Accelerated metabolism prevents complete absorption of nutrients in intensive animal production

In intensive poultry production, it is very common for animals to have a rapid intestinal transit that prevents the feed from remaining in the intestine long enough for the complete absorption of nutrients. As a consequence, partially undigested feed is detected in the excreta and watery feces.

The accelerated metabolism of this species means that it does not have enough time to assimilate all the nutrients in the diet and can compromise the production parameters of the farm and worsen the welfare of the birds. In this sense, it is of great importance to slow down the intestinal transit in order to maintain the productive performance of the farm and make the most of the diet supplied, besides avoiding problems with the quality of the litter.

Alquerfeed Diatom, a new product from Biovet S.A.

Biovet S.A. has recently developed a new product, Alquerfeed Diatom, made up of activated diatomaceous earth, that is, fossilized remains of unicellular aquatic organisms whose skeletons are made up of a natural substance called silica, which have been subjected to an activation process to improve their mechanism of action. This is based on the binding capacity that diatoms have on water molecules presented in the food bolus.

This product has an effect on the intestinal transit of animals, since it slows it down to increase the retention time of the feed in the digestive tract. In this way, contact with the digestive enzymes and the intestinal microvilli responsible for the absorption of nutrients is increased. This generates a positive effect on growth rate, feed efficiency and animal welfare.

Field trials support its effectiveness

Alquerfeed Diatom has been tested in the experimental farm of the Universidad Científica del Sur. To do this, they used 440 broilers for 42 days treated with Alquerfeed Diatom compared to a control batch of birds without the product.

Among the results, on intestinal transit, it was obtained that the birds treated with Alquerfeed Diatom had a slowdown in intestinal transit by an average of 16 minutes. This is related to increased nutrient absorption. In addition, this product improves nutrients digestibility, among which protein stood out with an improvement of more than 4%, but also crude fiber, ashes, calcium, phosphorus and energy utilization.

On the other hand, in the results related to productive parameters, it was obtained that the treated birds achieved greater weight from the first week of age until the end of the trial (3% more than the birds in the control batch). In addition, they presented lower mortality; and the weight gain was higher.

Regarding feed consumption, there were no significant differences, which shows that the birds consume the same feed and take better advantage of the nutrients. Additionally, the conversion rate improved by 3.78% in the birds with Alquerfeed Diatom compared to the control batch. Finally, the carcass yield had a significant improvement in the treated poultry.

The previous results of birds with Alquerfeed Diatom, showed better economic performance, with greater meat production and less expense in feed, thanks to efficient intestinal absorption. In the extrapolation for one million broilers, it was concluded that with the use of about 2.5 tons of Alquerfeed Diatom, 92 more tons more of meat would be produced and 224 tons of feed would be saved, which represents an important benefit for the producers.