ISSUE FOCUS FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE February 2024 49 sage rate bacteria and their toxic metabolites cannot accumulate in the intestinal tract. This explains the positive effect of lignocellulose based raw fibre concentrates on intestinal health and subsequently on the litter quality. UNIVERSITY TRIALS In a recent trial at the American University of Beirut Dr. Farran evaluated the effect of a commercially available raw fibre concentrate (ARBOCEL, JRS Germany) on the litter quality and animal performance related parameters. The experiment was conducted using 1200-day-old male broiler chicks of the Ross 308 strain. The animals werde divided into a trial group (0.8 % raw fibre concentrate) and a control group (0.8 % wheat bran), with six replications per group (100 chicks per group allocated to 12 floor pens). At the end of the 38-day fattening period humidity of the litter was determined. The effect of the different treatments on selected parameters is shown in table 1. The results in table 1 concerning the impact of raw fibre concentrates on litter quality are confirmed by a trial that was recently published in the world poultry science journal (2011, 90:2008-2012). In a broiler trial the authors observed a reduction of litter moisture by about 10 % after the application of a raw fibre concentrate. A major concern in poultry feeding is that the use raw fibre concentrates (which deliver almost no energy) might have negative impact on animal performance. However, these concerns are unnecessary, according to many on farm and university level feeding trials the use of raw fibre concentrates even has positive impact on performance. Professor Dusel from the University of applied science in Bingen (Germany) observed a significant improvement in FCR and daily weight gain due to the use of a raw fibre concentrate (ARBOCEL, JRS) in broiler feed. A trial conducted by Monika Boguslawska from the University of Technology and Agriculture Bydgoszcz; Poland provides an explanation for improved performance after the application of a raw fibre concentrate. She investigated the activity of digestive enzymes and observed a significantly increased activity of the proteolytic enzymes Trypsine and Chymotrypsine in broilers. CONCLUSION 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. Literature is available on request. Control Raw fibre concentrate (0.8 %) Litter humidity (%) Protein digestibility (%) Carcass yield (%) 36.1a 57.4a 68.4a 26.6b 62.9b 69.5b Table 1. Litter humidity, digestibility and carcass yield as influenced by 0.8% raw fibre concentrate in feed a,b means with different superscripts are significantly different (p<0.05) About Dr. Manfred Pietsch Dr. Manfred Pietsch graduated in human nutrition (dipl. oec. troph) at the Justus- Liebig University in Giessen, Germany, in 1992. He received his doctor's degree at the institute of animal nutrition, Justus-Liebig-University in 1996. Between 1996 and 2008, he worked as product and pig application manager for several feed additive suppliers. Dr. Pietsch, who joined the JRS in 2008 and currently serves as the head of animal nutrition department, is author and co-author of several articles dealing with fiber in farm animals in journals like Asian pork.
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