2016 SOUTHERN POULTRY SCIENTIFIC SYMPOSIUM

Effects of Programmed Nutrition (PN) feeding strategy on the production performance, egg quality, bone quality, and liver mineral content of brown laying hens
M. Paul, A. Pescatore, T. Ao, M. Ford, H. Gillespie, A. Cantor, K.Dawson
Early nutrition and feeding strategies are known to have long-term effects on animal health and performance. The Programmed Nutrition (PN, Alltech, Inc.) feeding strategy for laying pullets encompasses feeding a post-hatch diet for 72 h that is formulated to optimize nutrient absorption and metabolism, followed by feeding a PN diet supplemented with antioxidants, enzymes, organic trace minerals and reduced levels of ME and nutrients. This study was conducted to determine the effects of the PN feeding strategy (72 h post-hatch ration + PN diet) and the PN diet alone on the production performance, egg quality, bone quality, and liver mineral content of brown egg laying hens. A complete randomized design was utilized to allocate 252 Hy-Line® Brown commercial hens to one of 3 dietary treatments: corn-soybean meal (control) diet, PN diet, or total PN feeding strategy. Each treatment had seven replicates of 12 hens housed in cages in an environmentally controlled room and provided 16L:8D of light. Daily egg production, weekly feed intake, and monthly body weight and egg quality measurements were collected through 70 wk of production. At 70 wk of production bone quality and liver mineral content were evaluated. Throughout the 70 wk production phase there was no effect of dietary trt on HDP, FI, or FCR (kg/dz). Lower BW (P<0.05) was consistently observed in layers fed the PN diet. Egg wt, egg shell %, egg breaking strength, and yolk wt were not affected by dietary trt, however layers on the PN diet or PN feeding strategy were found to have increased redness (P<0.05) of egg yolks compared to the corn-soy diet over the entire production phase. Despite the decreased nutrient density of the PN treatments, at 70 wk of egg production the tibia ash, tibia and humerus breaking strength, and liver Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn content were unaffected by dietary trt. In conclusion, the PN feeding strategy can be used to reduce nutrient density of diets for brown egg laying hens without compromising production performance, egg quality, and bone quality. Additionally, the PN feeding strategy had the added effect of increasing egg yolk redness, which may be useful for meeting yolk pigmentation preferences of some segments of the egg market.

2015 SOUTHERN POULTRY SCIENTIFIC SYMPOSIUM

Programmed Nutrition (PN) feeding strategy on the performance and bone quality of brown pullets
M. Paul, A. Pescatore, T. Ao, L. Macalintal, A. Cantor, M. Ford, K. Dawson
Early life nutrition has an important role in the life-long health and performance of animals. The Programmed Nutrition (PN, Alltech, Inc.) feeding strategy is a novel, nutritional program designed to improve nutrient absorption and metabolism through nutrient imprinting in early life and allow for adaptation to dietary nutrient density changes in later life. The PN strategy employs a 72 h nutrient imprinting or conditioning period starting at 1 d of age before placement on a PN diet containing antioxidant, enzyme and organic trace mineral technologies, yet formulated to have reduced ME and nutrient (avail. P, Ca, trace mineral, and Vitamin E) content. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the PN feeding strategy with and without the 72 h dietary conditioning period on the growth performance and bone breaking strength of pullets. Utilizing a completely randomized design, a total of 315, one-day old Hy-Line® Brown commercial pullets were assigned to a corn-soybean meal control diet, a PN diet without conditioning, or the PN feeding strategy (PN diet with conditioning). Seven replicate cages (15 pullets/cage) were assigned to each treatment. After 10 wks of treatment, pullets fed the PN diet without conditioning tended to have lower (P=0.06) BW than pullets on the PN diet with conditioning or pullets fed the control diet. By 16 wks, BW of chicks fed the PN diet without conditioning was significantly lower (P=0.03) compared with the other treatment groups. There was no difference between the control diet and the PN diet with conditioning even though there was reduced energy and nutrient content in the PN diet. No effects of treatment on FI, Feed:Gain, or bone breaking strength were observed. Based on the results from this study, the PN feeding strategy (PN diet with conditioning) enables brown pullets to adapt to a diet reduced in energy and nutrients without compromising growth performance or bone quality. Key Words: Nutrient imprinting, Programmed Nutrition, pullet, performance, bone quality

