Common mistakes using enzymes in poultry nutrition
Published:March 28, 2022
Dr. Piotr Stanislawski shares his experience with Engormix members regarding the use of enzymes in poultry diets and gives his advice on how to do it properly.
Good comments. It's true that enzymes have to formulated properly and have a matrix to work on. If you are using better ingredients, enzymes may not be necessary anymore. Make sure you know why each ingredient is in your formulation.
Unfortunately, most people claim they are nutritionists and don't pay attention to basic nutrition concepts such as precision nutrition and optimal growth curve, also known as the magic mountain; Enzymes will work regardless of the formula. A well-trusted source of enzyme is all that is needed. However, if the diet is formulated to optimum or over formulated, and the formulator decides to give the enzyme a wrong (not as recommended) matrix to the enzyme and reduce much less nutrients from the formulation than they should, and once the enzyme is added, the enzyme will do its work regardless of what matrix the formulator gave it. The enzyme simply doesn't operate as we wish, it does what it is supposed to do, and will release the nutrients that it can release (whether it is energy, AA, pho...etc.). So, all of a sudden, the diet becomes way over formulated, forcing the animal to eat less from this diet, and this will result in a worse FCR! That wasn't the enzyme, it was the mistake of the so-called Nutritionist!
Thanks for your scientific topics. As you know, in addition to the exogenous enzyme, which is based on the matrix of that enzyme, it is used in diet writing. It is necessary to pay attention to the amount of endogenous enzyme in the food itself. In fact the exogenous enzyme help is the endogenous enzyme. Unfortunately, this technical point is not taken into account in food tables and ration writing and food preparation.
Akbar Yaghobfarf feed enzymes are exogenous and they work with/ on proper substrate eg xylanase works with xylans ( substrate) included in feed components Cutting xylans they open the „ door” for endogenous enzymes ( eg amylase or protease) Birds don’t have enough (eg Phytase) or not producing such enzymes at all. So, exogenous and endogenous enzymes cooperate in digestive process. Without exogenous additives own burd’ s enzymes are not Effective as they could
Dear Piotr, thanks for very interesting and very important discussion. It is very heavy to discuss it in short. A lot of questions! For what reason we apply feed enzymes? Is it reasonable? Is it profitable? Matrix values: maximum rates to obtain maximum sales? Search for alternative sources of energy and protein? Also important: what application method to apply: over the top or down specification?
You have a lot of experience in Danisco/DuPont, and your opinion and friendly advices are very important for me.
Please check If any enzyme is maybe in your concentration
They could be included to decrease cost of components;; eg Phytase dose is much cheaper than phosphate as MCP or DCP to reach proper P level in concentrate
If there is not included you can add it directly to the mixer together with concentration and cereals, etc
Dr. Piotr Stanislawski
You are right. Enzymes work all the time, but the extent of the effectiveness of enzymes depends upon many factors, briefly said as feed related, animal related and .....factors. For instance, the bird's growth rate has a huge potential to influence the extent of birds response to exogenous enzymes or nutrient composition or ingredient' makeup of the diet. So, the exogenous enzymes are working, but hard to predicate the rate of their effectiveness. Enzyme type and manufacturer are also need to be mentioned.
Nowadays feed ingredients prices are constantly increasing, also protein and energy in feed/food have become expensive nutrients. Major challenge for nutritionist is to formulate highly performing feed with low price. People are also more concern impact of animal agriculture on environmental pollution. Using of exogenous enzymes in feed has been ongoing. Phytase enzyme is well known to maximum poultry feed producers around the world. Xylanases and Proteases are also making their space in feed formulations. Exogenous enzymes in poultry feed having multiple advantages like improving nutrient digestibility, reducing antinutritional factors, reducing pathogenic bacterial proliferation in hindgut, reducing feed cost and reducing environmental pollution.
after working in enzyme business for more than 20 years , we are very sure that the success of the enzyme depends mainly on how much you trust in your enzyme producer professionalism and how many true information he gives to you,, by which you can give your customer true matrix values for your enzyme, in the same time he can found the claimed benefits from your enzyme product , unfortunately most of enzyme selling men over estimating their enzymes powers to very high claims by which they loss their reputation and credibility with their customers
Asaad Ahmed Elsabbagh Dear Mr.Asaad, thanks for your opinion. Really true. In my firm, we allways checking samples from different producers (activity, thermostability, some other parameters if necessary) in our own laboratory. It's pity, but I don't believe information from some producers, especially concerning their matrix values. For instance, the same situation is very actually for commercial probiotics. 30% of info is not true.
