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Research Note: Water Consumption and Fecal Moisture of Laying Hens Fed Wheat Middlings and Corn-Soybean-Alfalfa Meal Diets1
Research Note: Water Consumption and Fecal Moisture of Laying Hens Fed Wheat Middlings and Corn-Soybean-Alfalfa Meal Diets 1 P. H. PATTERSON, M. L. SUNDE, and J. L. PIMENTEL Department of Poultry Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (Received for publication May 19, 1988)
1989 Poultry Science 68:830-833 INTRODUCTION
When housed on the floor, laying hens fed diets containing high levels of wheat middlings (WM) typically produced wetter litter than laying hens fed corn-soybean meal-alfalfa meal diets (CSA) (Patterson et al., 1988). Litter conditions were altered to the extent that balls of litter and feces stuck permanently to the hens' feet. Litter moisture content was not measured. Halpin et al. (1936) reported that the litter had to be changed more frequently in pens of chicks receiving 5% NaCl or hens fed either 2 or 5% NaCl than in pens of chicks or hens fed a diet devoid of, or with 1% NaCl. In those studies, water consumption was elevated. Barlow et al. (1948) also observed elevated water intake and excreta water content when chickens 1 to 9 wk of age were fed diets containing more than 4% NaCl. Feed consumption was not influenced by the salt level in the diet in these studies; but, Quigley and Waite (1932) reported that feed consumption was reduced as the salt level in the diet increased because the feed was less palatable. The authors have consistently observed elevated feed intake whenever hens are fed diets high in WM, and low in energy density. In
'Research supported by the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706.
light of these observations, the objectives of this study were: 1) to determine if diet composition (WM vs. CSA) affects fecal moisture or water consumption, 2) to study the effect of small variations in NaCl level (.15 vs. .75% in the CSA diet) on fecal moisture and water consumption, and 3) to determine if feed processing of the WM diet (mash vs. pellet) affects fecal moisture or water consumption. MATERIALS AND METHODS
Two hundred and eighty Single Comb White Leghorn pullets at 20 wk of age were housed in eight floor pens with either 20 or 40 birds/pen. Two pens of 40 birds were fed an 89% WM diet with .50% NaCl (Patterson et al., 1988) as a mash, and two pens the same diet steam pelleted. Another two pens of 40 birds were fed a corn (67.7%), soybean meal (21%) and alfalfa meal (3%) diet (CSA) with either .15 or .75% NaCl. Two pens of 20 similar hens fed the CSA diet with .50% NaCl, served as additional "control" birds for egg production and feed consumption comparisons. The pens measured 2.4 x 3.6 m (40 birds) or 1.2 x 3.6 m (20 birds) and contained 15 or 6 trap nests/pen, respectively. For 11 28-day periods, hen day egg production and feed consumption were measured. Manure under the roosts was collected on wire screens covered with waxed paper (.6 x 1.2 m). Screens were hung at 1800 h and taken
830
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Karolinska Institutet University Library on May 23, 2015
ABSTRACT Hens, housed on the floor and fed a diet containing 89% wheat middlings (WM) either as mash or pellets, consumed more feed and water than hens fed com-soybean meal-alfalfa meal (CSA) diets with either .15, .50, or .75% NaCI. Moisture content of the hens' feces was not affected by mash or pellet processing of the WM diet. Feeding the .75% NaCl-CSA diet, however, significantly increased fecal moisture beyond that observed with the other treatments. Caged layers fed the WM diet voided more feces (2.6 fold) than did caged layers fed the .50% NaCl-CSA diet, suggesting that wet litter problems observed in the floor pens of birds fed WM were the result of a greater fecal volume voided rather than a higher moisture content per unit of feces. (Key words: water consumption, fecal moisture, laying hen, wheat middlings, sodium chloride)
831
RESEARCH NOTE TABLE 1. Hen-day egg production and feed consumption of hens fed 89% wheat middlings (WM) or corn- soybean-alfalfa meal (CSA) diets with .5% NaCl' .5% NaCl Diet treatments WM mash WM pellet CSA
Egg production
Feed consumption
(%)
(g/hen day) 136.0" 151.1" 115.5'
68.6' 77.8" 86.8'
down at 600 h for four of the 28-day periods (12-h collection). During two other periods, screens were hung for 6-h collections from 2400 h to 600 h. Collections were made for 5 consecutive days within each of six 28-day periods. After removing the screens from the pens, the manure was folded into the waxed paper, weighed, and dried to a constant weight in a 100-C oven to determine percentage of moisture. Water consumption was determined on a 24-h basis. In each pen, a 25-L carboy was mounted overhead to feed a single bowl type drinker. Intake was measured in grams for 5 consecutive days within the period. Total daily fecal output was also measured using eight caged layers, first fed the CSA diet with .50% NaCl, then fed the 89% WM diet as a mash. Hens were adapted for 2 wk to the high WM diet before measuring fecal output
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Egg production rates were similar across all diet treatments for the first three 28-day periods of lay. For the entire cycle, however, production was influenced by diet processing and composition. Stem pelleting of the WM diet improved hen day egg production over that of birds fed mash, and hens fed the .50% NaCl-CSA control diet laid at a significandy higher rate than hens fed either of the WM diets (Table 1). Feed intake was elevated in this study (Table 1) and in a previous study (Patterson et al., 1988) where effects of feeding diets high in WM are compared with CSA control diets. Consumption was highest for hens fed the WM pellets; most of this response was observed during the last four periods of the cycle.