2014 POUTLRY SCIENCE ASSOCIATION MEETING

Effects of Programmed Nutrition (PN) strategy and post-hatch delayed feeding on the early growth performance of broiler chicks
M.A. Paul, A.J. Pescatore, T. Ao, M.J. Ford, A.H. Cantor, R.J. Lakarosky, J.D. Hawkins, W.D. King, and K.A. Dawson
Previous research has indicated that nutritional experiences in early life may have a long-lasting effect on nutrient absorption and growth performance in chicks. The Programmed Nutrition (PN, Alltech Inc.) feeding strategy uses a post-hatch diet to condition chicks for optimal nutrient absorption and to adapt to ration nutrient density changes throughout life. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of PN feeding strategy and post-hatch delayed feeding on the growth performance of broiler chicks. A 2 × 3 factorial treatment arrangement was utilized to assess the effects of PN diet versus corn-soy control diet and post-hatch delayed feeding (0, 24, or 48 h) on growth performance through 19 d of age. Eight replicate groups of 24 male, one-day old chicks were randomly assigned to each treatment and raised in environmentally controlled floor pens for the duration of the trial. Chicks that were assigned to PN diets were provided a PN post-hatch conditioning diet for 72 h immediately followed by a PN diet formulated to contain decreased levels of ME, minerals and vitamin E. Data were subjected to ANOVA for a 2 × 3 factorial design (SAS v9.3) with mean differences determined using Fisher’s LSD test. Chicks fed the PN diet had higher body weight gain (552 vs. 489 g, P < 0.01) and feed intake (822 vs. 708 g, P < 0.01) than chicks fed the control diet. Chicks subjected to posthatch delayed feeding for 24 or 48 h had decreased body weight gain (P < 0.01) compared with chicks that were not subjected to post-hatch delayed feeding (0 h). As post-hatch delayed feeding times increased, a significant linear decrease (P < 0.01) in feed intake was observed. However, post-hatch chicks that were delayed feed for 48 h had the greatest gain:feed (P < 0.01) compared with those with 0 or 24 h delayed feeding. There was no significant interaction between diet and post-hatch delayed feeding. The results of this experiment demonstrated that the PN feeding strategy improved the early growth performance of broiler chicks, whereas post-hatch delayed feeding had a negative effect on early growth performance.

2014 SOUTHERN POULTRY SCIENTIFIC SYMPOSIUM

Programmed Nutrition premix maintained the productive performance and egg quality of white laying hens fed reduced nutrient diets over 60 weeks
R. Samuel, M. van Benschoten, M. Ford, A. Cantor, A. Pescatore, T. Ao
Inclusion of a series of Programmed Nutrition (PN) premixes in reduced nutrient diets has demonstrated improvements in broilers. Therefore, the objective of this experiment was to investigate the impact of supplementing reduced nutrient diets with a PN premix (containing antioxidant, enzyme, and organic trace mineral technologies) on the productive performance and egg quality of white laying hens. Hens were fed either a corn and soy bean meal based diet formulated according to the recommendations of NRC (1994) with inorganic trace minerals (Normal) or a diet reduced by 75 kcal ME/kg and 0.2% of the total Ca and available P compared to recommendations and with organic trace minerals at 25% of recommendations (Reduced). The experiment was initiated at 16 weeks of age when Hy-line W-36 pullets (n=120) were transferred in groups of five into 24 layer cages. The crude protein level of the diets was reduced from 18% to 16% after 40 weeks of age. Treatments were assigned to pens in a completely randomized design with 6 replications of Normal and 18 replications of Reduced. Eggs were counted daily and pen BW, feed intake, and egg quality were measured monthly. Hen-day production (%; HDP) and feed per dozen eggs (g/dozen) were calculated for each monthly period. A random sample of 6 eggs per replicate treatment were collected monthly for egg quality analysis. The average BW of Normal birds tended (P=0.05) to be 5% greater and HDP of Reduced birds was 4% greater (P=0.02) at the end of the same single period post-peak. There were no other differences between the BW of Normal and Reduced birds. However, the HDP of Reduced birds tended (P<0.10) to be lower in the final 20 weeks of production. There were no differences in feed intake between Normal and Reduced birds. As a result, Reduced birds consumed 5% less total Ca, less than 50% available P, 25% of the trace minerals, and 2.5% less energy compared to the Normal birds. No differences in egg quality (egg weight, Haugh units, percent shell, egg breaking strength, yolk weight, or yolk color) or feed per dozen eggs were observed between Normal and Reduced. In conclusion, the addition of a PN premix (containing antioxidant, enzyme, and trace mineral technologies) in reduced nutrient diets maintained the production of white laying hens over a 60 week production period.

