Effects of probiotic and organic acids in the diet with inclusion of protein hydrolysate from Tra catfish by-product waste water on performance of chickens

Nguyen Thi Thuy and Nguyen Cong Ha

College of Agriculture and Applied Biology, CanTho University,
Campus II, 3/2 Street, Ninh Kieu District, CanTho City, Viet Nam.
nthithuycn@ctu.edu.vn

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to determine the effect of catfish by-product protein hydrolysate (CB), organic acids (OA) and a source of probiotics (PRO) in diets on performance and meat quality of local chickens in a semi-scavenging system. A total of 300 Noi chickens (male) at 4 weeks of age were allocated at random to 4 treatments, with 3 householders as replicates in a randomized block design. Each replicate consisted of 4 pens with 25 birds in each pen. Treatments were FM: Basal diet + marine fish meal (control); CB: basal diet with CB; CB-OA: basal diet with CB + OA; CB-PRO: basal feed with CB + PRO; The experiment was over 12 weeks (4-16 weeks of age).

The chickens tended (p=0.09) to have slightly better (4.5%) growth rate when their supplementary feed contained low levels (0.2%) of organic acids or a probiotic (culture of Lactobacilli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae).

Key words: Lactobacilli, poultry, Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Introduction

Poultry production is an important economic activity in the Mekong Delta, Viet Nam. The birds are usually confined and fed commercial feed, which may contain antibiotics and growth promoting substances. Recently, emphasis has been directed to other feed additives such as organic acids and pre- and pro-biotics. The production of Tra catfish ( Pangasius hypophthalmus) has increased dramatically in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, with major exports of fish fillets to many countries. As a result, there are abundant by-products, which are input materials for processing into catfish meal. In this process, large amounts of waste water are discarded, especially from small scale factories, creating a major challenge of environmental pollution, as well as a waste of protein.

Recent research by Dang Minh Hien et al (2015) showed that catfish by-products can be processed to produce a protein-rich product (catfish hydrolysate) of high digestibility when fed to chickens (Thuy and Ha 2017).

The aim of the present study was to determine the effect on the performance of local chickens of catfish hydrolysate (CB) supplementation, separately or in combination with a probiotic or with organic acids.

Materials and methods

Location

The experiment was carried out in Long Hoa Ward, Binh Thuy district, Cantho city, located in the Mekong Delta in the south of Vietnam. Long Hoa is on an alluvial plain where there is good potential for agriculture. The experiment was conducted from July to September 2016.

Treatments and design

The experimental diets consisted of the basal feed plus:

Fish meal (FM)
Catfish waste water hydrolysate (CB)
CB + organic acids (CB-OA)
CB + Probiotic (CB-PRO)

Each treatment was applied to a group of 25 chickens in each of three households (replicates) according to a randomized bock design.

Selection of farmers (replicates)

Three households in one neighborhood of Long Hoa Village were selected as the 3 replications of the treatments. Each household had a relatively large garden and access to fields where the chickens could scavenge.

Chickens

Three hundred Noi male chickens at 4 weeks of age were distributed at random among the three households, 100 in each household. The chickens were allowed to scavenge from 07.00h to 17.00h, with access to the experimental feeds in the scavenging area; at night time, they were confined in separate pens where they also had free access to the experimental feeds.

Basal diet and supplements

The experimental diets were formulated to satisfy nutritional requirements of chickens from 4 to 9 and 9 to 16 weeks of age (Tables 1 and 2). They contained 60% of the dietary protein from the basal ingredients (rice bran, broken rice, maize meal and soya bean meal); and 40% from: fish meal in the control diet (FM), or Tra catfish hydrolysate (CB), or CB + probiotic (CB-PRO), or CB + organic acids (CB-OA). The supplement of organic acids (Poulacid) contained as main ingredients: fumaric acid (15%), lactic acid (5%), calcium formate (10%) and phosphoric acid (30%). The probiotic (LacProbi), contained in 1 kg: Bacillus subtilis: 10⁸-10¹⁰ CFU, Lactobacillus spp: 10⁸-10¹⁰, Saccharomyces cerevisiae: 10 ⁸-10⁹ CFU.

Procedure and measurements

The birds were weighed (all 25 chickens in each pen) every week. Feed and water were offered ad libitum. Five chickens per pen were slaughtered at the end of the experiment. Carcass characteristics were recorded and samples of thigh meat taken for analysis. The measurements were: growth rate, DM feed intake, DM conversion, morbidity, mortality, meat quality.

Chemical analysis

The chemical composition of feed and meat was determined using the methods of AOAC (1990).

Statistical analysis

Data were analyzed using the General Linear Model (GLM) of the ANOVA program in the Minitab (2016) Software. Tukey pair-wise comparisons were used to determine differences between treatment means at p <0.05.

Results and discussion

Feed intake and growth performance

There were no differences among treatments in feed intake, growth rate and feed conversion (Table 3). The tendency (p=0.09) for the OA and PRO treatments to support slightly higher growth rate than the FM and CB treatments was small (4.5% improvement) in practical terms but in line with observations by Shareef and Al-Dabbagh (2009) that adding a yeast culture (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) at 1-2% to broiler diets improved feed intake and conversion. There was no mortality on any of the treatments.

The influence of the semi-scavenging system on responses to pre- and pro-biotics has not previously been studied.

Carcass evaluation

There was a marginal (+2%) increase in ether extract content of the thigh muscle (Table 4) in chickens from the CB, OA and PRO treatments compared with the control.

Conclusions

• Local chickens in a semi-scavenging system tended (p=0.09) to have slightly better (+4.5%) growth rate when their supplementary feed contained low levels (0.2%) of organic acids or probiotics (culture of Lactobacilli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae).

Acknowledgements

Financial support from the Sida-financed project, MEKARN II, is gratefully acknowledged. Sincere thanks to Mr. Manh, Mr. Dat and Ms. Chanh householders in Binh Thuy district for facilitating the conduct of the experiment.

References

AOAC 1990 Official methods of analysis. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Arlington, Virginia, 15^th edition.

Dang Minh Hien, Nguyen Cong Ha, Nguyen Thi Thuy and Ta Hung Cuong 2015 The hydrolysis ability of red meat by-product protein from Catfish in case of high fat content using enzyme Bromelain, International Proceedings of Food Ingredients Asia Conference 2015, Bitec, Bangkok, Thailand, 10-11 Sep 2015, 105-110

Minitab 2000 Minitab user's guide. Data analysis and quality tools. Release 16 for Windows. Minitab Inc., Pennsylvania, USA.

Thuy N T and Ha N C 2017 Effects of inclusion of protein hydrolysis from Tra catfish by-product waste water in the diets on apparent ileal digestibility and total tract retention coefficients of local chickens. Livestock Research for Rural Development. Volume 29, Article #55 . http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd29/3/nthi29055.html

Shareef A M and Al-Dabbagh A S A 2009 Effects of probiotic (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) on performance of broiler chicks. Iraqu Journal of Veterinary Sciences. 23: 23-29

Received 13 May 2017; Accepted 6 June 2017; Published 2 July 2017

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