TABLE 2. Fecal moisture content and water consumption of hens fed 89% wheat middlings (WM) or cornsoybean-alfalfa meal (CSA) diets' Diet treatments
NaCl
(%) WM mash WM pellet CSA CSA
.5 .5 .75 .15
Water consumption
Fecal moisture
(g/hen day) 336" 352" 218' 216'
73.0" 72.3" 74.7" 72.5"
""'Values in a column with no common superscripts are significantly different (P<.05). 'Two pens of 40 birds were fed each of the WM diets and 1 pen of 40 birds was fed each of the CSA diets. Feces were collected for 5 consecutive days in six different 28-day periods. Collection times were either 12 h (four periods) or 6 h (two periods). Water consumption was measured on a 24-h basis for 5 consecutive days in five separate periods.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Karolinska Institutet University Library on May 23, 2015
"Values in a column with no common superscript are significantly different (P<.05). 'Two pens of birds were fed each diet treatment. Forty birds per pen were fed the WM diets and 20 birds per pen were fed the CSA diets. Egg production and feed consumption data were collected for eleven 28-day periods. The experimental diets fed in this study have been described previously (Patterson et ai, 1988).
for 5 consecutive days. Cumulative feed consumption of the treatment diets was measured for 7 days concurrently with daily fecal collections. Average feed consumption was then calculated on a grams per hen day basis. Fecal moisture and water consumption data were analyzed using the general linear models (GLM) analysis of variance procedure of SAS (1982). The repeated measures procedure was used on the 28-day period egg production and feed consumption data as a split plot, with diet being the whole plot and period being the split plot. Treatment means were ranked using the least significant difference method. Fecal moisture and egg production percentages were both transformed using an arcsin transformation before the analysis was performed (arcsin square root of the percentage value). However, percentages are reported for ease of data interpretation.
832
PATTERSON ET AL.
TABLE 3. Feed consumption and fecal dry matter voided by cage layers fed 89% wheat middlings (WM) or corn-soybean-alfalfa meal (CSA) diets with .5% NaCl .5% NaCl Diet treatments
Feed consumption1
WM mash CSA
184 101
Feces voided (DM basis)2 (g/hen day) 98.8 ± 5.1* 38.1 ± 4.5"
"*Means in a column with no common superscripts are significantly different (P<.05). 'Average feed consumption was calculated from the cumulative feed intake of eight hens for 7 days. ^ ± SD from 5 days of fecal collection.
Fiber research with humans has shown stool weights from subjects fed supplemental amounts of wheat bran were elevated compared with stool weights of nonsupplemented
controls (Fuchs et al., 1976; Wyman et al., 1976; Eastwood et al., 1983). These findings are consistent with the finding of more feces produced by hens fed WM and the observation that moisture content per unit of feces was not affected by WM fed to hens or wheat bran fed to humans. Based on the total fecal production of caged layers, it is now apparent that wet litter from floor-reared hens was the result of more feces produced by hens fed the 89% WM diets. Total water excreted by birds fed WM was also greater and proportional to the feces excreted.
