Interactive effects of vitamin D₃ and strontium on performance, nutrient retention and bone mineral composition in laying hens

Abstract

The addition of 500 mg kg(-1) strontium significantly improved egg production and feed efficiency; however, further investigation needs to be undertaken to refine the optimum level of strontium required to maximize hen performance. The interrelationship between strontium and vitamin D3 requires further exploratory study.

Interactive effect of vitamin D and strontium on performance and bone composition in broiler chickens

“…This finding is in agreement with previous experiments where there was an 18% reduction in Na retention in broilers supplemented with Sr at 1200 mg/kg at day 28 (Browning and Cowieson, 2014b) and a 48% reduction in Na retention in laying hens (P<0.01) on the highest level of Sr (1000 mg/kg) and vitamin D 3 (5000 IU D 3 /kg) compared to the control diet (Browning and Cowieson, 2014c). The interrelationship between higher dietary levels of vitamin D 3 and Na metabolism is further highlighted by previous study where very high levels of vitamin D 3 (35,000 IU D 3 /kg) increased Na retention by more than 100% (36.34% versus 77.34%) (Browning and Cowieson, 2014a).…”

“…In addition, when Sr was added to the diet of laying hens, there was an improvement in egg production (Browning and Cowieson, 2014c) and when Sr was added to the diet of weaner and grower pigs there was an improvement in bodyweight gain Browning et al (2014) (unpublished data). Any possible improvement in production performance and skeletal integrity in broiler chickens may be due in part to the ability of Sr to increase insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) (Ammann et al, 2004;Gulhan et al, 2008;Li et al, 2008) because IGF-1 is a endogenous hormone which increases growth rate and bone development.…”

Changes to mineral levels in the yolk of meat chicken embryos during incubation

“…Eggshell Sr can be increased via Sr supplementation to the laying hen (Browning and Cowieson, 2015). Increasing dietary Sr to 1,000 mg/kg decreased eggshell Mg, whereas a level of 500 mg/kg had no significant effect on eggshell Mg (Browning and Cowieson, 2015).…”

“…Eggshell Sr can be increased via Sr supplementation to the laying hen (Browning and Cowieson, 2015). Increasing dietary Sr to 1,000 mg/kg decreased eggshell Mg, whereas a level of 500 mg/kg had no significant effect on eggshell Mg (Browning and Cowieson, 2015). Strontium supplementation in meat chickens has the potential to improve the performance, mineral retention, and bone characteristics of meat chickens (Browning and Cowieson, 2014).…”

2018 Abstracts

“…Internal and external quality and yolk composition were determined on three consecutive days on fresh eggs (n = 10 per group). Egg quality assessment was carried out on eggs as described by Browning and Cowieson (2015). Data were analysed using the generalised linear model procedure of SAS (SAS Institute) with feed efficiency group as the main effect.…”