March 2018 Newsletter

Treasurer's Report

The last 6 weeks have been busy travel weeks, including two major trips for WPSA. In February I attended the International Production and Processing Expo (IPPE) in Atlanta, USA. I was joined in the WPSA booth by Drs. Mulder, Buresh, Akbay, and Uni. As usual, IPPE had huge crowds, with visitors coming from around the world. I was delighted that my government recognised the importance of our poultry industries, by sending our Secretary of Agriculture, Dr Sonny Purdue. It was good to have many WPSA members stop by our booth and visit. It was exciting to have new faces - folks who introduced themselves and asked about joining our Association. And as your Treasurer, I was most happy to see those members and Branch Secretaries who came by to pay me their dues!

This week I have been in the Napa Valley of California for the Pacific Egg and Poultry Association (PePa) Meetings. As always, the Student Programme of PePa was sponsored by the United States Branch of WPSA. Historically, poultry students from California, Oregon, Utah, and Washington attend this event. This year, two WPSA Travel Grant recipients from our Mexico Branch, joined the student mix. Our Senior VP, Dr Buresh, was on hand to judge the Student Poster Competition and assist me (PePa Student Programme Chair) at the Awards Ceremony.

The WPSA-sponsored students from the University of Guadalajara: Jocelyn Barba and Maria Trujillo, were great representatives of their University and their home WPSA Branch. Both students presented posters, participated in the full convention programme, the student activities, networked with poultry scientists and producers, and even tasted a little of the famous Napa Valley wine!

I am delighted to see more students applying from our Latin Branches. Both Jocelyn and Maria have been charged with promoting the programme to classmates and assisting them with future travel grant applications. Being around these students for the entire convention and seeing how they took advantage of every educational opportunity, I can say that WPSA funds were well spent.

Quote from Jocelyn Barba Rodriguez, Mexico

During my stay in California attending the PEPA convention, I had the opportunity to meet many interesting people with a lot of experience in the poultry industry thanks to Dr Bradley. The lectures were really interesting in which they clarified me what was the role of Mexico in the world industry, I especially enjoyed the conference of Jim Summer, President of the United States Export Council for Birds and Eggs. With its motto ‘Poultry and eggs from the United States feed the world’. I think Mexico has the potential to overcome the parameters that have taxes today. The other conferences were topics on which we may not yet worry in Mexico because we have different objectives. On the second day of the conferences I was interviewed by Mr John Bedell from J. S. West Milling Co. and I got an experience about job interviews, I also had the opportunity to meet and discuss the work of Mr Dave Crockett; I had the honour of making two good friends, Miss Alejandra Figueroa and Myrna Cadena of Davis University, who gave me a little tour of their workplace and their medicine unit. In summary, the experience was enriching in many ways, I met many people with an impressive trip, I have been very fortunate, I would like to thank them for making it possible for me to have the opportunity to go so far.

Quote from Maria Trujillo

I want to thank you for the opportunity that WPSA provided to me. Having attended the PePa Convention has been a truly gratifying experience in my life.
The entire event was quite interesting, from the student poster presentations (my participation in these poster presentations goes without saying), the informational sessions, and the debate between the students over the poultry case reports. Every moment left me with new knowledge which adds to my experience as a future professional in the avian sciences.
In terms of the sessions, I want to mention that the presentation I found very inspirational was that of Marilyn Dolan and Hinda Mitchell titled ‘Social Media, don’t be a hater’, because social media is a good diffuser of information to initiate a campaign in Mexico about the importance of avian production. In this way, the population will value its labour as well as the food that is produced.
During the convention, I had the pleasure of meeting many poultry producers and avian scientists. The individuals I remember most and with whom I had the opportunity to interact were Dr Rocio Crespo, DVM from the Avian Health & Food Safety Lab, WA and Dr Rodrigo Gallardo, DVM, PhD, Associate Professor at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. I was also able to interact closely with Dave Crockett and his wife, Julie Crockett, business partners of NuCal Foods, an important company for the poultry industry. I had the opportunity to network with students from different universities and I am pleased to say that I made good relationships with some of them, for example, Alejandra Figueroa and Myrna Cadena from the University of California, Davis, as well as Rodrigo López and Cirenio Hisasaga from California State University, Fresno.
Of course, I cannot fail to mention that the experience touring through Napa and the nearby towns was wonderful. Visiting the places that our new friends from UC Davis took us throughout the university and the city of Davis was equally amazing. I returned to Mexico with a piece of California in my heart.
Once again, I greatly appreciate this opportunity.