Dr. Fiodor S. Marchenkov dear dr Fiodor , unfortunately most of the companies depend on commercial field trial ( only one trial ) to evaluate their products which is very fare from honest , fair or even scientific evaluation for their products benefits , you can see that cases mainly in enzymes blending companies more than enzymes producing companies
Asaad Ahmed Elsabbagh
Thank you, Dr Asaad,
Trust enzyme producer= trust quality enzyme but concerning Matrix value affected by many factors, e.g. other added enzymes, the realty of calculated nutrients in feed ingredients and amount of feed safety margin
Asaad Ahmed Elsabbagh, thanks a lot for your comment! It's really so, because the probable number of possible variants of enzyme mixtures is very large, and in order to reduce it, one must first conduct laboratory experiments, and only then move on to commercial tests, because such tests are very expensive and time-consuming.
Dear Sam, Of course, if the grain portion of a recipe changes frequently, the lab has to adjust the multi-enzyme formula each time. This takes a lot of time from the laboratory staff. In this case, it is advisable to use a universal multi-enzyme mixture like Kronozim-Multi. It is more expensive than regular feed, but for farmers with unstable feed formulas, the all-purpose mix is the solution to anti-nutrient issues and comes with some additional cost.
Dr. Fiodor S. Marchenkov Dear Dr Fiodor
For testing the enzyme in all aspect could you give some information about hot to test all parameter for the enzyme?
are we enough to test by adding firstly on top then check the end result of the flock compare to the non-treated flock then we can start add to feed according to matrix given from producer, your advice is appreciated?
Regarding the usage of an enzyme or a blend of enzymes "on top", truly does not make sense when discussing precision nutrition. But how do evaluate their value in field conditions?
As commented, as we have substrates and a reliable enzyme source, the enzymes are going to work. An "on top" usage will bring some results, which could be an increase in abdominal fat or even an increase of P in feces.
Transform this information into a nutrient adjustment or even a specific matrix for the enzyme product challenges nutritionists everywhere.
Lower feed nutrients to gather the information sometimes is not feasible in field conditions.
Luis Fernando you are right. I am always against using enzymes on top; it is not only Waste of money but additionaly destroy the mineral balance as Phytase does. It costs extra. As the best case enzymes on top do not work and money to buy them are just lost
Dr. Piotr Stanislawski many producers always afraid from applying the matrix fully in their formula so what is your advice to be sure about quality of the enzyme according to test mention above as SOP procedure in the lab?
Thanks
Enzymes are very important. Most of the materials used here are by products which include soy cake,sunflower cake wheat bran and maize bran without the enzyme it will very had for the chicken to utilize these materials.
I would like to talk about the practical use and effectiveness of enzymes in bird performance in a clear manner outside the enzyme business, according to scientific and practical experiences. to reach a common scientific and practical point recommended for bird breeders.
For example, according to the effectiveness of commercial enzymes, with respect to the quality and concentration of nutrients, metabolic energy, the age and dynamic conditions of the bird, and the power or efficiency of growth and performance.
For example, what are your recommendations for using enzymes in tropical and cold regions. Or the relationship between commercial or exogenous enzymes with endogenous enzymes in the bird's body and endogenous food substances and the effectiveness of commercial enzymes in activating more endogenous enzymes in the body and food substances. What do you suggest?
Akbar Yaghobfar The difficulty of working with enzymes, in the same way as with feed rations, is that you have to solve multifactorial problems. They depend on many, often completely different reasons. So you say whether enzymes depend on the climate, whether it is the tropics or the north. They do not depend on enzymes, since the bird's internal temperature does not depend on the climate of the country. But enzymes are selected depending on the breed of poultry recommended by the poultry manufacturer. In the information that is given to the breed (cross) of a bird, geneticists indicate all the needs of this bird for energy, amino acids, trace elements, and so on. This, in principle, is the basic information that should be taken into account.