Programmed Nutrition strategy improved early growth performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chicks
T. Ao, L. Macalintal, M. Paul, A. Pescatore, A. Cantor, M. Ford, R. Samuel, K. Dawson
Studies showed that nutrients provided in early life interact directly with genes and their regulatory elements to alter subsequent nutrient absorption and gene expression. The Programmed Nutrition (PN) strategy targets gene expression, nutrient absorption and productivity performance benchmarks by integrating nutritional and genomic interactions. In this approach, a post-hatch supplement designed to condition future nutrient absorption is combined with changes in dietary nutrient density with the goal of maximizing production and minimizing the cost of the producer. A study was designed to investigate the effects of PN feeding strategy on growth performance, bone quality, carcass characteristics and mineral status in meat and bone. The treatments consisted of using: 1) corn-soy control diets with a traditional feeding strategy; 2) PN diets with PN feeding strategy that included feeding chicks a PN Post Hatch Broiler Chick Starter (Alltech Inc.) diet for 72hr (conditioning period), then the PN diets with decreased levels of ME, minerals and vitamin E. Day-old chicks (704) were randomly assigned to 16 replicate groups of 22 chicks per treatment and were raised in floor pens for 42d. Four birds per pen (64 birds/treatment) were processed at the end of trial to assay carcass characteristics. Chicks fed the PN diet had higher (P<0.01) weight gain, feed intake and gain: feed ratio than chicks fed the traditional corn-soy diet after the 72 hr conditioning period. Chicks fed the PN diet had greater (P = 0.08) weight gain than those fed the control diet at day 18. The fat pad from chicks fed PN diet was smaller (P<0.05) than that from chicks fed control diet. The pectoralis major from chicks fed the PN diet was greater (P<0.01) than that from chicks fed the control diet. The results indicate that the PN feeding strategy can improve early growth performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chicks.

