September 24, 2020
Lallemand: Using probiotics to manage poultry feed costs
Recent findings confirm that Lallemand's BACTOCELL - Pediococcus acidilactici CNCM I-4622 (MA 18/5M) - represents an additional tool to manage ration costs for poultry production, the company said.
Mikulski et al. (2020) conducted a study to determine the effect of P. acidilactici supplementation in diets with different energy levels on laying hen performance.
Despite a 100kcal ME/kg of feed difference, the probiotic/low energy group displayed a similar laying rate, equivalent feed conversion rate and exported egg mass than the control/ standard energy group. The researchers concluded that the probiotic was able to compensate for the effect of a 100kcal ME/ kg of feed energy dilution on the laying performance.
The research suggests that the probiotic supplement exerts a positive influence on dietary energy utilisation. It concluded that P. acidilactici CNCM I-4622 supplementation on a reduced-energy diet can be a viable strategy for lowering feed costs while maintaining laying performance and egg quality.
Moreover, it appears hens fed the probiotic diet have better performance than hens without the probiotic (P<0.05) when comparing the effect of the probiotic with an equivalent diet at the same energy level. This is consistent with the scientific and field performance knowledge gathered during the last 20 years of P. acidilactici CNCM I-4622 usage in laying hens. Overall, there is a 3% increase in egg production and a 2.7% improvement in feed conversion (Demey et al., 2018).
The new findings show P. acidilactici CNCM I-4622 brings egg producers another tool to manage ration costs by improving dietary energy utilisation. Laying hens will extract more energy from the feed. This gives nutritionists two options:
- Using the probiotics on top of the formula to improve overall performance;
- Using P. acidilactici CNCM I-4622 to reduce the cost of energetic raw material (30-50kcal/kg of feed depending on the performance targeted).
- Lallemand