ameliorating the negative impacts of stress on birds without any side effects and they are safe and economical as well.
Diet density: As feed consumption decreases, providing a denser diet may assist in maintaining nutrient intake. Higher energy feeds may be required due to an increase in Metabolic energy requirement and low feed intake. Increasing the energy and amino acid content of diets may assist to improve performance.
Balanced crude protein: Heat production in the body normally increases with an increase in the level of proteins. Excess protein metabolism increases the heat load in poultry and exacerbates ionic imbalance. Under heat stress conditions, lower protein rations supplemented with some essential amino acids, such as methionine, lysine, threonine and tryptophan, will result in better outcomes than higher protein rations.
Increased fat percentage: Increasing the metabolizable energy content in the diet increases the intake of energy and reduces the specific dynamic action of the feed. Because fat has a lower heat increment than either carbohydrates and/or protein, a higher fat content in the diet helps mitigate the negative effects of heat stress in birds raised at higher ambient temperature. The inclusion of fat in the diet also decreases the passage rate of digesta through the gastrointestinal tract, thus increasing nutrient uptake and retention.
Proper feed form: Offering feed as pellets is a method to reduce energy expenditure for eating. The physical nature of pellets allows the bird to consume feed with less wasted energy and assists in improving bird performance. Pellets should be of proper quality with minimum number of fines to gain optimal benefits.
Introduction of Feed additives: The use of certain feed additives such as betaine, enzymes, antioxidants, mycotoxin binders, phytogenics, and probiotics to alleviate effects of heat stress
Phytogenic or phytobiotics, acquired great concern in poultry production as antibiotics alternative to improve the growth by enhancing the efficiency of feed utilization and motivating the immunity and the antioxidative status of the birds. Phytomolecules, such as Carvacrol, Cinnamaldehyde, Capsaicin, Silymarin, Cineole, and Menthol, among others, have been found to alleviate heat stress through their antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant capacities, leading to improved bird’s health and performance.
Betaine has a specific role in maintaining poultry biological processes such as osmoregulation, cellular water and ion balance, methionine-sparing, fat distribution and immunity and improves the bird’s capacity to resist heat stress. Betaine also acts as a methyl donor, allowing feed cost savings through the replacement of some of the added dietary methionine and choline.
Prebiotics like Beta-glucans and Manan-oligosaccharides (MOS) mitigates the negative effects of heat stress on broiler chickens by benefiting the intestinal microbiota, gut morphology, oxidative status, physiological stress and subsequently immune status of broiler chickens (Fig.1).
Probiotics have the ability to improve intestinal health, intestinal microbial balance and immune responses. Recently, probiotics gain more interest to mitigate the oxidative damage of heat stress in the poultry industry.
Vitamins like Vitamin C helps to reduce corticosterone levels during heat stress. It combats heat stress, oxidative stress and improves the immune response in birds. Vitamin E provides cellular protection and scavenges free radicals. It protects lymphocytes, macrophages and plasma cells against oxidative damage and improves the immune response (Fig.2)
Minerals like Selenium is involved in several biological functions, including antioxidative properties, protein composition, basal metabolic rate, and the metabolism of protein, carbohydrate, fat, and vitamin and ameliorate the negative impacts of heat stress. Zinc is involved in suppressing the free radicals by activating the antioxidative enzymes and minimize lipid peroxidation in broilers raised in heat stress conditions.
Sodium bicarbonate is an antacid and is the source of CO2 for heat stressed birds. Due to panting and the excessive loss of carbon dioxide, blood pH and acid-base balance of the bird can be impacted during heat stress. The addition of sodium bicarbonate (0.5%) to diet can enhance performance under heat stress conditions
Beside adopting supplementation of various dietary additives, several strategies should be adopted to overcome the drastic effects of environmental stress. Selection of rearing systems with improved ventilation, proper housing conditions and recommended stocking density is important for improving the performances during high ambient temperature.
In such a competitive environment, when birds are ready to be slaughtered for marketing within five weeks, any stress to poultry has severe effects on the body weight gain and hence in economy, therefore it should be identified at earlier stage and should be managed properly to attain maximum productivity.
As global animal production has rapidly shifted towards reduced Antibiotic free, “Gut health” has become a popular expression and all-encompassing concept in the scientific community. The gastro-intestinal tract must provide a barrier function protecting against harmful environmental elements (e.g. toxins and pathogenic microbes), while simultaneously permitting appropriate nutrient absorption. Successful animal performance depends on the interplay between the intestine, microbiota, diet, and a multitude of environmental factors.
The shift to antibiotic free production or better gut health often results in the increase of soybean meal inclusion as there are limited in the number of efficacious protein sources that successfully reduce soybean meal content. Soybean meal is the most widely used major protein source in poultry production across the world. However, SBM contains various anti-nutritional factors that may affect intestinal homeostasis and impair nutrient utilization in poultry. The main anti-nutritional factors in SBM, are trypsin inhibitors (TI), oligosaccharides, such as raffinose and stachyose, and the antigen Glycinin, β-conglycinin and Lectins. Diets that include high levels of soybean meal contain proportionally higher anti-nutritional factors and may pose the risk of impaired performance.
Chen et al. (2016) analyzed the content of TI and Urease Activity (UA) in more than 1000 samples of SBM from all over the world and observed a high degree of variability in the reported ANF values, both within the same country and amongst different origins.
Chen et. al., The Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society, 2020
The elevated variability and its potential negative impact on performance highlights the importance of knowing the content of anti-nutritional factors in SBM for poultry formulations.
