Effect of supplementation with organic and inorganic minerals on the performance, egg and sperm quality and, hatching characteristics of laying breeder hens

Trace Minerals in Laying Hen Diets and Their Effects on Egg Quality

With the advancement in the egg industry sector, egg quality has assumed great significance in certain countries. Enhancements in the nutritional value of eggs may have direct affirmative consequences for daily nutrient intake and therefore for human health. Thus, affirmative improvement in egg quality boosts consumer preferences for eggs. Also, the improvement in eggshell quality can avoid the disposal of broken eggs and consequently economic losses. Therefore, poultry nutrition and mineral supplements have a significant impact on egg quality. Minerals are crucial in poultry feed for a number of biological processes, including catalytic, physiologic, and structural processes. For instance, they contribute to the biological processes necessary for forming and developing eggshells. To produce high-quality eggs for sale, diets must therefore contain the right amount of minerals. This review aims to highlight the role of both organic and inorganic minerals in improving egg quality, in addition to reviewing the interactions of mineral supplements with intestinal microbiota and subsequent effects on the egg quality.

Complexation of multiple mineral elements by fermentation and its application in laying hens

To overcome the problems with current mineral supplements for laying hens including low absorption, mineral antagonism, and high cost, we developed mineral element fermentation complexes (MEFC) by synergistically fermenting bean dregs and soybean meal with strains and proteases and complexing with mineral elements. The fermentation complexation process was optimized based on the small peptide and organic acid contents and the complexation rate of mineral elements after fermentation. The optimal conditions were as follows: the total inoculum size was 5% (v/w), 15% (w/w) wheat flour middling was added to the medium, and mineral elements (with 4% CaCO3) were added after the completion of aerobic fermentation, fermentation at 34°C and 11 days of fermentation. Under these conditions, the complexation rates of Ca, Fe, Cu, Mn, and Zn were 90.62, 97.24, 73.33, 94.64, and 95.93%, respectively. The small peptide, free amino acid, and organic acid contents were 41.62%, 48.09 and 183.53 mg/g, respectively. After 60 days of fermentation, 82.11% of the Fe in the MEFC was ferrous ions, indicating that fermentation had a good antioxidant effect on ferrous ion, and the antioxidant protection period was at least 60 days. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that the mineral ions were complexed with amino and carboxyl groups. The added mineral elements promoted microbial growth, protein degradation, and organic acid secretion and significantly improved fermentation efficiency. Animal experiments showed that MEFC had positive effects on several parameters, including production performance (average daily feed intake, P < 0.05; egg production rate, P < 0.05; and average egg weight, P < 0.05), mineral absorption, intestinal morphology (villus height to crypt depth ratio in the jejunum and ileum, P < 0.05), and blood routine and biochemical indexes (red blood cells, P < 0.05; hemoglobin, P < 0.05). This study provides theoretical support for the development of mineral complexes for laying hens via fermentation.

Maternal supplementation of different trace mineral sources on broiler breeder production and progeny growth and gut health

Trace mineral minerals Zn, Cu, and Mn play important roles in breeder production and progeny performance. The objective of this study was to determine maternal supplementation of trace mineral minerals on breeder production and progeny growth and development. A total of 540 broiler breeders, Cobb 500 (Slow feathering; 0–66 weeks old) were assigned to one of three treatment groups with the same basal diet and three different supplemental trace minerals: ITM–inorganic trace minerals in sulfates: 100, 16, and 100 ppm of Zn, Cu, and Mn respectively; MMHAC -mineral methionine hydroxy analog chelate: 50, 8, and 50 ppm of bis-chelated MINTREX®Zn, Cu and Mn (Novus International, Inc.), and TMAAC - trace minerals amino acid complex: 50, 8, and 50 ppm of Zn, Cu, and Mn. At 28 weeks of age, eggs from breeder treatments were hatched for progeny trial, 10 pens with 6 males and 6 female birds per pen were fed a common diet with ITM for 45 days. Breeder production, egg quality, progeny growth performance, mRNA expression of gut health associated genes in breeder and progeny chicks were measured. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA; means were separated by Fisher’s protected LSD test. A p-Value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically different and 0.1 was considered numerical trend. Breeders on ITM treatment had higher (p &lt; 0.05) body weight (BW), weight gain and lower (p &lt; 0.05) feed conversion ratio (FCR) from 0 to 10 weeks, when compared to birds fed MMHAC. MMHAC significantly improved egg mass by 3 g (p &lt; 0.05) and FCR by 34 points (0.05 &lt; p &lt; 0.1) throughout the reproductive period (26–66 weeks) in comparison to ITM. MMHAC improved (p &lt; 0.01) egg yolk color versus (vs.) ITM and TMAAC in all periods, except 28 weeks, increased (p &lt; 0.01) eggshell thickness and resistance vs. TMAAC at 58 weeks, and reduced (p &lt; 0.05) jejunal NF-κB gene expression vs. TMAAC at 24 weeks. There was a significant reduction in tibial dry matter weight, Seedor index and resistance for the breeders that received MMHAC and/or TMAAC when compared to ITM at 18 weeks. Lower seedor index but numerically wider tibial circumference was seen in hens fed MMHAC at 24 weeks, and wider tibial circumference but lower tibial resistance in hens fed TMAAC at 66 weeks. Maternal supplementation of MMHAC in breeder hens increased (p &lt; 0.0001) BW vs. ITM and TMAAC at hatching, reduced (p &lt; 0.05) feed intake vs. ITM at d14 and d28, and improved (p &lt; 0.01) FCR and performance index vs. TMAAC at d28, reduced (p &lt; 0.01) NF-κB gene expression and increased (p &lt; 0.05) A20 gene expression vs. TMAAC on d0 and vs. ITM on d14, reduced (p &lt; 0.05) TLR2 gene expression vs. ITM on d0 and vs. TMAAC on d14, increased (p &lt; 0.05) MUC2 gene expression vs. both ITM and TMAAC on d45 in progeny jejunum. Overall, these results suggest that supplementation with lower levels of MHA-chelated trace minerals improved breeder production and egg quality and reduced breeder jejunal inflammation while maintaining tibial development in comparison to those receiving higher inorganic mineral supplementation, and it also carried over the benefits to progeny with better growth performance, less jejunal inflammation and better innate immune response and gut barrier function in comparison to ITM and/or TMAAC.

