Author: vinayakadmin

Poultry production in many developing communities is frequently characterized by management challenges and low productivity and is faced with several other constraints. Of growing concern is that climate change may be impacting chicken growth and development, and ultimately overall poultry production. Temperature is considered the most important factor of all bioclimatic parameters affecting livestock. As summer approaches, poultry farmers face increased challenges in maintaining the respiratory health of their flocks. High temperatures, humidity, and ammonia buildup can lead to severe respiratory distress, impacting growth, feed conversion efficiency, and overall productivity.

The Hidden Dangers of Summer Stress in Poultry

Mammals mainly rely on sweat glands to dissipate heat and maintain body temperature balance, but poultry lack sweat glands, so they primarily dissipate heat through respiration when the temperature is too high. High-frequency breathing leads to increased susceptibility to lung tissue damage in a heat-stress environment. The heat or summer stress not only brings lowered performance in poultry but also leads to immunosuppression issues, which makes them more susceptible to bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic infections. It results in disease outbreaks and causes heavy mortality.

Why Is Summer a Critical Period for Poultry?

• Alters antibody and cell-mediated immune responses, thereby immunosuppressing effect and increasing susceptibility to pathogens.
• Vaccine failures are common in the summer season.
• Summer stress also results in immunodeficiency and disease outbreaks in poultry.
• Heat stress in summer leads to reduced feed consumption, lower body weight gain, a high feed conversion ratio (FCR), and dehydration.
• It also causes a variety of changes in the gastrointestinal tract, including alteration of the protective microbiota as well as decreased integrity of the intestinal epithelium, increasing enteric infections such as Necrotic Enteritis.
• An increase in energy demands and high mortality are observed due to heat stress.

Observations in Poultry During Summer:

• Panting (open-mouth breathing) – Rapid, shallow breathing to promote evaporative cooling.
• Increased respiratory rate and lung injury – Faster breathing as birds attempt to release excess heat.
• Wing spreading – Birds extend their wings to enhance airflow and dissipate heat.
• Seeking ventilation – Birds move to well-ventilated areas, such as near feeders, perches, or wires, to cool down.
• Reduced feed intake – Decreased food consumption helps minimize metabolic heat production.

Poultry Management in Summer:

• Water management- Ensure clean, cool, and continuous water supply.
• Housing management- Proper ventilation, shading, and cooling techniques.
• Feed management- Adjust nutrition to support heat-stressed birds.
• General management- Biosecurity measures to prevent disease outbreaks.

Alleviate Summer Stress Naturally

Phytogenic feed additives (PFAs, or botanicals) can alleviate the negative effects of heat stress during the summer. They are broadly defined as plant-derived bioactive compounds, often incorporated in animal feed as blends of herbs, spice extracts, and essential oils. Phytogenic feed additives enhance the first line of defence against respiratory issues that arise during summer in poultry. The bioactive components in phytogenic substances provide their positive characteristics, while the phenolic constituents in plant products act as antioxidative molecules, making them beneficial for the health and growth of poultry.

*References on request

A stress-free environment is crucial in poultry production. There are several types, such as cold stress, heat stress, high stocking density, and diseases that can affect birds and cause many unfavourable changes. Stress reduces feed intake and growth, as well as impairs immune response and function, resulting in high susceptibility to disease. These effects are correlated with higher corticosteroid levels along with the induction of excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and thus oxidative stress. Stress affects the performance, health, and welfare of commercially reared birds and alters their meat and egg quality, thus endangering the sustainability of the poultry industry.

Types of Stress in Poultry:

Biological Changes in Poultry Due to Stress:

1. Behavioral changes

Stress leads to reduced feed intake, decreased movement and walking activity, elevation of the wings to enhance heat dissipation, and a significant increase in energy demand as the animal struggles to maintain normal homeostasis in the body.

2. Physiological changes

Different types of stress induce oxidative stress, disrupt acid-base balance, and alter the cecal microbial profile, leading to digestive and metabolic complications.

3. Neuroendocrine changes

Stress disturbs the hormonal balance of birds by increasing the secretion of the stress hormone, i.e., corticosterone. It also reduces the biosynthesis of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone, thereby affecting reproductive function.

4. Production changes

Under stressful conditions, animals experience higher mortality rates, reduced body weight gain, poor meat quality, and a decline in both the quality and quantity of eggs produced.

Dietary Formulation Strategies

Several approaches have been considered to boost bird immunity to overcome stress-associated effects. Of these, dietary supplementation of certain nutrients and management modifications, such as light management, are commonly considered. Following are a few examples of dietary strategies:

1. Dietary fat
2. Essential amino acids
3. Dietary electrolytes

Role of Vitamin C in stress management:

Vitamin C plays a crucial role in boosting immunity, reducing stress, enhancing growth, and improving overall performance in poultry. It is required to maintain normal body metabolic activities to meet physiological requirements. It exhibits antioxidant effects. Generally, vitamin C can be synthesized by poultry, but the synthesis is reduced or the requirements for vitamin C are increased in poultry during times of environmental, nutritional, or pathological stress.

