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Riboflavin requirements in organic poultry: graded supplementation to layers and parent hens

Leiber, F.; Amsler, Z.; Leubin, M.; Baki, C.; Eppenstein, R.C.; Lambertz, C.; Maurer, V. and Ayrle, H. (2020) Riboflavin requirements in organic poultry: graded supplementation to layers and parent hens. In: Book of Abstracts of the 71st Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science, 1st-4th December, 2020, Virtuel Meeting, p. 593.

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Summary

Added riboflavin (vitamin B2) in organic animal feeding needs to originate from GMO-free fermentation. This makes the process much more expensive compared to GMO-based riboflavin. Therefore, the level of supplementation matters from an economic point of view. Requirement definitions for B-vitamins are generally based on older empirical data and have never been defined for specific organic conditions. Two experiments (LAYERS and PARENTS) were conducted to test graded dosages of riboflavin in feeds for hens, in order to define safe lower thresholds of supplementation. The experiment LAYERS included 135 Lohmann Brown Classic laying hens. They were allocated to nine groups and supplemented with either 1.5, 3.0, or 4.5 mg riboflavin/kg fresh matter (FM) feed (L1.5, L3.0, L4.5). In PARENTS, 10 groups of 10 parent Hubbard JA 57 hens and one Hubbard S77 cockerel each were allocated to riboflavin supplementation of either 2.5 or 4.0 mg/kg FM feed (P2.5, P4.0). LAYERS lasted for 18 weeks; data for PARENTS are from 14 weeks (ongoing). Hens were fed ad libitum and housing conditions were according to organic standards. Realised total riboflavin concentrations in the feeds (including native riboflavin from feed components) were 5.0, 4.5, and 3.0 mg/kg FM for L4.5, L3.0, and L1.5, respectively, and 8.0 and 6.0 mg/kg FM for P4.0 and P2.5. In both experiments (18 weeks for LAYERS, 14 weeks for PARENTS), no treatment effects on feed consumption, body weight, laying performance, eggshell strength and yolk colour as well as plumage and keel bone integrity scores occurred. Symptoms of lameness were not observed at all. Riboflavin concentration in egg yolk was in the range of 0.55 to 0.65 mg/100 g yolk for all treatments in both experiments without treatment effects, except for L1.5, where it dropped to 0.4 in week 18 (P<0.05). In conclusion, no clinical symptoms of riboflavin deficiency were observed in any of the treatments of both experiments. However, lower riboflavin concentrations in yolk of L1.5 indicated a lower metabolic level. This level of supplementation is therefore not recommended.


EPrint Type:Conference paper, poster, etc.
Type of presentation:Paper
Keywords:animal nutrition, poultry, vitamin B, riboflavin, layers
Agrovoc keywords:
Language
Value
URI
English
animal nutrition
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_27925
English
layers
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_f851fe26
Subjects: Animal husbandry > Feeding and growth
Animal husbandry > Production systems > Poultry
Research affiliation: Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Animal > Animal nutrition
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Animal > Poultry
Deposited By: Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau, FiBL
ID Code:39239
Deposited On:12 Feb 2021 15:32
Last Modified:24 Aug 2022 08:59
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

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