Specialty soy protein performs best across the board in a colour chicken feeding trial
Production of colour chickens continues to grow in Vietnam and now accounts for more than 70 per cent of the broiler market. That makes a good business case for boosting performance and profitability by using the best possible feed.
Traditionally producers have chosen fishmeal as a source of digestible protein for starter feed. But, due to challenges with the quality and availability of fishmeal, interest is growing in alternative protein sources, such as HP AviStart from HAMLET PROTEIN.
In a recent trial, researchers at Nong Lam University in Ho Chi Minh City compared the performance of fishmeal and HP AviStart. The results reveal that HP AviStart is not just a good alternative to fishmeal. An improved feed conversion rate (FCR) and weight gain show that HAMLET PROTEIN’s specialty protein is a better investment overall.
“Fishmeal is often not of high quality in Vietnam. Producers may buy fishmeal with a claimed protein content of 65 per cent, but in reality, the protein content is only 45 per cent as 20 per cent is non-protein nitrogen (NPN). By contrast, HP AviStart has an actual protein content of around 51 per cent and just 4 per cent NPN,” says Thikhamporn Charoenwai, HAMLET PROTEIN poultry nutritionist for the Asian region.
The high digestibility of HP AviStart is primarily due to the very low content of NPN, which is a direct reflection of the amino acid content.
The feeding trial at Nong Lam University used 500 Luong Phuong color chickens, which received one of five different starter diets for the first 28 days of their 60-day lifecycle. These included a corn-soy control diet, three corn-soy diets with 2.5 per cent, 5 per cent and 7.5 per cent HP AviStart respectively and a corn-soy diet with 5 per cent fishmeal.
Along with the evaluations of weight and FCR made on day 28 and 60, the study also measured villus height and crypt depth. A high villus height: crypt depth ratio is a reliable indicator of a well-developed gut. Previous studies have linked strong gut development to the high digestibility of feed proteins.
The findings show that HP AviStart is a stronger performer than fishmeal all round. Chickens that received starter feed with 5 per cent HP AviStart produced the best results overall – with the lowest FCR, the highest final weight and the best villus height: crypt depth ratio.
The low FCR and well-developed gut go hand-in-hand, Thikhamporn Charoenwai remarks.
“Together, these factors confirm the strong carry-over effect of our specialty protein. Producers can expect their investment in HP AviStart to pay for itself 3.5 times over.”
