The current Covid-19 situation disturbs the supply chain of key feed ingredients
The serious health crisis that the World is currently going through caused by the Coronavirus pandemic is having a major impact on the production processes of our poultry industry. The human resources organizations both in feed mills and slaughterhouses, as well as the technical management of farms, is disturbed by the directives of containment measures for staff and also by the increasing risks of supply disruption of many essential ingredients and feed additives for poultry nutrition.
For instance, the production and availability of several synthetic amino acids and vitamins will decrease. Both are essential for good production and growth of poultry. Shortage situations, depending on the context and regions, are likely to occur, causing nutritionists to face unusual situations. They will have to reformulate their poultry feed ranges according to these new supply constraints.
Let’s take a concrete example with Threonine. Over the last decade, due to the continuous improvement in genetic potential with least cost formulation, dietary Threonine requirements have changed a lot. Threonine is now the third limiting essential amino acid after methionine and lysine in corn-soybean based diets for broilers (Figure 1).
Many scientific publications have shown the effects of dietary levels of Threonine on growth performance, gut morphology, immunity and carcass characteristics in broilers. Therefore, dietary imbalance of Threonine results in poor growth performance in broilers and meat-producing poultry.
Poultry nutritionists have to reformulate their feed and take more nutritional risks
A potential shortage in synthetic Threonine will lead to a strategic formulation change for nutritionists. They can either increase the total Crude Protein content to deliver the targeted amount of Threonine or decrease the total nutritional density of the fee
INCREASE THE TOTAL CRUDE PROTEIN CONTENT
In order to achieve the optimal ratios between essential amino acids (methionine, lysine, threonine, cystine,…), a balance between the main raw materials needs to be modified. For example, soybean meal and wheat are well known sources of natural Threonine (Figure 2).
Subsequently, they will potentially increase in the poultry formulations. However, there is a downside to this strategy. The total protein content of the diets, as well as the soluble and insoluble fibers content will increase. They have direct consequences on the interactions between microbiome and digestive functions of poultry. Thus zootechnical performances could be maintained but it will create potentially more Nitrogen residues in the gastrointestinal tract. This could lead to an excess of available substrates for pathogenic bacteria such as Clostridium perfringens, E. coli and a higher likelihood microenvironment for dysbacteriosis, severe cases of enteritis, wet litter and pododermatitis.
DECREASE THE TOTAL NUTRITIONAL DENSITY
Under these conditions, optimal levels of the main essential amino acids will be difficult to achieve to match performance objectives. Poultry needs will not be covered to express their growth potential. Dysbacteriosis and wet litter will be at a lower risk. However, zootechnical performances will be negatively affected.
In both cases, nutritional equilibrium will be modified. Safety margins in terms of digestive health or zootechnical performances will be reduced. Similar examples of other essential amino acids or vitamin deficiencies could easily be reported.
Bacillus-based probiotics are a key essential feed additive to mitigate these risks
Bacillus-based probiotics are particularly well-suited for use in poultry feeds. They are a sustainable, natural solution, and a part of prevention programs on the farm. Their spores are metabolically dormant and resilient to environmental stresses, including pelleting.
Bacillus can colonize the top of the intestinal villi and compete against pathogens with several major benefits for the bird’s intestine:
• Improve intestinal absorption of nutrients by protecting the villi
• Control pathogens by freeing-up bacteriocins which inhibit their growth (C. Perfringens).
• Control pathogens by reducing the amount of available substrates through the release of enzymes and competitive exclusion (pathogens such as E. coli, C. Perfringens).
In these particular circumstances of shortages with high variability in supply and constant need for adjustment, it is important to find ways to secure the day-to-day production in the poultry industry.
Thanks to their modes of action, Bacillus licheniformis and B. subtilis-based products from Chr. Hansen (such as GALLIPRO®, GALLIPRO® Tect and GALLIPRO® MS) are suitable solutions to support:
• Feed formulation safety
• Expected zootechnical performances
• Digestive health and Microbiome Agilit
In these particular circumstances, Chr. Hansen is making all its efforts to maintain its production capacity to meet the market demand. Our global product set-up is well coordinated and flexible enough that we can adjust and transfer production from one site to another if need be, to the extent it’s possible in terms of logistics.