Dr Francine Bradley

WG4 and 5

The ‘XXIV European Symposium on the Quality of Poultry Meat’ will be conjointly held with the ‘XVIII European Symposium on the Quality of Eggs and Egg Products’ in Çeşme, İzmir, Turkey between 23 -26 June 2019. Visit http://www.eggmeat2019.com to keep you updated. Special reduced registration fees are available for WPSA members and students.

Summaries

Glutathione peroxidases in poultry biology: Part 1. Classification and mechanisms of action

P.F. SURAI, I.I. KOCHISH and V.I. FISININ

Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) was described as a selenoprotein in 1973 and, since then, a great body of information has been accumulated to validate its important role in the antioxidant defence network in all animals, including poultry. The GSH-Px family includes at least eight members, and four of them (GSH-Px1, GSH-Px2, GSH-Px3 and GSH-Px4) are shown to be selenoproteins in animals. They are characterised by species- and tissue-specificity in their expression and activity. An optimal Se status in tissues/body is key for maximum expression of GSH-Px and therefore, in avian research GSH-Px activity is widely used as a biomarker for determining Se status and requirements. On the other hand, GSH-Px is an inducible enzyme and its activity depends on the level of stress and can be used as an index of antioxidant defences. In poultry production two forms of Se-dependent GSH-Px (GSH-Px1 and GSH-Px4) have received most attention. The aim of this paper is to review GSH-Px properties and functions in relation to poultry biology with special emphasis to its role in chicken adaptation to various stress conditions. Recent advances in selenoprotein identification and characterisation in relation to poultry Se status, dietary sources of Se and stress conditions can shed light on the roles of GSH-Px in avian biology.

Sequential and choice feeding in laying hens: adapting nutrient supply to requirements during the egg formation cycle

A. MOLNÁR, C. HAMELIN, E. DELEZIE and Y. NYS

Conventional feeding systems for laying hens rely on a complete feed available ad libitum in mash, pelleted or crumble form. When complete feeds are used, intake is mainly controlled by the hens’ energy requirement and feed presentation, but the birds cannot adjust their consumption to other nutritional needs and thus over-consume to cover the calcium needed for egg shell formation. Sequential, loose-mix and choice feeding offer birds the opportunity to select different diets in the short term. These feeding strategies have been proposed as alternative feeding systems whose main objectives are to match nutrient supply to individual requirements during the daily changes induced by the temporal sequence of the egg formation. This review discusses some findings related to the use of whole cereals and of alternating low and high energy or protein diets, conditions which may improve feed utilisation efficiency. In addition, the adjustment of calcium and phosphorus levels during the day can have benefits in terms of egg production and quality. This review explores the physiological basis for sequential, loose-mix and choice feeding and evaluates the impact of these systems on egg production and quality.

Impact of animal welfare on worldwide poultry production

W. BESSEI

Animal welfare has become an important issue in poultry production. Concern about poultry welfare has mainly been expressed in industrialised countries. Since trade of poultry products is highly internationalised, welfare aspects have to be considered by all countries involved. This paper reviews the changes in the attitude to animal welfare in Western societies and the related development of regulations and standards, the impact of high welfare standards on production costs and on international trade of poultry products and finally, the influence of different stakeholders on poultry production and marketing. From the 1960s onwards, animal welfare activities have been focused on farm animals kept under ‘industrial’ conditions, such as caged laying hens. Consequently, the management conditions for laying hens in Europe have been regulated in detail by national laws and EU-Directives. Meanwhile, conventional cages have been banned in the EU and welfare activities are now directed towards other issues, such as beak-trimming and killing day-old chicks of layer lines. All measures which are considered to improve the welfare of animals increase cost of production. Hence, differences in national welfare regulations are expected to relocate poultry production to countries with low welfare standards. There is a tendency that important retailers and food chains use welfare as a marketing argument and establish high price premium labels. Standards which are established and controlled by stakeholders of the poultry market are independent of national welfare legislation. This will lead to harmonisation of welfare standards on an international level. Most welfare labels have been developed by retailers in cooperation with welfare-oriented NGOs. There is a new trend in Germany where retailers and farmers organisations develop welfare schemes and poultry producers are paid an extra allowance for welfare-friendly production. This system ensures that poultry farmers are reimbursed for the welfare-related costs.