In this article, we will review mainly the role of Trypsin Inhibitors (TI) in broilers.
Why Should we care about TI?
Trypsin and chymotrypsin are important digestive enzymes that are secreted by the pancreas as the inactive enzyme precursors trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen. Trypsin activates itself via positive feedback and converts chymotrypsinogen and other inactive enzymes into their active forms. As Tis are protein in nature and one of the most anti nutritional components of SBM, they compete to bind to trypsin therefore affecting the digestion process. They have been correlated with rapid feed passage and decrease in digestibility of broilers with a relevant economic impact. The analysis is still more expensive, complex and time consuming for TI, for this reason, other parameters are commercially used as indirect SBM quality indicators, such as Urease activity and Protein solubility.
There are two types of TI present in Soya, Kunitz TI which is larger molecule & Bowman-Birk TI which is smaller molecule. But soyabean seed contain around 14% more Bowman Birk TI than Kunitz TI.
Consequence of TI for Soya Bean and bird performance:
Excessive quantities of TI in feed will cause pancreatic hypertrophy leading to poor growth and decreased performance (Pacheco et al. 2014; García-Rebollar et al. 2016; Rada et al. 2017). This pancreatic hypertrophy is a compensatory modulation by the body to offset the effect of ingested trypsin inhibitors (Liener 1981; Waldroup et al. 1985).
Linear increase in pancreas size with increasing TI content in SB
TI also affect the nutritive value of SBM. Because of loss of endogenous protein there is reduced digestion which affects the nitrogen balance, gut viscosity resulting into reduced live weight and negative impact on feed efficiency. Palliyeguru et al. (2011) demonstrated dietary soya TI elicited an increased severity of sub-clinical necrotic enteritis. When amino acid digestibility is compromised, the ileal ingesta will have a relatively high content of undigested amino acids that pass into the large intestine and cecal tonsils, where microbial fermentation will occur. C. perfringens, a pathogenic agent of necrotic enteritis, needs specific amino acids and peptides for its proliferation (Nakamura et al., 1968).
Using the Data from the simulation conducted by Havenstein et al.(2003) with “1957” broilers versus ‘2001” broiler it is possible to estimate the TI intake of the “1957” birds fed 1957 diets and compare it with the estimate of TI intake by the “2001” birds fed 2001 diets.
Because of improvement of modern broilers in terms of average feed intake and body weight they consume more than three times TI than 1957 birds considering the same amount of TI in SBM.
The effects of TIA are particularly strong in young animals. It has been shown that overcooking of soybean meal decreases digestibility of amino acids (Lee and Garlich, 1992; Parsons et al., 1992). The explanation for the decreased amino acid digestibility and reduced growth responses appear to be related to the Maillard reaction with cross-linking involved to a lesser extent.
Correlation of TI (AOAC) & indirect Parameters for SBM quality:
Currently, the analytical technique most commonly used to measure soybean meal quality is protein solubility, perhaps combined with the urease test. The urease test has been used for some time as a measure of soybean meal processing. Trypsin inhibitors (TI) and urease activity (UA) are the two most relevant quality measurements for soybean products as feed ingredients for animals. TI were reported to be correlated with UA, so feed processing plants use UA as an indicator of TI in soybean meal (SBM). Chen et.al (2019) conducted a study to determine the levels of TI and UA in 414 SBM samples from 19 different countries and to validate whether TI and UA are correlated. They found that TI were poorly correlated with UA in solvent extracted SBM samples, suggesting that UA should not be used as a surrogate indicator for TI content in soybean products.
How to deal with TI in SBM?
Soybean meal (SBM) is the most important source of dietary protein for poultry. Although TI is reduced by heat treatment, overheating has a negative impact on protein quality and amino acid digestibility. Exogenous Protease enzymes can improve digestibility of feedstuffs, lower feed costs and improve animal performance. Proteases improve animal performance and nutrient digestibility by decreasing digesta viscosity, improving endogenous enzyme activity and decreasing pancreas weight (Bedford and Classen, 1993; Bedford and Schulze, 1998; Erdaw et al., 2017a,b; Yan et al., 2017).
As mentioned earlier the determination in the laboratory of the TI content of SBM and its relationship with AA availability is tedious and time-consuming and provides inconsistent results. Also, the traditional processes of treating SBM can’t remove the anti-nutritional factors to a safe level. Therefore, use of exogenous protease is very effective in reducing the deleterious effect of TI in SBM. Liu et al., in 2013 conducted a study wherein they used a protease enzyme (Cibenza EP150) with different levels of TI and found that protease enzyme was able to destroy almost all trypsin inhibitors (both Bowman-Birk & Kunitz TI) present in soyabean meal (at 1:1 ratio) and destroy substancially even in higher concentración (2:1) of TI as well.
Wedekind et al., in 2020 showed that addition of exogenous protease (Cibenza EP150) in a diet containing FFS(with TI 8.15mg/g) improved the amino acid digestibility and at the same time reduce the pancreas weight also indicating a potential amelioration of the negative effect of TI from FFS.
Conclusion:
There are lot of scientific evidences on the negative effect of soybean trypsin inhibitors in chickens. They can not only adversely affect the productive performance of chickens but can also impair their intestinal health. The beneficial responses of protease are likely due to decreases in endogenous amino acid losses, but in vitro evidence also demonstrates the ability of protease to hydrolyze Bowman-Birk and Kunitz-trypsin inhibitor proteins. Thus, there might be both direct and indirect mechanisms whereby amino acid digestibility is improved with proteases and so is the bird’s performances.