Physiological impact on layer chickens fed corn distiller’s dried grains with solubles naturally contaminated with deoxynivalenol

Abstract

Objective: An experiment was conducted to investigate the response of laying hens fed corn distiller' s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) that are naturally contaminated with deoxynivalenol (DON). Methods: One hundred and sixty 52-week-old Lohmann Brown Lite hens were randomly allotted to five dietary treatments with 8 replicates per treatment. The dietary treatments were formulated to provide a range of corn DDGS contaminated with DON from 0% to 20% (i.e., 5% scale of increment). All laying hens were subjected to the same management practices in a controlled environment. Body weight, feed intake and egg production were measured biweekly for the entire 8-week experiment. The egg quality was measured biweekly for 8 weeks. On weeks 4 and 8, visceral organ weights, blood metabolites, intestinal morphology, and blood cytokine concentrations were measured. Results: The inclusion of corn DDGS contaminated with DON in the diet did not alter (p> 0.05) the body weight, feed intake, hen-day egg production, egg mass and feed efficiency of the laying hens. No difference was found (p>0.05) in the egg quality of hens that were fed the dietary treatments. Furthermore, hens that were fed a diet containing corn DDGS contaminated with DON showed no change (p>0.05) in the visceral organ weights, the blood metabolites, and the cytokine concentrations. The crypt depth increased (p<0.05) as the amount of corn DDGS contaminated with DON increased. Proportionately, the villus height to crypt depth ratio of the laying hens decreased (p<0.05) with the increasing level of corn DDGS contaminated with DON in the diet. Conclusion:The inclusion of corn DDGS contaminated with DON up to 20% in layer diets did not cause changes in egg production performance and egg quality, which indicates that DON is less toxic at the concentration of 1.00 mg DON/kg.

Mitigation Effects of Bentonite and Yeast Cell Wall Binders on AFB1, DON, and OTA Induced Changes in Laying Hen Performance, Egg Quality, and Health

“…The present study demonstrated that TOXO HP and XL binders could effectively counteract AFB 1 , DON, and OTA-induced adverse effects on laying hens. In agreement with previous studies [ 21 , 22 , 23 ], chicks exposed to AFB 1 , DON, and OTA, alone or in combination, reduced feed intake, total egg weight, and egg-laying rate, while they increased feed/egg ratio and mortality during various experimental periods. Meanwhile, mycotoxins also decreased the eggshell strength and increased DON residue in eggs relative to the control group, which was in agreement with previous reports [ 21 , 24 , 25 , 26 ].…”

“…In the current study, the histopathological results showed that mycotoxins induced severe damage in small intestine of laying hens, as evidenced by villous atrophy and fracture, degeneration, necrosis, and desquamation of the villous epithelial cells, hemorrhage and inflammatory cell infiltration in submucosa and lamina propria, and (or) goblet cell hyperplasia in the intestinal gland, along with reduced villus height, villus height/crypt depth and crypt depth in the duodenum, jejunum, and (or) ileum. These findings were similar to previous studies that animals consumed diets contaminated with AFB 1 , DON, and OTA, alone or in combination, could induce intestine injury, thus reducing nutrient utilization efficiency and causing poor performance [ 23 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. Interestingly, dietary supplementation with TOXO HP and XL binders alleviated mycotoxins-induced negative effects on histopathological alteration in small intestine of laying hens.…”

“…Specifically, compared to the control, dietary supplementation of mycotoxins increased relative liver weight, and reduced spleen and proventriculus relative weights. Moreover, serum biochemistry results showed that mycotoxins increased ALT activity while they decreased IgA, IgM, and IgG concentrations, which further confirmed the injury of liver and spleen of the laying hens [ 9 , 22 , 23 ]. These outcomes were similar to previous studies that showed livestock and poultry fed diets contaminated with AFB 1 , DON, and OTA, alone or in combination, displayed injury of liver, spleen, and stomach [ 8 , 9 , 11 , 12 , 33 , 34 , 35 ].…”

Effect of feeding corn distillers dried grains with solubles naturally contaminated with deoxynivalenol on growth performance, meat quality, intestinal permeability, and utilization of energy and nutrients in broiler chickens

“…(2014) investigated the effect of feeding diets containing DON-contaminated DDGS (16 mg/kg DON) to pigs and reported that inclusion of 25% DON-contaminated DDGS in diets decreased BW gain ( BWG ) and feed intake ( FI ). However, Wickramasuriya et al. (2020) reported that increasing inclusion levels of DON-contaminated DDGS (5 mg/kg DON) from 0 to 20% in diets did not affect productive performance and egg quality of laying hens.…”

Immunosecurity: immunomodulants enhance immune responses in chickens

“…As a matter of fact, the use of antibiotics as a feed additive (antibiotic growth promoter, AGP) has been banned in several countries and is thus decreasing globally. In addition to diseases, various stress factors, such as drastic thermal changes [ 2 ], deteriorated environments [ 3 ], and nutritional imbalance [ 4 ], which also adversely affect domestic animal productivity, are increasingly attracting considerable attention from animal scientists, field managers of animal farms, and operation staff in the livestock industry.…”