2013 POULTRY SCIENCE ASSOCIATION MEETING

Effects of programmed nutrition (PN) strategy and post-hatch holding time on the performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chicks.
M.A. Paul, A.J. Pescatore, T. Ao, A.H. Cantor, R.S. Samuel, M.J. Ford, W.D. King, and K.A. Dawson
Evidence from emerging studies indicates that an early life nutrition strategy may have a long-term impact on growth performance and nutrient digestibility in chicks. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that delayed access to feed affects post-hatch performance in broilers. The present study was designed to address the effects of a proprietary conditioning diet (PN Post Hatch Broiler, Alltech, Inc.) and holding time on growth performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chicks. A control corn-soy diet or the PN Post Hatch Broiler diet was fed on day of hatch, 24 h or 48 h post-hatch for a 3d period in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement. Seven replicate groups of 24 male chicks were randomly assigned to each treatment. Following the initial 3d period, all chicks were fed the same diet containing decreased levels of ME, minerals and vitamin E. Chicks were raised in environmentally controlled floor pens for 41d. Chicks fed the PN diet were heavier than chicks fed the control diet at 19 d of age (503 vs. 479 g, P = 0.02) and at 30 d of age (1191 vs. 1162 g, P = 0.08). Post-hatch holding time linearly decreased weight gain and feed intake through d 19. The 48 h holding time decreased weight gain (P = 0.09) and feed intake (P < 0.01) compared with the other 2 holding times through 30 d. By d 41, 48 h holding time decreased feed intake (P = 0.02), and improved gain to feed ratio (P = 0.01). Birds fed the PN diet had higher hot (P = 0.02) and cold (P = 0.04) carcass yields compared with birds fed the control diet. Birds held for 48 h compared with the other 2 holding times had a lower carcass percentage of live weight (P = 0.04) and yield of pectoralis minor muscle as a percentage of cold carcass weight (P = 0.04). The results of this experiment indicated that the PN Post Hatch Broiler diet improved performance of broiler chicks and carcass yield and that a post-hatch holding time of 48 h was detrimental to the performance of the chicks.

Effect of in ovo feeding and programmed nutrition strategy on the growth performance and meat yield of Ross 708 broilers
P. Ferket, T. Ao, R. Samuel, R. Malhieros, M. Ford, A. Pescatore, and A. Cantor
Programmed nutrition (PN) relies on conditioning during the first few days post-hatch to improve subsequent nutrient utilization. In ovo feeding (IOF), which advances early development, may benefit PN. Male Ross 708 broilers were assigned to a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement of 2 hatchery treatments (IOF versus control) and 3 dietary treatments (control, 72 h conditioning diet (PN Post Hatch Broiler Chick Starter, Alltech Inc.) followed by PN diets, or only PN diets). Each treatment was replicated by 8 pens of 22 birds. Embryos were injected into the amnion at E18 with either 600 μl of IOF solution with Marek’s vaccine (IOF) or with 100 μL Marek’s vaccine using the Inovoject IOm (Pfizer, Durham, NC). Eighteen hours after hatch, each hatchery group was placed in floor pens assigned 1 of the 3 dietary treatments. The PN diets contained lower levels of ME, minerals, and vitamin E than the control diets. In ovo feeding increased body weight (BW) by ~1.5% at hatch, and reduced BW shrinkage after 12 h of transport by ~10% (P < 0.005). There were no significant hatchery × diet interaction effects observed. Relative to controls, IOF increased 42 d BW (2,725 g vs. 2,636 g, P < 0.005), reduced BW CV (8.0 vs. 10.1%), and improved 1–42 d FCR (1.58 vs. 1.63, P < 0.005), but without effect on % carcass meat yield. Relative to controls, the 72hr conditioning diet improved 10 d BW (220 g vs. 187 g) and 1–10 d FCR (1.28 vs. 1.59), but the PN diets resulted in inferior 42 d BW (2,646 g vs. 2,738 g, P < 0.005) and 1–42 d FCR (1.63 vs. 1.58, P < 0.005); although the conditioning diet reduced this treatment difference. Breast meat yield was increased most by PN with conditioning in compassion to controls (28.0 vs. 26.9%, P < 0.005). The additive benefit of IOF and PN with conditioning resulted in superior growth performance and meat yield in comparison to controls.

