Brassica napus and Brassica juncea extruded-expelled cake and solvent-extracted meal as feedstuffs for laying hens: Lay performance, egg quality, and nutrient digestibility

Two experiments evaluated feeding Brassica (B.) napus (canola) or B. juncea co-products to brown-shelled egg laying hens. In Exp. 1, diets including 20% B. napus or B. juncea extruded-expelled cakes (NC, JC) or solvent-extracted meals (NM, JM) compared to a control diet with no Brassica co-products, were fed to 120 hens (4 hens/cage, n = 6) for 36 wk. In Exp. 2, DM, gross energy, CP and amino acid (AA) retention/digestibility was determined by feeding diets containing 30% B. napus or B. juncea cakes or meals and basal diet to 240 hens (8 hens/pair of cages, n = 6) for 7 d. Cakes averaged 40 g/kg lower moisture, 28 g/kg lower CP, and 84 g/kg greater fat content compared with meals. In Exp. 1, there was no effect of diet on lay percentage or BW throughout the experiment. Feed consumption was 3.5 g/d lower in layers fed JM compared with controls and egg: feed was reduced by 14 mg egg/g feed in layers fed JC (P < 0.01). Although eggs from layers fed NM were 0.7 g heavier than controls, eggs from layers fed NC, JM or JC were 1.4 g lighter than controls (P < 0.01). Eggs from layers fed Brassica diets contained a greater proportion (1.6%-points) of monounsaturated fatty acids compared with controls (P < 0.01). Eggs from layers fed B. juncea had a relatively greater proportion (0.2%-points) of C18:3 (n3) compared with those of layers fed B. napus diets (P < 0.01). Feeding Brassica diets reduced digestibility of DM (5%-points), gross energy (7%-points) and CP (4%-points) vs. basal (P < 0.01). The digestibility of indispensable AA except tryptophan, was reduced feeding Brassica diets vs. basal (P < 0.01). We concluded that feeding B. napus and B. juncea extruded-expelled cakes and solvent-extracted meal at 20% of diets to hens supported acceptable lay performance and egg quality over a 36 wk production cycle. Digestibility data indicated that indispensable AA in Brassica co-products had moderately high (75 to 85%) apparent ileal digestibility.

Camelina sativa cake for broilers: Effects of increasing dietary inclusion from 0 to 24% on tissue fatty acid proportions at 14, 28, and 42 d of age

The benefits to human from the consumption of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (N-3 PUFAS) have been recognized. Camelina sativa is an oilseed crop grown for biofuel production. Feeding its cake with 10 to 20% remaining oil (28 to 30% α-linolenic acid [ALA]) has the potential to enrich poultry products with n-3 PUFA. An experiment was conducted to assess lipid deposition in brain, liver, breast, and thigh tissue by increasing inclusions of camelina cake (CC) fed to broiler chickens. Male chicks (744, Ross 308) housed in 24 cages were fed 0, 8, 16, or 24% CC for 42 d, 6 replicates per CC level. At the end of the starter (14 d), grower (28 d), and finisher (42 d) phase, brain, liver, breast, and thigh samples were collected from 3 birds/cage and diets were analyzed for fatty acid content. Feeding increasing CC inclusions from 0 to 8, 16, and 24% increased dietary ALA (5.3, 11.1, 15.2, 17.8, respectively) as a proportion of the total fatty acid content. All diets provided a similar level of long-chain n-3 PUFA (about 0.9%). Irrespective of growth phase, increases in dietary CC inclusion led to a linear increase (P<0.001) in the proportion of ALA in breast, thigh, and liver (76, 128, 288%, respectively), but not in brain tissue. An increase in dietary CC inclusion led to a linear increase (P<0.001) in the proportion of long-chain n-3 PUFAs, including docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in liver (109 and 80%, respectively) and brain (24 and 6%, respectively) tissue. However, in breast and thigh tissue, increases in dietary CC inclusion led to an increase in only (P<0.005) DPA (24 and 27%, respectively). The predominant n-3 PUFA in liver and brain tissue feeding 24% CC was DHA (48% and 88%, respectively), unlike in breast and thigh meat, where ALA increased (65 and 86%, respectively). The labeling claim requirement for n-3 PUFA enrichment (300 mg/100 g meat) was exceeded in breast and thigh by feeding a 24% CC diet for 28 d or 16% CC diet for 42 d, respectively.

Effect of dietary particle size and nutrient supply on energy digestibility and nitrogen excretion in ileal cannulated grower pigs

Diets with two particle sizes (600 and 900 µm) and two nutrient supply levels [digestible energy (DE)-limiting and amino acid (AA)-limiting; 2.8 and 1.8 g digestible lysine Mcal-1 DE, 3.15 and 3.40 Mcal DE kg-1, respectively] were used. Eight ileal cannulated pigs (25 ± 2 kg) had restricted access to feed (3 × maintenance DE) for three periods (N = 6 per diet). Reducing particle size from 900 to 600 µm did not alter urinary or total N excretion (P > 0.10), reduced faecal N excretion 11%, increased total-tract digestibility of N and energy 3%, and increased ileal digestibility of N 9% and energy 11% (P < 0.05). Reducing particle size increased energy digestibility but did not reduce total N excretion. Key words: Particle size, pig, nitrogen, excretion, energy, digestibility

Effect of dietary particle size and carbohydrase and/or phytase supplementation on nitrogen and phosphorus excretion of grower pigs

The effect of dietary particle size and enzyme supplementation on N and P excretion were investigated in a 3 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, with three particle sizes (400, 700, or 850 μm), two levels of a carbohydrase cocktail [0 or 444 added units (U) β-glucanase plus 1385 added U xylanase kg-1 diet], and two levels of phytase (0 or 374 added U phytase kg-1 diet), for a total of 12 dietary treatments. Diets (70% barley, 25% peas) were formulated to contain 3.25 Mcal digestible energy (DE) kg-1, 1.6 g digestible lysine Mcal-1 DE, and 1.2 g kg-1 available P. Sixty pigs (25.3 ± 1.4 kg) had restricted access (3 × maintenance DE) to feed, and five individual pig observations for each of the 12 mash diets were obtained. Reducing particle size from 700 to 400 µm reduced total P excretion 12% and increased P digestibility and retention 15% (P < 0.05), while phytase reduced total P excretion 28% and increased P digestibility and retention 42% (P < 0.01). Reducing particle size from 850 and 700 to 400 µ m decreased total N excretion 4 and 7%, respectively (P < 0.05). Carbohydrase did not affect P digestibility or excretion (P > 0.10), but increased digestibility of N and energy (P < 0.05). Carbohydrase interacted with particle size for energy digestibility (P < 0.01) and with phytase for N and energy digestibility (P < 0.05). Particle size affected N excretion and energy digestibility more than enzyme supplementation, while phytase affected P excretion more than particle size, suggesting that particle size reduction and phytase supplementation are effective to reduce nutrient excretion of grower pigs. Key words: Particle size, carbohydrase, phytase, pig, nitrogen, phosphorus