The Effects of Two-Stage Fermented Feather Meal-Soybean Meal Product on Growth Performance, Blood Biochemistry, and Immunity of Nursery Pigs

Abstract

The keratinase-producing microbes can readily change the feather waste into more bioavailable peptides and amino acids. This study aimed to improve two-stage fermented feather meal-soybean meal product (TSFP) quality with five selected Bacillus strains and Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y10, as well as investigate the effects of TSFP on growth performance, blood biochemistry, and immunity of nursery pigs. In trial 1, 100 hybrid piglets (Duroc x KHAPS) were randomly assigned to dietary supplementation of 5% fish meal or 5% TSFP prepared with 0, 32, 40, or 48 h in the first-stage fermentation. The results showed that the body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of fermented groups were significantly better than the unfermented group (p < 0.05) at weeks 0 to 3 and 0 to 5. The ADG of 32-hr and 48-hr TSFP groups were better than the unfermented group (p < 0.05) at weeks 3 to 5. In trial 2, 80 hybrid piglets (Duroc × KHAPS) were randomly assigned into 5% fish meal or different supplementation levels of TSFP (32-hr first-stage fermented time) at 0, 2.5, or 5%. The 5% TSFP group had better BW, ADG, FCR, and PEF than the 0% group (p < 0.05) at weeks 0 to 5. Furthermore, the ex vivo mitogen-induced lymphoblastogenesis, the interferon-γ production, the oxidative burst activity, and the IgG production of the 5% TSFP group were higher than the fish meal group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the first-stage fermentation time can be shortened from 48 h to 32 h using selected Bacillus strains in TSFP production when supplemented at 5% of the diet for nursery pigs shows the best growth performance and immunity.

The fermented product of high-yield surfactin strain Bacillus subtilis LYS1 improves the growth performance and intestinal villi morphology in broilers

“…Previously, the author screened a Bacillus strain Da16 that could secrete a large amount of keratinase and had a strong ability to degrade feathers. Using Da16 with other Bacillus strains to produce 2-stage fermented feather meal product (TSFP) and supplementing 2.5% TSFP to diets could improve the growth performance of pigs in the nursery, growing, and finishing periods ( Huang et al, 2014 ; Huang et al, 2021 ; Huang et al, 2022 ). Bacillus strain Lo6 could effectively degrade collagen, soy protein, and casein.…”

“…The protease activity analysis was based on the hydrolysis rate of casein, not on the soybean meal. Taking Da16 as an example, it mainly secretes keratinase, which is suitable for hydrolyzing feather meal ( Huang et al, 2021 ; Huang et al, 2022 ). Furthermore, Lo6 can secrete collagenase, which can effectively hydrolyze meat and bone meal ( Chen and Lo, 2016 ).…”