Adapting trace mineral nutrition of birds for optimising the environment and poultry product quality

Y. NYS, P. SCHLEGEL, S. DUROSOY, C. JONDREVILLE and A. NARCY

In the past, trace minerals have been inadequately considered by poultry nutritionists, as demonstrated by the scarce availability of literature. The practice of using high safety margins between requirements and dietary concentrations and the relative low cost of these essential minerals are possible reasons for this. Environmental considerations and regulations limiting trace mineral supply and improvements in analytical methods to detect putative contaminants in mineral sources have led to a need to a re-examination of trace mineral requirements. In addition, new knowledge regarding trace mineral roles in bone metabolism, anti-oxidant status, homeostatic regulation, product quality, immunology and the development of novel trace mineral sources have favoured, for the past 15 years, interests in optimising trace mineral nutrition considering other parameters than solely the bird performance. This review analyses the role of essential trace minerals (mainly Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, I, Se) in broiler and laying hen nutrition. This work aims to highlight the evaluation of trace mineral requirement, the bioavailability of trace mineral sources, especially in regards with phytate antagonism, and the main functions of trace minerals in egg, eggshell and meat quality. The impact of trace minerals on the environment (toxicity to plants and microorganisms) is considered and nutritional means to reduce the risk of environmental contamination will be explored. Finally, the possibilities of poultry product’s enrichment in some trace minerals for the benefit of human health will be explored.

Glutathione peroxidases in poultry biology: Part 2. Modulation of enzymatic activities

P.F. SURAI, I.I. KOCHISH and V.I. FISININ

It is known that glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) belongs to the first and second levels of the antioxidant network and is involved in the regulation of many important cellular pathways including maintenance of the redox balance and signalling. In poultry the GSH-Px family includes four Se-dependent forms of the enzyme, however only GSH-Px1 and GSH-Px4 are well characterised and have received substantial attention as important enzymes participating in chicken adaptation to commercially-relevant stresses. The aim of this review is to analyse the current data on relationships between various stress conditions and the GSH-Px activity in poultry with special emphasis to selenium status and nutritional supplements. Indeed, the published literature indicates that there is a range of different nutritional (Se supplementation, antioxidants, plant extracts, probiotics, drugs, mycotoxins) and environmental (temperature stress, transportation, disease) factors modulating GSH-Px activity and/or expression in different tissues from poultry. These inducible enzymes are involved in adaptation to stress and Se supplementation in optimal concentrations whereby form is key for antioxidant system maintenance under stress conditions in commercial poultry production.

Health benefits and potential applications of anthocyanins in poultry feed industry

L. CHANGXING, M. CHENLING, M. ALAGAWANY, L. JIANHUA, D. DONGFANG, W. GAICHAO, Z. WENYIN, S.F. SYED, M.A. ARAIN, M. SAEED, F.U. HASSAN and S. CHAO

Anthocyanins are flavonoids widely spread in various plant species as a major phyto-pigment. In recent years, interest in using anthocyanins as a feed ingredient has increased markedly owing to their health and other benefits. Anthocyanins possess various pharmacological properties, including anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anticancer, antidiabetic, neuroprotective, anti-obesity and antioxidant effects. Dietary consumption of anthocyanins has revealed benefits in animal performance. Little is known about health-promoting effects of anthocyanins in avian species, but anthocyanin-rich dried fruits have shown positive effects on certain pathological conditions and health promoting markers in human and other animals. This review aims to gather information regarding health benefits of anthocyanins and highlight therapeutic and potential health beneficial effects of anthocyanins for poultry. Additionally, it explores these biologically important flavonoids as alternative ingredients in poultry feed to replace synthetic nutrients and medicines. The available literature reports studies involving use of anthocyanins focused on human, mice and in vitro models. However, there is a need to explore mechanism of action at molecular level to understand potential beneficial effects of anthocyanins in avian species.

