ISSUE FOCUS 48 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE February 2024 “Raw fibre concentrates could be a powerful tool to control the wet litter syndrome. When applying feedstuffs with a high raw fiber concentration to poultry feeds the risk of reduced performance is certainly a legitimate worry, but according to trials described in literature there is no risk of reducing performance in poultry when supplementing a raw fibre concentrate with up to 0.8%. Raw fiber concentrates may even have positive impact on animal performance.” Today modern poultry flocks are pushed to their performance limit therefore house management is critical. In poultry houses ventilation, water supply, litter moisture, air quality and temperature control are of particular importance. Often litter moisture reaches irreversible levels in broiler houses during the 4-5 week housing period, causing economic and ecological problems (feed path lesions, breast blisters, ammonia...). Hence, in order to reduce productivity losses and to avoid environmental as well as animal welfare problems in poultry production it is necessary to control litter quality, especially the moisture content is of high priority. In Europe, until now, litter quality is merely an issue in broiler houses. Especially the high energy costs during the winter housing period make it nearly impossible to provide sufficient ventilation. These conditions cause wet litter. In the near future cages for layers will be banned in Europe, suggesting litter quality will be an issue in alternative housing systems for layers as well. RAW FIBRE CONCENTRATES – WHAT ARE THEY BASED ON? The term “raw fibre concentrate” describes fibre sources with a crude fibre content of at least 60%. Commercially available raw fibre concentrates are based on lignocellulose. The products are free of mycotoxins and deliver very thin and quite long particles (200 µm long). RAW FIBRE CONCENTRATES AND THEIR IMPACT ON LITTER QUALITY The impact of crude fibre on litter quality has been discussed in detail in papers from Hartini et al. (2003) and Pottgüter (2008). In order to have impact on faeces consistency a product with a high reversible water binding capacity is required. Additionally, the product should be not fermented in the intestinal tract. Lignocellulose is an insoluble fibre source that fulfills the requirements mentioned above. A further characteristic of insoluble fibres is that they accelerate the intestinal passage rate. Due to a faster pasTHE IMPACT OF CRUDE FIBRE ON LITTER QUALITY AND ANIMAL PERFORMANCE Dr. Manfred Pietsch Head Business Unit Animal Nutrition J. Rettenmaier & Söhne GmbH + Co KG
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