03 May 2022 – In turkey production, as with other livestock, feed is the biggest cost point. Improving the conversion ratio in these birds, which, on average, is around 2.20 to 2.30 at 15 weeks old, can therefore go a long way in helping farmers improve the economics of their operations, especially at a time when feed raw material prices are squeezing profitability.
And with a sizeable chunk of animal agriculture’s carbon footprint resulting from feed production, an improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) can also help turkey producers answer sustainability calls. The more efficiently a bird can extract the necessary nutrients from its diet, the less feed is needed to bring it to slaughter weight, which can lower the environmental impact of its production.
For Phileo by Lesaffre the door to a better FCR in turkeys is improved gut health, and postbiotics is a key to opening it. Following the success of this solution in broilers and layers, the company has embarked on investigating its impact on turkeys and in today’s Industry Perspectives is sharing their initial findings with Feedinfo.
Below follows a conversation with Phileo by Lesaffre’s Alain Riggi, the company’s Global Poultry Manager, and Elen Rondel, its Western Europe Poultry Manager. We are also joined by Professor Federico Sirri from the University of Bologna, who conducted a recent trial with Phileo by Lesaffre on the impact of postbiotics on turkey microbiota and productivity.
[Feedinfo] Dr. Riggi, let’s start with you. Can you please give us a brief overview of the turkey production market?
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[Alain Riggi] Turkeys are the second most common poultry species produced globally, far behind broilers, but just before ducks. The global production of turkey meat is around 6 million tons (Mt) per year (about 5% of the broiler meat production of 120 Mt). Turkey production is geographically more concentrated than broilers, with around 2.6 Mt produced in the USA, 2.0 Mt in the EU (0.47 Mt in Germany, 0.4 Mt in Poland, 0.32 Mt in France and 0.3 Mt in Italy) and then 0.6Mt in Brazil. They are also produced in North Africa (mainly Morocco and Tunisia) and in other countries. |
Globally turkey production is stable, especially in the USA, Germany and Italy, while an increase is noted in Poland and a slow decrease is seen in France.
[Feedinfo] What have you identified as some of the most pressing production issues that turkey producers are facing today?
[Alain Riggi] There are three very important challenges for modern turkey producers.
First, there is a need to find alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) or the use of antibiotics as a treatment for infections. As with broilers, this is to reduce the risk of antimicrobial, multi-drug resistant bacteria developing and to respond to customers’ demand for healthier food.
Second, turkeys are very sensitive to intestinal disorders due to changes occurring during the production cycle (like several feed transitions, changes to the equipment, for instance, after the departure of females, etc.). There are two especially critical periods before feathering is finally complete: one around the time when birds are 21 days old and the other around 35-40 days old. These are two critical periods when the risk of intestinal diseases occurring, such as enteritis, is high. Thus farmers need to add new straw or wood shaving on the litter more regularly. These intestinal disorders can also translate into musculoskeletal issues, especially in heavy animals like turkeys.
And finally, the third challenge is the reduction of food-borne diseases, particularly due to Salmonella contamination.
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[Elen Rondel] Before the ban of AGPs in Europe, over 90% of turkeys were supplemented with in-feed antibiotics. The use of antibiotics for treatment remains a big issue for European turkey producers who, like others around the globe, are facing problems with bacterial enteritis. These intestinal disorders are, on average, responsible for half of all antibiotic treatments in turkeys. Farmers, however, have come a long way. On top of all the efforts made in flock management, turkey producers are also increasingly searching for and using solutions that can support gut integrity and immunity, control pathogens, and balance microbiota. Thanks to those efforts, between 2011 and 2020, the use of antibiotics in animal production, including turkeys, has dropped by 60% in Germany and by 51% in Italy. A reduction of 45% in turkeys in France has also been observed. |
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[Feedinfo] Of course, nutrition plays a large role in animal health. So, Ms Rondel, looking at turkey diets specifically, what do we need to keep in mind in terms of the challenges that producers face here?
[Elen Rondel] High raw material prices and lack of availability of some ingredients are very challenging for the poultry industry, but especially for turkey producers. As mentioned earlier, turkeys are very sensitive to digestive disorders, which means raw material supply and quality need to be secure. In addition, nutrient requirements are higher in turkeys than in broilers. For example, they require very high levels of protein with appropriate amino acid supplementation in their diets. These also need to be high in energy, especially during the finishing phase, to ensure sufficient fat deposits. Given the quantities of feed ingested by turkeys, maintaining good gut health while reducing feed costs as much as possible will definitively be another key challenge producers will have to face in the coming months.
[Feedinfo] So how does Phileo see postbiotics helping here? What is it putting forward?