The potentially beneficial effects of supplementation with hesperidin in poultry diets

X. YATAO, M. SAEED, A.A. KAMBOH, M.A. ARAIN, F. AHMAD, I. SUHERYANI, M.E. ABD EL-HACK, M. ALAGAWANY, Q.A. SHAH and S. CHAO

Flavonoids are natural compounds derived from different types of vegetables, fruits, and medicinal herbal plants. Hesperidin, a flavanone (a class of flavonoids) glycoside is found abundantly in citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons tangerines and limes and is known to possess significant benefits, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-stress, antioxidant, growth promoting, anticancer and immunological properties. Hesperidin enhances mucosal and humoral immunity by increasing intestinal intraepithelial lymphocyte numbers, lymphoid organs (thymus, spleen and bursa) indices, as well as improving anti-avian influenza and anti-Newcastle disease antibody titres in poultry. In addition, hesperidin is a strong chain-breaking antioxidant that provides potent cellular antioxidant defence against the damaging effects induced by peroxide hydrogen. As a natural antioxidant, hesperidin could help mitigate heat stress during summer by decreasing heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratios, and quenching reactive oxygen species generated by summer heat stress. The aim of this review was to elucidate the biological effects and health benefits of hesperidin as an alternative of synthetic immune boosters and growth promoters in poultry diets.

The use of NSP enzymes in poultry nutrition: myths and realities

U. AFTAB and M.R. BEDFORD

The use of non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) enzymes has increased in recent years with most of the growth coming from the market segment which uses non-viscous diets. A variety of product choices are available to the feed industry. These range from mono-component, single enzymes, to cocktails of more than one activity, to so-called ‘complex’ enzymes, displaying, in addition to the main activity, several non-targeted (i.e. quality controlled or assured) activities within one product. The relative abundance of the substrate or the number of substrates presented by a given diet may not be viewed as the sole criterion for the fitness of an enzyme solution. An argument can be made that NSP enzymes should not be considered as classical digestive enzymes and any response may not be regarded simply as a function of the extent of in vitro or in vivo substrate hydrolysis. The idea of having additional non-NSP or NSP activities to ‘strengthen’ a xylanase response, as well as the notion ‘complex diet needs a complex enzyme’ appear to lack sufficient scientific backing. Measures based on alternative responses e.g. gut morphology, nutrient or energy digestibility, gut-flora and its metabolites or fermentation profiles, are useful in developing a wider understanding of the phenomenon but require careful interpretation as the stand-alone criteria of usefulness of an NSP enzyme. Performance data is always the ultimate judge of the efficacy of a feed enzyme. This review addresses the practical question of selecting an NSP enzyme. The aim is to discuss the data supporting some of the common views held in the industry today, and how these views significantly influence the process of selecting an NSP enzyme for commercial in-feed application.

Current loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technologies for the detection of poultry pathogens

S. EHTISHAM-UL-HAQUE, M.A. ZAMAN, M. KIRAN, M.K. RAFIQUE, M.F. QAMAR and M. YOUNUS

Traditional diagnostic capabilities (serology and culture) are not enough to monitor the poultry infections efficiently. For effective control of poultry infections, a regular program incorporating simple and cost-effective molecular diagnostics is necessary. On this rationale, it is possible to present working molecular diagnostic technology that would work equally well in field as well as in the laboratory. Recently, the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay has emerged as simple and inexpensive diagnostic tool for the molecular detection of various animal pathogens. To perform LAMP, no specialised instruments (e.g. thermal cycler) are required, permitting its use in developing countries. Various reliable LAMP assays have been reported for the detection of different poultry pathogens. However, still there is a need to improve the sensitivity, specificity, reproducibility, user-friendliness, delivery to end-user and affordability of LAMP assays. This article reviews current LAMP assays available for the molecular detection of important viral, bacterial and protozoan pathogens of poultry. It focuses on the various aspects of LAMP for the diagnosis of important poultry pathogens based upon pathogen type, specimen, target genes, LAMP primer types, detection limits, fluorescent detectors and LAMP chemistry used. This paper provides updates on principle, instrumentation, basic methodology, quantification capability, reagents and kits used currently in performing LAMP.

