Addition of a Worm Leachate as Source of Humic Substances in the Drinking Water of Broiler Chickens

Abstract

The objective of this research was to evaluate the growth performance, the apparent ileal digestibility of nitrogen and energy, the retention of nutrients and the apparent metabolizable energy corrected to zero nitrogen retention (AMEn) in broiler chickens supplemented with increasing doses of a worm leachate (WL) as a source of humic substances (HS) in the drinking water. In Exp. 1, 140 male broilers were penned individually and assigned to four WL levels (0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%) mixed in the drinking water from 21 to 49 days of age. Water was offered in plastic bottles tied to the cage. In Exp. 2, 600 male broilers from 21 to 49 days of age housed in floor pens were assigned to three levels of WL (0%, 10%, and 20%) mixed in the drinking water. The WL was mixed with tap water in plastic containers connected by plastic tubing to bell drinkers. The results of both experiments were subjected to analysis of variance and polynomial contrasts. In Exp. 1, the daily water consumption was similar among treatments but the consumption of humic, fulvic, and total humic acids increased linearly (p<0.01) as the WL increased in the drinking water. The feed conversion (p<0.01) and the ileal digestibility of energy, the excretion of dry matter and energy, the retention of dry matter, ash and nitrogen and the AMEn showed quadratic responses (p<0.05) relative to the WL levels in drinking water. In Exp. 2, the increasing level of WL in the drinking water had quadratic effects on the final body weight, daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio (p<0.05). The addition of WL as a source of HS in the drinking water had beneficial effects on the growth performance, ileal digestibility of energy, the retention of nutrients as well on the AMEn in broiler chickens; the best results were observed when the WL was mixed at levels of 20% to 30% in the drinking water.

Effect of the Addition of Humic Substances as Growth Promoter in Broiler Chickens Under Two Feeding Regimens

“…Farm animals are an essential component of this triad because they are exposed to growth promoter antibiotics (GPA) to improve animal health, welfare, and productivity, and act as reservoirs and vectors of resistance genes [1,3]. For this reason, several new additives have been tested as growth promoters to reduce or alternate the inclusion of GPA in feeds, while maintaining an efficient animal production to obtain safe edible products [4][5][6].…”

“…The main substances that make up the HS are the humic acids (HA), fulvic acids (FA), and humins, and hence, they are a complex mixture of aliphatic chains or aromatic rings with specific content of functional groups, but the concentration of these substances differs according to the raw materials that they originate from [8][9][10]. Leonardite and lignites, two non-renewable resources, are the primary commercial sources of HS, while compost and worm compost, especially those produced with animal manure, are two environmentally friendly sources of HS [4][5][6].…”

Effect of humic acids on intestinal viscosity, leaky gut and ammonia excretion in a 24 hr feed restriction model to induce intestinal permeability in broiler chickens

“…In poultry, several studies indicate that HA have the ability to adsorb mycotoxins and improve performance (Arafat, Khan, & Saima, ; Gomez‐Rosales & Angeles, ; Ji, McGlone, & Kim, ; Van Rensburg, Van Rensburg, Van Ryssen, Casey, & Rottinghaus, ). In addition, several studies have shown that HA reduce emissions of ammonia from the environment (Henderson, ; Ji et al., ; Zralý, Písaříková, Trčková, & Navrátilová, ).…”

Effects of Humic Acids on Recovery of Salmonella Enterica Serovar Enteritidis

“…Furthermore, due to their adsorbent capacity, HA have been used to reduce mycotoxicosis (van Rensburg et al, 2006;Ghahri et al, 2010;Arafat et al, 2017) and to reduce ammonia emissions from pig manure (Ji et al, 2006;Písaříková et al, 2010). In poultry, several investigators have reported that HA improves performance, gut morphology, carcass traits and meat quality and reduces social stress (Karaoglu et al, 2004;Cetin et al, 2011;Gomez-Rosales and Angeles, 2015). As far as we are aware, this is the first study trying to evaluate the effect of HA extracted from a worm-compost on S. Enteritidis recovery in vitro or in vivo.…”

“…Other studies suggest that HA used with proper nutritional, management and biosecurity practices, improve intestinal integrity and performance in poultry (Karaoglu et al, 2004;Ji et al, 2006;Ipek et al, 2008;Gomez-Rosales and Angeles, 2015). Nevertheless, these benefits in animal performance are poorly understood.…”