Testing Mycotoxin in Feed of Broiler Breeders

Management of broiler breeder in poultry industry in India strongly emphasizes the importance of cost control at all levels. Usually in broiler breeder operation, the costs involved is the production of the hatching egg or the day old chick and are important as seen in the perspective of the cost per kg of live bird. In field condition, the greatest attention is usually given to the performance of broiler breeders, and most of the research in the field is focused on the improvement of their relative performance, mainly in terms of saleable chicks produced per hen. Most of broiler breeders in India regularly incorporate Mycotoxin binder with or without testing Mycotoxin levels in feed ingredients as a safety measure. A competitive field trial of toxin-eliminator and toxin binder was conducted on broiler breeder Cobb-100 in peak production period between 27^th to 32^nd weeks to measure the performance without testing mycotoxin levels in feed and it has been concluded that the Elitox (Mycotoxin-eliminator) was better economically over the toxin binder at same inclusion rate on regular use basis.

The most significant mycotoxins in naturally contaminated foods and feeds are aflatoxin, ochratoxin, trichothecene, zearalenone and fumonisin. In many cases these mycotoxins can be found in combination in food and feed. The FAO has estimated that worldwide, about 25% of crops are affected annually with mycotoxins. Such surveys reveal sufficiently high occurrences and concentrations of mycotoxins to suggest that mycotoxins are a constant concern. Because of the difficulty to diagnose the rious effects of mycotoxin levels at par or below the safe recommendations in the broiler breeders evaluation of mycotoxin problem becomes a process of elimination and association. Certain basics can be helpful: 

The objective of this study to observe performance of broiler breeder by using of toxin-eliminator Vs toxin binder in feed without testing toxin levels on regular basis. The following parameters were compared: 

A field trial was conducted on Broiler Breeder (Cobb-100) from 27^th week to 32^nd weeks in cage system two groups i.e. one group was 'A' Female 3864 and Male 473 Broiler Breeders and other group was 'B' Female 3974 and Male 517 Broiler Breeders.  Broiler Breeder Layer Mash (Phase-I) feed given to both groups same feed ingredients and feed formulation except Group 'A' was given Mycotoxin-eliminator (Elitox) @ 1 Kg/ Ton of feed and Group 'B' was given Mycotoxin Binder @ 1 Kg/ Ton of feed. The comparative study of Elitox Vs toxin binder was shown in table 1. The composition of feed ingredients and the proximate content of the diet is given in Table 2. Consumption of feed per bird, Hen day production, Hatching eggs percentage, Crack percentage & Mortality percentage were calculated at weekly intervals. Daily routine managemental practices were same during trail period.

 

 

The Hen day production, Hatching eggs percentage, Crack and Mortality percentage of Broiler Breeders are given in Table 3 & 4. Feed consumption per bird was same in each group which was recorded approximately 130 gm/bird. Hen day production and hatching eggs percentage were improved by 1.0 and 1.40% respectively in Elitox containing diet. Crack percentage was significantly improved in Group A (3.81%) as compare to Group B (5.08%). Mortality was not significantly differing in each group but it was lower in diet containing Elitox.

 

Overall performance was better in Elitox containing diet might be due to specific composition of Elitox containing enzymes for specific mycotoxins, Natural biopolymer and natural extracts as hepatoprotective agents.

It has been concluded that in this study regular use of Elitox (toxin-eliminator) in feed was economically better in broiler breeder performance.