Programmed nutrition strategy on the productive performance and egg quality of laying hens fed distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) diets
M. van Benschoten, L. R. Good, A. J. Pescatore, A. H. Cantor, T. Ao, R. S. Samuel, M. J. Ford, W. D. King, and J. L. Pierce
Feed ingredient prices and competition for grains have increased interest in the use of high levels of DDGS in poultry diets. This study evaluated the effects of including 25 and 35% DDGS in corn-soybean meal diets with or without PN Grower Broiler premix (Alltech, Inc.) on the productive performance and egg quality of laying hens from 27 to 50 weeks of production. A total of 288 Hy-Line W-36® hens were randomly allocated to 5 dietary treatment groups with 12 birds per replicate. At 16 weeks of age, hens were fed the following diets: 1) corn soybean meal (positive control), 2) 25% DDGS, 3) 25% DDGS plus PN premix, 4) 35% DDGS, and 5) 35% DDGS plus PN premix. Diets were formulated to meet NRC recommendations with reduced available P (0.29 vs. 0.19%) and Ca (4.2 vs. 4.1%) in DDGS diets. At 27 weeks of production, protein levels in the diets were reduced from 18 to 16% CP. Six eggs were collected per replicate every 4 weeks for egg quality analysis. During wk 34 of production, diets with 35% DDGS reduced yolk weight (P = 0.002). However, no significant treatment effects were noted on egg weight, Haugh units, percent shell, shell breaking strength, and yolk weight parameters averaged over 27 to 50 weeks of production. Inclusion of DDGS decreased lightness (L*) values and increased red (a*) yolk color values (P < 0.001). Addition of 25% DDGS to the diets increased yellow (b*) yolk color values (P = 0.001) when compared with the control and 35% DDGS diets. Overall hen day production was not affected by dietary treatment. However, feed intake (P = 0.01) and feed per dozen eggs (P = 0.02) increased with the addition of dietary DDGS from 27 to 50 weeks. At wk 50 of production, inclusion of 35% DDGS decreased (P = 0.02) body weight when compared with the control and returned to control level with the addition of the PN premix. This experiment indicates inclusion of up to 35% DDGS does not have a significant negative effect on egg production and egg quality from 27 to 50 weeks of production, and that addition of PN premix to 35% DDGS diets may alleviate negative effects on body weight.

Effects of programmed nutrition strategy on the performance and nutrient absorption of chicks
T. Ao, K. A. Dawson, M. Paul, A. J. Pescatore, A. H. Cantor, L. M. Macalintal, R. S. Samuel, and M. J. Ford
Several studies have indicated that nutrients provided in early life may interact directly with genes and their regulatory elements at the cellular level to permanently alter nutrient absorption and gene expression. The programmed nutrition (PN) strategy uses a post-hatch diet designed to condition future nutrient absorption and allow for changes in dietary nutrient density in later life. A study was designed to test the effects of PN and duration of feeding the conditioning diet on growth performance and nutrient absorption of chicks using a 2 × 3 factorial treatment structure. Two conditioning diets including a corn-soy control diet and a PN Post Hatch Broiler Chick Starter (Alltech Inc.) diet were fed for 3 different time periods (48, 72 and 96hr). After the conditioning period, all chicks were fed the same diet that contained decreased levels of ME, minerals and vitamin E. Celite was included in the diet as an internal marker for evaluating ileum P digestibility of chicks. One d of age, 924 chicks were randomly assigned to 6 dietary treatments with 7 replicate groups of 22 chicks and were raised in an environmentally controlled floor pens for 38d. Chicks were fed the conditioning diets after 12h being picked up at the hatchery. Chicks fed the PN Post Hatch Broiler Chick Starter diet had greater (P = 0.09) weight gain (1958 vs. 1917) and higher (P < 0.01) ileum P digestibility (34 vs. 31%) than those fed the control diet. Chicks fed the conditioning diets for 72h had greater weight gain (P = 0.07) than those fed the conditioning diets for 96h (1974 vs. 1909). Chicks fed the conditioning diets for 72h had higher (P < 0.01) ileum P digestibility than those fed the conditioning diets for 48h or 96h (37 vs. 31 vs. 28%). The results indicated that the PN Post Hatch Broiler Chick Starter diet used for 72h (or 84 h after hatch) had long-term effects on the performance and nutrient digestibility of chicks.