Roles of dietary fibre and particle size in broiler nutrition

S.K. KHERAVII, N.K. MORGAN, R.A. SWICK, M. CHOCT and S.-B. WU

Increasing the structural components in the diet, namely through including coarse grain particles in diets and manipulating the dietary fibre composition, has been shown to improve gut health, feed utilisation and production efficiency. This is primarily because structural components physically stimulate activity in the fore gut. An example of this is dietary non-starch polysaccharides (NSP), namely insoluble NSP, which have been shown to instigate beneficial effects on gut health, litter quality and nutrient utilisation, by increasing crop and gizzard activity, stimulating digestive enzyme production and enhancing bacterial fermentation in the hind gut. However, there is a lack of consistency with regard to the direct effects of dietary fibre on chicken health and production. The aim of this review therefore is to explore the impact of feeding different sources of fibre and different size grain particles on gut health and microflora, nutrient utilisation, performance and litter quality in broilers.

Nutritional significance and health benefits of designer eggs

M. ALAGAWANY, M.R. FARAG, K. DHAMA and A. PATRA

Designer foods of animal origin are produced either by feeding specific diets, or using new techniques like genetic engineering, cross-breeding. Designer eggs are an important type of functional foods. With the advancement of poultry industry, there is a rising interest in poultry biotechnology for altering the egg composition by genetic and nutritional manipulations for human health. This can be done by modifying cholesterol concentration and its fractions, lipid profile, fatty acids, amino acids and minerals or through adding therapeutic pharmaceutical molecules. Designer eggs provide vegetarian, safe, immune powered, specialty or organic foodstuffs which can have improved vitamins, minerals, balanced ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, lowered total cholesterol, additional boost of antibodies and essential pigments such as carotenoids. From the relevant scientific literature, functional eggs can be considered as human designer food. This review describes the concepts of designer eggs and their health benefits and nutritional values.

Phytochemistry and beneficial impacts of cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) as a dietary supplement in poultry diets

M. SAEED, A.A. KAMBOH, S.F. SYED, D. BABAZADEH, I. SUHERYANI, Q.A. SHAH, M. UMAR, I. KAKAR, M. NAVEED, M.E. ABD EL-HACK, M. ALAGAWANY and S. CHAO

Cinnamon is a common spice obtained from the bark of Cinnamon tree (Cinnamomum zeylanicum). It has been used for culinary, as well as medicinal, purposes since ancient times in various countries. Apart from substantial amounts of several nutrients, including carbohydrates, proteins, choline, vitamins (A, K, C, B3), and minerals, several biological active compounds are present in the extract of oil, which contribute to immunomodulatory, antioxidant, antiviral, lowering blood cholesterol, antimicrobial, lipid-lowering, antihypertension, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, gastroprotective, antidiabetic, neuroprotective and blood purifying properties. Cinnamon roots serve as a hepatic stimulant by improving bile production, eliminating toxins, restoring electrolyte balance and regulating hydration and can be used for enhancing digestion. In addition, nutritional properties of cinnamon powder include positive effects regarding growth, digestion, enhanced activity of gut microflora, improvement of immune response, as well as improved feed efficiency and health improvement of poultry birds. Recently, research focus has been directed towards supplementing broiler diets with cinnamon powder as a phytobiotic in order to replace synthetic growth promoters. After reviewing the literature, it was found that the research at the molecular level to elucidate the mechanisms behind the potential of cinnamon as a feed additive in poultry is limited, despite its promising impacts. Furthermore, supplementation doses vary significantly, i.e., from 0.02 to 7%. So, the aim of this review was to compile the published research related to cinnamon, explore its beneficial properties, find out its optimal dosage for uses by veterinarians, researchers, and nutritionists, as well as its potential to use as a natural feed additive to replace the synthetic antibiotic growth promoters in poultry feed.

Pathophysiology of avian intestinal ion transport

M. NIGHOT and P. NIGHOT

The gut has great importance for the commercial success of poultry production. Numerous ion transporters, exchangers, and channels are present on both the apical and the basolateral membrane of intestinal epithelial cells, and their differential expression along the crypt-villus axis within the various intestinal segments ensures efficient intestinal absorption and effective barrier function. Recent studies have shown that intensive production systems, microbial exposure, and nutritional management significantly affect intestinal physiology and intestinal ion transport. Dysregulation of normal intestinal ion transport is manifested as diarrhoea, malabsorption, and intestinal inflammation resulting into poor production efficiency. This review discusses the basic mechanisms involved in avian intestinal ion transport and the impact of development during growth, nutritional and environmental alterations, and intestinal microbial infections on it. The effect of intestinal microbial infections on avian intestinal ion transport depends on factors such as host immunity, pathogen virulence, and the mucosal organisation of the particular intestinal segment.