An assessment was done to understand the value of CIBENZA® EP150 as a nutritional tool to lower dietary costs while maintaining an optimal bird performance, in comparison to a standard feed without a protease.
Introduction
CIBENZA® EP150 is a unique feed additive preparation of an intrinsically heat stable protease with spores of its production organism, Bacillus licheniformis. CIBENZA® EP150 usage can reduce raw material costs by lowering the level of costly protein sources in the feed or optimizing the use of lower digestible, cheaper alternative sources, without compromising animal performance.
Materials and methods:
Four houses on a broiler farm were divided in two groups, each with 2 houses containing Ross 308-day old broiler pullets (introduced the 28th of August 2017, originating from the same hatchery)
o Control: 104 900 birds, fed the standard diets;
o CIBENZA EP150: 105 300 birds, fed the standard diet including 500g/t CIBENZA EP150 and reformulated based on full nutritional matrix for crude protein, amino acids and metabolizable energy
The standard diets were based on wheat, corn and soybean meal, produced by a commercial feed plant, using a 5-phase feeding program (table 1). The starter and grower diets contained also trial report summary coccidiostats (starter-monensin/narasin, grower 1 and 2 - salinomycin) Matrix values and level of nutrients of each feed are shown in tables 2-3; The birds were sold in 2 phases: partly when thinning at the age of 33-35 days, but primarily at slaughter around 41-42 days; Period of the field evaluation: 28.08.2017 – 10.10.2017.Results
Average results on final bird performance demonstrated that the feed efficiency of birds receiving CIBENZA®EP150 remained similar while final weight gain was numerically better in comparison to the standard diet fed birds (+2,3%) which contributed to a final European Broiler Index or European Production Efficiency (EBI**), slightly in favor of the protease fed broilers (+1,46 pts, table 4)
** The EBI expresses production efficiency between 2 flocks in a single index.EBI = (% survival rate x avg. final BW)/ (FCR *avg. final age/100)