Hence, vitamin C-enriched feed is the most effective alternative to mitigate the negative impacts of stress on poultry.

Are Synthetic Vitamins as Good as Natural:

                                                                                                                    Herbo C

Herbo C is a powdered herbal blend of plants with a high vitamin C content. It provides a natural source of vitamin C for birds, which acts as an immunomodulator and stress buster in birds. Herbo C modulates cytokine secretions and histamine release, thereby showing an enhanced first line of defense. It is also a rich source of antioxidants, which help in optimizing the body’s resistance against various infectious diseases and reducing mortality in young chicks. It is a natural anti-stress and apoptogenic for chicks and birds.

“Immunity, Productivity, and Stress Protection—All in One Natural Solution”

*References on request

The growing demand for high-quality poultry meat has led to genetic selection for fast-growing broilers. This enhances body weight and FCR, boosting the profitability and productivity of farmers. However, intensive selection can impact muscle structure and metabolism, leading to muscle myopathies that compromise meat tenderness and texture.

Factors like low oxygen, oxidative stress, and disturbed homeostasis, contribute to muscle myopathies. These conditions lead to inflammation, myodegeneration, fibrosis, and lipidosis. Muscle myopathies not only affect the economic aspect of the poultry industry due to the removal of affected parts but also reduce meat quality, making it tougher and less desirable. Kuttappan et al. (2016) reported that the percentage of broilers with WS or WB was as high as 90%, causing an economic loss of about $200 million to $1 billion per year to the U.S. poultry industry.

Muscle Myopathies That Affect Tenderness

These abnormalities lead to tougher, lower-quality meat:
• White Striping (WS) meat – Characterized by white streaks of fat that interfere with the meat’s natural texture.
• Wooden Breast (WB) – Identified by pale, bulging areas with significant hardness, making the meat stiff and chewy.
• Spaghetti Meat (SM) – Causes muscle fibers to separate, resulting in a mushy, fibrous texture.

Impact of Muscle Myopathies on Meat

• Poor meat texture and undesirable visual appearance.
• Lower sensory qualities affecting consumer preference.
• Reduced protein content and increased fat and moisture levels.
• Higher final pH affecting processing efficiency.

With muscle myopathies reducing meat quality and increasing losses, producers need a reliable solution to maintain profitability and consumer trust. TENDERO is a novel poultry feed additive that improves meat texture and tenderness eventually reducing losses.
TENDERO is a combination of phyto-actives that reduces muscle stiffness, enhances protein balance, and improves meat texture. It is an effective dietary supplement for broiler production systems, providing chicken meat free of abnormalities like woody breast, white striping, and spaghetti meat.

How Does TENDERO Work?

Muscular abnormalities show a common mechanism, often leading to tougher meat with higher fat content and lower protein levels. TENDERO acts as an amino acid optimizer, enhancing protein accretion and composition. It reduces muscle protein degradation, leaving less space for fat accumulation. This results in the improved texture of meat, protein-lipid-water interactions enhancing tenderness, and firmer yet tender meat retaining its nutritional value.

By using TENDERO, farmers can enhance meat tenderness, making it more appealing to consumers while significantly reducing economic losses.

Better texture, better tenderness, better nutrition—experience the TENDERO difference!

*References on Request*

In poultry farming, feed quality is important in ensuring the ideal growth, health, and productivity. Proper feed particle size is crucial for optimal digestion and gut development. Whole grain feed causes uneven nutrient intake, lower digestibility, and potential mycotoxin contamination. Mash feed is dusty, leading to high wastage, selective feeding, and poor nutrient absorption. Also, fine particles pass quickly through the gizzard with minimal grinding, resulting in a smaller gizzard, an enlarged proventriculus, and reduced intestinal length eventually reducing their exposure to digestive enzymes. As birds grow consumption of fine particles becomes difficult. This may result in an incomplete nutrient breakdown, negatively affecting FCR. Hence, pelleting is used to obtain the desired feed particle size required for poultry of a specific age.

Pelleting compacts feed particles, ensuring uniformity and reducing nutrient loss. It ensures optimum nutrition intake by minimizing ingredient disintegration and promoting uniform distribution. Pellet binds the fine particles to stimulate gizzard activity, improving feed utilization, growth performance, immunity, and gut health. It reduces wastage, and selective eating behavior, and improves feed efficiency, handling, and storage stability.

Maintaining pellet quality is important for poultry productivity and profitability. Various factors, such as feed formulation, processing conditions, and post-processing practices, can affect the production of high-quality, durable pellets.

Need of Pellet Binder

Coarse particles, Insufficient conditioning, excessive fats and oils, incorrect die configuration, or inadequate pressure significantly affect production and enhance animal productivity. In order to minimize these consequences pellet binders are used.