[Alain Riggi] Phileo proposes Safmannan, a postbiotic based on a selected yeast fraction that helps maintain gut integrity. This, in turn, can prevent bacteria translocation and leaky gut. The solution can also help reduce pathogen pressure in the gut, especially Clostridium perfringens which are opportunistic bacteria that grow when gut disorders and stress occur.
Studies have also demonstrated that this postbiotic can modulate the intestinal microbiota for a better diversity, which translates into more beneficial bacteria like Roseburia and Ruminococcus in the gut and less harmful bacteria like E.coli and Salmonella.
The main benefits for the farmers are more resilient birds, drier litter, better feed efficiency, which all can contribute to higher income.
[Feedinfo] Let’s zoom in a bit more here. You recently conducted trials focusing on the impact Safmannan can have on turkey productivity and microbiota. Professor Sirri, please tell us what exactly led to this trial and what it entailed?
[Prof. Federico Sirri] The importance to control gut health conditions in poultry species is of primary importance to maintain high productivity standards, general health status and sustainability issues, with special regards to antibiotic free production. The supplementation of postbiotics such as Safmannan, which is rich in mannan-oligosaccharides and β-glucans (1-3, 1-6), could represent a novel strategy to achieve these goals. Two trials were conducted at the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences of the University of Bologna to evaluate the inclusion of a commercial preparation containing the aforementioned postbiotic in turkey diets on productive performance and faecal microbiota composition.
The main productive outcome observed in the trials was a significant improvement of the overall feed efficiency of BUT Big6 female turkeys at 107 days of age, with the FCR in the treatment group being 4 points less than the control group (p < 0.05). In addition, the bacteria population in the turkey faeces was characterised considering two sampling times (21 and 85 days) at different taxonomic level (from phylum to species) by 16S sequencing in order to define the impact of the dietary treatment on the microbial population.
[Feedinfo] So what were the main findings? What does Safmannan mean for turkey productivity, gut health, and for the control of opportunistic pathogens mention earlier?
[Prof. Federico Sirri] The strategy to favour the development of a balanced gut microbial consortium is a renowned approach to hinder the growth of undesirable and pathogen bacteria. In general, the faeces of the turkeys belonging to the treated group showed a higher abundance of health promoting microorganisms (i.e., different species of Lactobacillus as well as Clostridium bifermentans and Pediococcus acidilactici) in the last sampling (i.e., 85 days) in comparison to the control group. Moreover, in the faeces of turkeys belonging to the control group there was an initial colonisation of undesirable bacteria such as Gammaproteobacteria (i.e., Klebsiella, Acinetobacter, Shigella, Escherichia, Enterobacter, Erwinia and Serratia) which did not occur in the faeces of turkeys in the treated group. In treated birds, the abundance of beneficial bacteria such as Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Clostridium celatum, Lactobacillus coleohominis and Rothia nasimurium was increased in response to the dietary supplementation. In particular, Faecalibacterium praustnizii is a producer of short chain fatty acids, such as butyric acid, having an important function in both growth performance and protection against pathogens.
[Elen Rondel] This trial showed the supplementation with Safmannan leads to beneficial effects on the composition of the faecal microflora in turkeys. The promotion or maintenance of a balanced microbiota is very important. Indeed, a weakened microbiota, with a lower capacity to absorb the stresses linked to field conditions, may lead to extra costs associated with the use of antibiotics and impaired performance. The microbiota from turkeys supplemented with Safmannan show higher resilience and are less susceptible to opportunistic bacteria colonisation.
[Feedinfo] What impacts were noted on feed conversion and turkey growth and performance? How can this boost farmer profitability?
[Elen Rondel] This research showed that using Safmannan at the appropriate dosage can decrease pathogen pressure, balance microbiota and support gut health in turkeys. Thanks to those different modes of action, these birds are more able to reach their full genetic potential. In a recent Phileo study, we found that supplementing turkeys with Safmannan could improve final body weight by 80g and, more importantly, as mentioned by Professor Sirri, significantly reduce FCR by 4 points. In the context of very high feed raw material prices, this can lead to significant savings for turkey producers. The return on investment for the producers here is therefore double: better bird performance means improvements in their revenue and better bird health means savings on potential antibiotic treatments.
[Feedinfo] Considering these findings, what are the next steps for Phileo?
[Alain Riggi] It was great to see that Safmannan could have significant effects on the microbiota balance in turkeys and, consequently, improve turkey production performance and feed efficiency. Therefore, the next step is to share these excellent results with turkey producers in different regions and start field trials to confirm the impact postbiotics can have on turkeys under field conditions.
At the same time, Phileo veterinarians and nutritionists have developed yeast and bacteria probiotics and specific immune training solutions whose efficiency will also be investigated on turkeys. The goal here being to search for complementary effects and bring even greater results to turkey producers.
Published in association with Phileo by Lesaffre