REFERENCES Barlow, J. S., S. J. Slinger, and R. P. Zimmer, 1948. The reaction of growing chicks to diets varying in sodium chloride content. Poultry Sci. 27:542-552. Damron, B. L., and L. S. Kelly, 1987. Short-term exposure of laying hens to high dietary sodium chloride levels. Poultry Sci. 66:825-828. Eastwood, M. A., J. A. Robertson, W. G. Brydon, and D. MacDonald, 1983. Measurement of water-holding properties of fibre and their fecal bulking ability in man. Br. J. Nutr. 50:539-547. Fuchs, H. M., S. Dorfman, and M. H. Floch, 1976. The effect of dietary fiber supplementation in man. II. Alteration in fecal physiology and bacterial flora. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 29:1443-1447. Halpin, J. G., C. E. Holmes, and E. B. Hart, 1936. Salt requirements of poultry. Poultry Sci. 15:99-103. Kare, M. R., and J. Biely, 1948. The toxicity of sodium chloride and its relation of water intake in baby chicks. Poultry Sci. 27:751-758. Patterson, P. H., M. L. Sunde, E. M. Schieber, and W. B. White, 1988. Wheat middlings as an alternate feedstuff for laying hens. Poultry Sci. 67:1329-1337. Quigley, G. D., andR. H. Waite, 1932. Salt tolerance of baby chicks. Maryland Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull. 340:343-370. SAS, 1982. SAS User's Guide: Statistics. SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC. Wyman, J. B., K. W. Heaton, A. P. Manning, and A.C.B. Wicks, 1976. The effect on intestinal transit and the feces of raw and cooked bran in different doses. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 29:1474-1479.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Karolinska Institutet University Library on May 23, 2015
Similarly, water intake was elevated by feeding the WM diets; hens fed WM diets drank more than 1.5 times as much water as hens fed either CSA diet (Table 2). A positive relationship (r = .95, n = 25) was found when feed intake was regressed against water consumption for the WM mash, WM pellet, and pooled CSA treatments. Moderate changes in the NaCl level of the CSA basal diet (.15 or .75%) did not influence water consumption in these trials. Other investigators have shown that salt levels greater than 1% are necessary to increase water consumption (Kare and Biely, 1948; Damron and Kelly, 1987). The .75% NaCl-CSA treatment significantly increased fecal moisture compared with the other diets (Table 2). Feces collected under the roosts were not as high in moisture as fresh feces because of 6 or 12 h of dehydration, and moisture averaged almost 2% less when collections ran for 12 h instead of 6 h. Patterson et al. (1988) previously observed that hens fed diets containing high levels of WM produced wet litter that required frequent changing. This observation was also made in the present study, although moisture content of the feces was not consistently different from that of the CSA treatments. For this reason, caged layers were used to measure total fecal production of hens fed either the WM mash or the CSA diet Dry matter fecal production of caged layers fed the WM diet weighed 2.6 times more than that of hens fed the CSA control (Table 3). Feed consumption was 1.8 times greater for hens fed the WM diet than for hens fed the CSA diet.
1989 Poultry Science 68:830-833 INTRODUCTION
When housed on the floor, laying hens fed diets containing high levels of wheat middlings (WM) typically produced wetter litter than laying hens fed corn-soybean meal-alfalfa meal diets (CSA) (Patterson et al., 1988). Litter conditions were altered to the extent that balls of litter and feces stuck permanently to the hens' feet. Litter moisture content was not measured. Halpin et al. (1936) reported that the litter had to be changed more frequently in pens of chicks receiving 5% NaCl or hens fed either 2 or 5% NaCl than in pens of chicks or hens fed a diet devoid of, or with 1% NaCl. In those studies, water consumption was elevated. Barlow et al. (1948) also observed elevated water intake and excreta water content when chickens 1 to 9 wk of age were fed diets containing more than 4% NaCl. Feed consumption was not influenced by the salt level in the diet in these studies; but, Quigley and Waite (1932) reported that feed consumption was reduced as the salt level in the diet increased because the feed was less palatable. The authors have consistently observed elevated feed intake whenever hens are fed diets high in WM, and low in energy density. In
'Research supported by the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706.