Pellet binders ensure the pellet remains intact, durable, and nutritionally effective throughout processing and transportation. It also improves the pellet durability index, ensures effective binding of raw materials, and minimizes fine particles and moisture retention eventually improving digestion, nutrition absorption, and bird performance.

Traditionally, synthetic binders like polymethyl carbamide (PMC) have been widely used to strengthen pellets. However, with growing concerns about sustainability, performance efficiency, and cost-effectiveness, Ultrapell can be considered a viable organic alternative to synthetic binders.

Ultrapell: The Natural Solution for Superior Pelleting

Ultrapell is an organic pellet binder specifically designed for poultry feed processing. It is a thermo-reactive binder that is stable at room temperature and therefore will mix well with other feed ingredients. Once the feed mix is exposed to moisture and heat in the conditioner, this organic feed binder binds other feed ingredients. It enhances pelleting capacity and reduces energy consumption at the feed mills.

Ultrapell significantly reduces dustiness and dry matter loss from feed. It improves pellet durability compared to synthetic binders and the control group.

Benefits of Ultrapell

• Improves pellet durability and stability.
• Easily distributed in feed.
• Improves transportation convince.
• Prevents particle disintegration.
• Supports higher production and lower energy consumption.
• Reduces waste.

For poultry farmers to improve feed stability, nutrient retention, and profitability, Ultrapell is the ultimate natural solution for durable pellet quality.

*References on Request*

Production of eggs containing the desired content of omega 3 is expected to continuously increase in the future, reasonably due to increasing consumers’ demand for superior egg quality. As the most affordable protein source, individuals increasingly prefer to consume eggs. Hence, providing eggs with a higher content of Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) is the most convenient way to fulfill the nutritional demands of consumers. The three main omega-3 fatty acids are Alpha-linolenic acid, C18:3 n-3 (ALA), Eicosapentaenoic Acid, C20:5 n-3 (EPA), and Docosahexaenoic Acids, C22:6 n-3 (DHA). ALA is found mainly in plant oils such as flaxseed, soybean, and canola oils. DHA and EPA are found in fish and other seafood.

ROLE OF OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS

Omega-3 fatty acids support the proper functioning of every cell in the body. They’re a vital part of cell membranes, which help to provide structure and supporting interactions between cells. Omega-3s are highly concentrated in cells of the eyes and brain. In addition, they also provide the body with energy (calories) and support the health of many body systems. These include the cardiovascular system, endocrine system, immune system, etc.

Omega-3s are found naturally in some foods and are added to some fortified foods. You can get adequate amounts of omega-3s by eating a variety of foods, including the following:

• Fish and other seafood (especially cold-water fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel, tuna, herring, and sardines)
• Nuts and seeds (such as flaxseed, chia seeds, and walnuts)
• Plant oils (such as flaxseed oil, soybean oil, and canola oil)
• Fortified foods (such as certain brands of eggs, yogurt, juices, milk, soy beverages, and infant formulas)

By integrating omega-3 fatty acids into layer bird diets, producers can achieve economic benefits through enhanced product quality, improved animal health, and access to premium market segments. Eggs can be designed through dietary approaches either by supplementation of specific nutrients, or certain herbs or specific drugs that have functional and therapeutic properties.

MANIPULATING THE HEN’S DIET: TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED COMPOUNDS IN EGG.

The majority of birds and animals including human beings cannot synthesize these n-3 fatty acids, hence they are dietary essential. Enriching diets of layers with omega-3 precursors is the most effective strategy to enhance functional properties in eggs, and the overall performance of layer birds. The total fat content in the egg yolk cannot be altered but its fatty acid composition can be altered, by changing the type of supplements used in the hens’ diet.

BENEFITS OF OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS TO POULTRY

• Increases essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)
• Improves the quality of egg
• Increases egg mass
• Decrease in saturated and trans fatty acids
• Results in more than 3-fold increase in the omega-3 fatty acids content of eggs
• Strong antioxidants prevent severe inflammation of the tissue

BENEFITS OF OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS TO CONSUMER

• Supports brain and cardiovascular health
• Reduces cholesterol and increases high-density lipoproteins (HDL)
• Improves vision, skin, and immune system
• Helps in Diabetes and Rheumatoid arthritis
• Lowers triglyceride concentration
• Stabilizes membrane structure
• Improves immune strength

ALPHALINOMEGA

ALPHALINOMEGA is an omega fatty acid supplement for omega-fortified chicken and eggs. It is an innovative poultry feed supplement that contains major essential fatty acids and can be easily administered via water. The enrichment of omega-3 fatty acids in poultry is directly linked to the amount provided via diet. ALPHALINOMEGA also helps in the high absorption of omega fatty acids (up to 98%) and improves FCR, leading to better weight gain, and improved overall health of the poultry.

“Omega-3 enriched eggs: Better for hens, best for you!”

*References on request