Performance of Swarnadhara breeder hens supplemented with reduced levels of different copper forms

Background and Aim:

Copper (Cu) is a vital mineral involved in various physiological and biochemical processes, growth, and productivity of animals and birds. Birds can absorb only a small fraction of Cu and most is excreted, contaminating soil and aquatic environment which is toxic for microorganisms, plants, animals, and humans. This study evaluated the possibility of use of organic and nanoparticles sources of Cu to reduce supplementation level without compromising the performance of breeder hens.

Materials and Methods:

A total of 224 Swarnadhara breeder hens were divided into seven treatment groups having four replicates in each. The basal diet (control) containing 20 ppm inorganic Cu (100% of standard recommendation) and six test diets containing 20, 15, and 10 ppm (100, 75, and 50% of standard recommendation) from Cu organic source, and 15, 10, and 5 ppm (75, 50, and 25%) from Cu nanoparticles (Cu-NP), were prepared and offered to respective treatment groups for a duration of 20 weeks.

Results:

The hen day egg production, hen housed egg production, feed conversion ratio egg mass, albumen index, yolk index, total fat content, and color score were not affected by the source and inclusion level of Cu. The feed intake was significantly (p<0.05) lower at 15 ppm and egg weight was significantly (p<0.05) higher at 10 ppm Cu-NP supplemental level, but was non-significant in other treatment groups compared to control. The body weight gain was significantly (p<0.05) higher at 20 ppm organic and 15 ppm Cu-NP inclusion. The egg shape index and Haugh unit were significantly (p<0.05) lower at 10 and 15 ppm of Cu-NP inclusion level, respectively. The shell thickness was improved (p<0.05) at 20 and 15 ppm organic and 15 and 10 ppm Cu-NP inclusion level. The egg fertility rate was shown to be significantly (p<0.05) higher at 20 ppm organic Cu inclusion group, but the hatchability based on total number of eggs set improved (p<0.05) at 20 and 15 ppm organic Cu inclusion level while all treatment groups were comparable to control. The hatchability of fertilized egg and chick’s quality significantly (p<0.05) improved, while embryonic and chick mortality after hatching before-sorting was significantly (p<0.05) reduced at 15 ppm of Cu-NP inclusion group.

Conclusion:

It was concluded that the inorganic Cu can be replaced with 50% of organic or 25% of nanoparticles form of Cu without jeopardizing the breeder hens’ productivity, egg quality characteristics, hatchability, and progeny.

Effects of Replacing Inorganic with Organic Iron on Performance, Egg Quality, Serum and Egg Yolk Lipids, Antioxidant Status, and Iron Accumulation in Eggs of Laying Hens

This study compared the effects dietary organic (ferrous glycine [FG]) versus inorganic (ferrous sulfate [FS]) iron in laying hens on performance, egg quality, serum and egg yolk lipids, antioxidant status, and iron enrichment of eggs. A total of 378 Shaver White layers were allotted to 7 treatments with 6 replicates (9 birds each) from 30 to 42 weeks of age. A basal diet (19 mg iron/kg) served as control, while the other six diets were supplemented with either FS or FG to provide 30, 60, and 120 mg/kg of added iron. Dietary FG and FS treatments improved (P < 0.05) laying rate, egg weight, and egg quality of layers, relative to the control, albeit eggshell strength and eggshell calcium also deteriorated with the highest level of FS (P < 0.05). The iron treatment groups exhibited a lower serum and egg yolk levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol that accompanied by higher levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and greater activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) as compared with the control (P < 0.05). The contents of malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl were conversely related to the activities SOD and GPx (P < 0.05). The serum and egg fractions (yolk, albumen, and shell) displayed gradually increases in iron contents as the level of iron increased in the diet (P < 0.05), while FG was superior to FS at all tested levels (P < 0.05). To summary, FS can be replaced by FG, with more favorable impacts on egg quality and iron enrichment.