Fiber in Animal Nutrition

Fiber in Poultry Nutrition 42 some very benef icial effects by applying this approach: • Prolonged feed clean up by 5–15 minutes in rearing and 30–90 minutes in laying stage, indicating the satiation effect of insoluble fiber • Better flock uniformity • Calmer birds which prevents feather pulling • Easier to control litter quality (dryer litter) • Liveability in rearing and production is improved These statements can be supported by re- search conducted at the Aarhus University in Denmark (Nielsen et al., 2011). They compared the effect of three different feed formulations on selected health related pa- rameters in broiler breeders. A low fiber con- trol formulation (Total Dietary Fiber; TDF 3.03%) and two high fiber formulations (TDF 4.19 and 3.75%). The 2 high fiber formulations differed mainly in the ratio of soluble/insoluble fiber. One was high in insoluble fiber (insoluble NSP 90% of total NSP) and the other contained more soluble fiber (insoluble NSP 79% of total dietary fiber). The formulation containing high fiber with an elevated proportion in soluble fibers caused significant problems with wet litter. Results are shown in table 16. This trial clearly demonstrates that the na- ture of the fiber has significant impact on the litter quality as the proportion of soluble and insoluble fiber showed more impact on the litter humidity than the fiber level per se. Consequently there should be as much insoluble fiber in the formulation as possible. An increase of 10% soluble fiber resulted in an increase of 45%moisture in the litter.The final moisture content of 75% is by far too high. This will cause serious health problems in the birds. This is especially important in broiler breeders as the restricted feeding is highly stressful for the animals and this stress promotes the onset of wet litter. Additionally the authors observed that a high level of soluble fiber causes some be- havioural disorders. Already 4 hours after feeding 30% of the birds with the elevated levels of soluble fiber showed retarded necks. A sign of discomfort. There was almost no retarded neck problem (<10%) in the birds fed a low level of soluble fiber. The impact of the fiber source on the performance in broiler breeders will be discussed in an extra chapter (3.5.1) 3.4.4 Intestinal health Insoluble f iber affects gut function and modulates nutrient digestion.Thus, digestion of starch is higher and digesta passage rate faster when a moderate level of insoluble fiber is present in the diet (Hetland et al. 2004). Due to this accelerated intestinal transit there is less risk for colonization of harmful bacteria. Rezaei et al. (2011) investigated the use of micronized insoluble fibers (CFC) via feed Control (low fiber) High fiber (insoluble) High fiber (elevated level soluble) Litter dry matter (%) 41 a 70 b 25 c Table 16: Litter dry matter of broiler breeders as influenced by the fiber source (Nielsen et al., 2011) a, b : means differ significant (p< 0.001) © ERLING Verlag