Hi to all:
The first purpose of enzyme using is to use the nutrient that without exogenous enzyme are not usable by endogenous enzyme . The other most important purpose is gut health .
I advise to use enzyme like those that are effective on the NSP in breeder and layer first on top , after using evaluate the body weight ,egg weight and production percent .if there be increase in body and egg weight it shows that enzyme has increased the availability of nutrients then can use
matrix value . but without evaluation those parameters and using matrix value and decreasing nutrient intake , then may be risk of body and egg weight loss and health of bird can be threat .
Zahed Abbasi
Hello and thanks for your content. In connection with the article provided by you, I present the summary of the results of a test conducted by us.
Abstract
The present experiment was designed to investigate the effects of different levels of commercial enzyme supplemented with diets containing different levels of hull-less barley on performance and egg quality in laying hens. For this purpose, 216 Hy line W36 laying hens were used based on a completely randomized design in 6 experimental treatments with 6 replicates( 6 laying hen per replicate). Treatments were 0, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60% hull-less barley with three level bioform enzyme with ß-glucanase(550 U/g) and xylanase(800 U/g) (0, 0.5 and 1 g/kg diet). The results of the present study showed that the use of enzyme in experimental diets did not affect the measured variables of performance, but adding it to experimental diets caused a significant reduction in the weight and thickness of the shell and did not affect other egg quality characteristics. Also, diffleyerent levels of hull-less barley did not significantly affect on parameters such as thickness and strength shell, but of, performance parameters and some egg quality traits, such as the thickness of white egg, HU unit and yolk color showed a significant difference.Therefore, this can be concluded from the results of the peresent study, that the commerical enzyme did not improve the performance and some of the quality parameters of the egg and on the other hand, reduced the quality of shell. The use of hull-less barley in the diet of laying hens caused a decrease in egg quality despite strength shell,also had a negative effect on the the yolk color and the thickness of the white egg.
Zahed Abbasi,
I would just comment that to keep a look out on feed intake also, if it drops it could be a sign that indeed the enzyme is working, but because energy to all othe nutrients ratio wasn't changed that the birds now have decreased daily intake of all nutrients and could therefor also show no gain in performance parameters, even in some circumstances show a loss! But that is not the enzymes fault.
George Entz
Great point! That's why the matrix value of the enzyme for each nutrient should be applied and adjusted individually when formulating the diet.
Mohammad Afrouziyeh makes an excellent point. One really needs to consider the impact of an enzyme on the individual ingredients. Not an easy thing to do but it will maximize the value of the enzyme.
From experience in freerun brown layers, it is easy to see if enzymes work. Add it on top, and you should see the results on bird weight in a week to 10 days. What the bird's weight tells you, is larger egg size and or production coming, because of increased follicle size and number. But one must have a continuous bird weigher. Accurate bird scales that has temp compensated are paramount in today's operations. The hot temp in the daytime makes some scales not give the correct weights.
Great points! Matrix values of enzymes should be used cautiously as they might not always be accurate. Different factors such as birds’ age, dietary antinutrients, disease, and environmental conditions can affect the efficacy of enzymes in diets. Another concern in using these values is related to enzyme additivity issues. Nutritionists must be careful when reviewing the total matrix applied to any enzyme mixture. It is unclear whether the nutrient delivery by one enzyme is additive with the nutrient delivery of a second or third one. Feed enzyme suppliers must ensure that their recommendations about matrix values keep pace with nutritionists’ and producers’ growing demand for accuracy and precision. We have discussed this more in-depth in our newsletter: https://poultryinnovationpartnership.ca/research-update-june/
Mike Stahl Apparently, Engormix does not create the link, so you can just copy the link address and paste it into your browser to open it. Let me know if that does not work. Take care and talk to you soon!
Mohammad Afrouziyeh Thanks, Mohammad. Good points. I think we have to consider a safety margin for matrix values when we use enzymes in pelleted feed, cause pelleting conditions may affect feed enzyme activities.
I have discussed some challenges around using enzyme matrix value in feed formulation in the following video. I welcome any constructive insights and feedback. https://youtu.be/PCmKGg0PUPw
Mohammad Afrouziyeh, Hi, this is a good point about poultry nutrition. Actually, Enzyme efficiency depends on Pelleting Temperature during feed processing, and good Mixing during premix making. ok