2013 SOUTHERN POULTRY SCIENTIFIC SYMPOSIUM

Program Nutrition strategy on the productive performance and egg quality of brown laying hens fed distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) diets
M. van Benschoten, A. Pescatore, A. Cantor, T. Ao, R. Samuel, M. Ford, W.D. King, J. Pierce
A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding up to 35% DDGS with Programmed Nutrition (PN) premix on the productive performance and egg quality of brown laying hens from pre-lay through the first phase of production (25 weeks). This experiment utilized 288 Hyline Brown hens that were randomly allocated to five treatment groups (12 birds per replicate). Dietary treatments consisted of a 1) Corn-soybean (positive control), 2) 25% DDGS, 3) 25% DDGS with Alltech PN Broiler Grower Premix®, 4) 35% DDGS, and 5) 35% DDGS with Alltech PN Broiler Grower Premix®. Diets were formulated to meet NRC recommendations with reduced available P (0.29 vs. 0.19 %) and Ca (4.2% vs. 4.1%) in the DDGS diets. Egg quality was analyzed by randomly selecting 6 eggs from each replicate group every 4 weeks. PN premix added to 35% DDGS significantly improved Haugh Unit values (P<0.05) compared with the control diet. Yolk color lightness (L*) values decreased, while red (a*), and yellow values (b*) increased (P<0.001) with the inclusion of DDGS. Dietary treatment had no effect on shell breaking strength, egg weight and yolk weight. Dietary inclusion of DDGS at 35% decreased hen-day production compared to the positive control (P=0.03). PN premix alleviated some of the deleterious effects of 35% DDGS inclusion by improving hen-day production values. Body weight and feed conversion rate were unaffected by up to 35% inclusion of DDGS. However, DDGS inclusion reduced feed intake (FI) in early lay (P=0.04). Adding PN premix significantly improved the deleterious effects of DDGS on FI at both 25 and 35% inclusion levels. These results indicate that inclusion of up to 35% DDGS can reduce FI in early lay and overall egg production, while adding PN premix may lessens these negative effects and increase Haugh Units.

Program Nutrition strategy on the productive performance and egg quality of laying hens fed distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) diets
M. van Benschoten, A. Pescatore, A. Cantor, T. Ao, R. Samuel, M. Ford, W.D. King, J. Pierce
Recent changes in ingredient prices and availability have resulted in greater use of DDGS in poultry diets. This study evaluated the effects of including 25 and 35% DDGS in corn-soybean meal diets with Programmed Nutrition (PN) premix on the productive performance and egg quality of laying hens from 0 to 27 weeks of production. At 16 weeks of age 288 Hy-Line W-36® hens were randomly allocated to five dietary treatment groups with 12 birds per replicate. Dietary treatments consisted of a 1) Corn-soybean (positive control), 2) 25% DDGS, 3) 25% DDGS plus Alltech PN Broiler Grower Premix®, 4) 35% DDGS, and 5) 35% DDGS plus Alltech PN Broiler Grower Premix®. Diets were formulated to meet NRC recommendations with reduced available P (0.29 vs. 0.19 %) and Ca (4.2% vs. 4.1%) in DDGS diets. A random sample of 6 eggs was selected from each replicate group every 4 weeks for egg quality analysis. During 17 weeks of lay percent shell and shell breaking strength were decreased with the inclusion of DDGS (P<0.05), however, the PN premix improved percent shell at 25% DDGS and partially alleviated the deleterious effects due to 35% inclusion of DDGS. The PN premix also lessened the effects of 35% DDGS inclusion on shell breaking strength. Inclusion of DDGS decreased lightness (L*) values, while increasing red (a*), and yellow (b*) yolk color values (P<0.001). No effects on egg weight, Haugh Units, or yolk weight were noted. At 27 weeks of lay inclusion of DDGS decreased body weight (P=0.01), however, the PN premix partially alleviated the negative effect at the 35% inclusion rate. Overall there was no effect of DDGS inclusion up to 35% on feed intake, feed conversion rate, or henday production. This experiment indicates that inclusion of up to 35% DDGS reduces shell quality and body weight in early lay and that the PN premix can partially alleviate some of the negative effects.