light of these observations, the objectives of this study were: 1) to determine if diet composition (WM vs. CSA) affects fecal moisture or water consumption, 2) to study the effect of small variations in NaCl level (.15 vs. .75% in the CSA diet) on fecal moisture and water consumption, and 3) to determine if feed processing of the WM diet (mash vs. pellet) affects fecal moisture or water consumption. MATERIALS AND METHODS
Two hundred and eighty Single Comb White Leghorn pullets at 20 wk of age were housed in eight floor pens with either 20 or 40 birds/pen. Two pens of 40 birds were fed an 89% WM diet with .50% NaCl (Patterson et al., 1988) as a mash, and two pens the same diet steam pelleted. Another two pens of 40 birds were fed a corn (67.7%), soybean meal (21%) and alfalfa meal (3%) diet (CSA) with either .15 or .75% NaCl. Two pens of 20 similar hens fed the CSA diet with .50% NaCl, served as additional "control" birds for egg production and feed consumption comparisons. The pens measured 2.4 x 3.6 m (40 birds) or 1.2 x 3.6 m (20 birds) and contained 15 or 6 trap nests/pen, respectively. For 11 28-day periods, hen day egg production and feed consumption were measured. Manure under the roosts was collected on wire screens covered with waxed paper (.6 x 1.2 m). Screens were hung at 1800 h and taken
830
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Karolinska Institutet University Library on May 23, 2015
ABSTRACT Hens, housed on the floor and fed a diet containing 89% wheat middlings (WM) either as mash or pellets, consumed more feed and water than hens fed com-soybean meal-alfalfa meal (CSA) diets with either .15, .50, or .75% NaCI. Moisture content of the hens' feces was not affected by mash or pellet processing of the WM diet. Feeding the .75% NaCl-CSA diet, however, significantly increased fecal moisture beyond that observed with the other treatments. Caged layers fed the WM diet voided more feces (2.6 fold) than did caged layers fed the .50% NaCl-CSA diet, suggesting that wet litter problems observed in the floor pens of birds fed WM were the result of a greater fecal volume voided rather than a higher moisture content per unit of feces. (Key words: water consumption, fecal moisture, laying hen, wheat middlings, sodium chloride)
831
RESEARCH NOTE TABLE 1. Hen-day egg production and feed consumption of hens fed 89% wheat middlings (WM) or corn- soybean-alfalfa meal (CSA) diets with .5% NaCl' .5% NaCl Diet treatments WM mash WM pellet CSA
Egg production
Feed consumption
(%)
(g/hen day) 136.0" 151.1" 115.5'
68.6' 77.8" 86.8'
down at 600 h for four of the 28-day periods (12-h collection). During two other periods, screens were hung for 6-h collections from 2400 h to 600 h. Collections were made for 5 consecutive days within each of six 28-day periods. After removing the screens from the pens, the manure was folded into the waxed paper, weighed, and dried to a constant weight in a 100-C oven to determine percentage of moisture. Water consumption was determined on a 24-h basis. In each pen, a 25-L carboy was mounted overhead to feed a single bowl type drinker. Intake was measured in grams for 5 consecutive days within the period. Total daily fecal output was also measured using eight caged layers, first fed the CSA diet with .50% NaCl, then fed the 89% WM diet as a mash. Hens were adapted for 2 wk to the high WM diet before measuring fecal output
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Egg production rates were similar across all diet treatments for the first three 28-day periods of lay. For the entire cycle, however, production was influenced by diet processing and composition. Stem pelleting of the WM diet improved hen day egg production over that of birds fed mash, and hens fed the .50% NaCl-CSA control diet laid at a significandy higher rate than hens fed either of the WM diets (Table 1). Feed intake was elevated in this study (Table 1) and in a previous study (Patterson et al., 1988) where effects of feeding diets high in WM are compared with CSA control diets. Consumption was highest for hens fed the WM pellets; most of this response was observed during the last four periods of the cycle.
TABLE 2. Fecal moisture content and water consumption of hens fed 89% wheat middlings (WM) or cornsoybean-alfalfa meal (CSA) diets' Diet treatments
NaCl
(%) WM mash WM pellet CSA CSA
.5 .5 .75 .15
Water consumption
Fecal moisture
(g/hen day) 336" 352" 218' 216'
73.0" 72.3" 74.7" 72.5"
""'Values in a column with no common superscripts are significantly different (P<.05). 'Two pens of 40 birds were fed each of the WM diets and 1 pen of 40 birds was fed each of the CSA diets. Feces were collected for 5 consecutive days in six different 28-day periods. Collection times were either 12 h (four periods) or 6 h (two periods). Water consumption was measured on a 24-h basis for 5 consecutive days in five separate periods.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Karolinska Institutet University Library on May 23, 2015
"Values in a column with no common superscript are significantly different (P<.05). 'Two pens of birds were fed each diet treatment. Forty birds per pen were fed the WM diets and 20 birds per pen were fed the CSA diets. Egg production and feed consumption data were collected for eleven 28-day periods. The experimental diets fed in this study have been described previously (Patterson et ai, 1988).
for 5 consecutive days. Cumulative feed consumption of the treatment diets was measured for 7 days concurrently with daily fecal collections. Average feed consumption was then calculated on a grams per hen day basis. Fecal moisture and water consumption data were analyzed using the general linear models (GLM) analysis of variance procedure of SAS (1982). The repeated measures procedure was used on the 28-day period egg production and feed consumption data as a split plot, with diet being the whole plot and period being the split plot. Treatment means were ranked using the least significant difference method. Fecal moisture and egg production percentages were both transformed using an arcsin transformation before the analysis was performed (arcsin square root of the percentage value). However, percentages are reported for ease of data interpretation.
832
PATTERSON ET AL.
TABLE 3. Feed consumption and fecal dry matter voided by cage layers fed 89% wheat middlings (WM) or corn-soybean-alfalfa meal (CSA) diets with .5% NaCl .5% NaCl Diet treatments
Feed consumption1
WM mash CSA
184 101
Feces voided (DM basis)2 (g/hen day) 98.8 ± 5.1* 38.1 ± 4.5"
"*Means in a column with no common superscripts are significantly different (P<.05). 'Average feed consumption was calculated from the cumulative feed intake of eight hens for 7 days. ^ ± SD from 5 days of fecal collection.
Fiber research with humans has shown stool weights from subjects fed supplemental amounts of wheat bran were elevated compared with stool weights of nonsupplemented
controls (Fuchs et al., 1976; Wyman et al., 1976; Eastwood et al., 1983). These findings are consistent with the finding of more feces produced by hens fed WM and the observation that moisture content per unit of feces was not affected by WM fed to hens or wheat bran fed to humans. Based on the total fecal production of caged layers, it is now apparent that wet litter from floor-reared hens was the result of more feces produced by hens fed the 89% WM diets. Total water excreted by birds fed WM was also greater and proportional to the feces excreted.
REFERENCES Barlow, J. S., S. J. Slinger, and R. P. Zimmer, 1948. The reaction of growing chicks to diets varying in sodium chloride content. Poultry Sci. 27:542-552. Damron, B. L., and L. S. Kelly, 1987. Short-term exposure of laying hens to high dietary sodium chloride levels. Poultry Sci. 66:825-828. Eastwood, M. A., J. A. Robertson, W. G. Brydon, and D. MacDonald, 1983. Measurement of water-holding properties of fibre and their fecal bulking ability in man. Br. J. Nutr. 50:539-547. Fuchs, H. M., S. Dorfman, and M. H. Floch, 1976. The effect of dietary fiber supplementation in man. II. Alteration in fecal physiology and bacterial flora. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 29:1443-1447. Halpin, J. G., C. E. Holmes, and E. B. Hart, 1936. Salt requirements of poultry. Poultry Sci. 15:99-103. Kare, M. R., and J. Biely, 1948. The toxicity of sodium chloride and its relation of water intake in baby chicks. Poultry Sci. 27:751-758. Patterson, P. H., M. L. Sunde, E. M. Schieber, and W. B. White, 1988. Wheat middlings as an alternate feedstuff for laying hens. Poultry Sci. 67:1329-1337. Quigley, G. D., andR. H. Waite, 1932. Salt tolerance of baby chicks. Maryland Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull. 340:343-370. SAS, 1982. SAS User's Guide: Statistics. SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC. Wyman, J. B., K. W. Heaton, A. P. Manning, and A.C.B. Wicks, 1976. The effect on intestinal transit and the feces of raw and cooked bran in different doses. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 29:1474-1479.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Karolinska Institutet University Library on May 23, 2015
Similarly, water intake was elevated by feeding the WM diets; hens fed WM diets drank more than 1.5 times as much water as hens fed either CSA diet (Table 2). A positive relationship (r = .95, n = 25) was found when feed intake was regressed against water consumption for the WM mash, WM pellet, and pooled CSA treatments. Moderate changes in the NaCl level of the CSA basal diet (.15 or .75%) did not influence water consumption in these trials. Other investigators have shown that salt levels greater than 1% are necessary to increase water consumption (Kare and Biely, 1948; Damron and Kelly, 1987). The .75% NaCl-CSA treatment significantly increased fecal moisture compared with the other diets (Table 2). Feces collected under the roosts were not as high in moisture as fresh feces because of 6 or 12 h of dehydration, and moisture averaged almost 2% less when collections ran for 12 h instead of 6 h. Patterson et al. (1988) previously observed that hens fed diets containing high levels of WM produced wet litter that required frequent changing. This observation was also made in the present study, although moisture content of the feces was not consistently different from that of the CSA treatments. For this reason, caged layers were used to measure total fecal production of hens fed either the WM mash or the CSA diet Dry matter fecal production of caged layers fed the WM diet weighed 2.6 times more than that of hens fed the CSA control (Table 3). Feed consumption was 1.8 times greater for hens fed the WM diet than for hens fed the CSA diet.