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A Differential Response in Turkey Poults to Various Antibiotics in Diets Designed to be Deficient or Adequate in Certain Essential Nutrients1
A Differential Response in Turkey Poults to Various Antibiotics in Diets Designed to be Deficient or Adequate in Certain Essential Nutrients 1 R. E. BURESH,2 R. H. HARMS,3 and R. D. MILES Poultry Science Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611 (Received for publication February 27, 1986) ABSTRACT Two experiments, each consisting of two trials, were conducted with day-old Nicholas Large White turkey poults to compare the effectiveness of four antibiotics for growth promotion and the utilization of sulfur amino acids. A corn-soybean meal basal diet that contained no supplemental methionine, choline, or inorganic sulfate was used in order to furnish nutritional stress. The diet was calculated to contain 25.4% protein, .448% methionine, .403% cystine, 1014 mg/kg choline, and 2990 kcal metabolizable energy/kg. In Experiment 1, a 2 x 4 factorial arrangement of treatments was used. This included two levels, (0% (control) and .18%), of supplemental DL-methionine and no antibiotic or bacitracin MD, flavomycin, or virginiamycin; antibiotics were fed at 50, 2, and 20 g/ton, respectively. In Experiment 2, lincomycin also was included as a treatment (at 4 g per ton) resulting in a 2 x 5 factorial arrangement of treatments. Only the addition of Virginiamycin to the control diet in Experiment 1 resulted in significantly increased body weights. Supplementation by .18% methionine increased body weights and feed efficiency. In addition, all three antibiotics increased body weights significantly when added to the .18% methionine diets. Feed efficiency values were improved by all four antibiotics at both methionine levels. In Experiment 2, increases in body weights similar to those in Experiment 1 were obtained with the addition of .18% methionine to the basal diets. Addition of lincomycin and virginiamycin improved body weights and feed efficiencies in the presence and absence of supplemental methionine. (Key words: virginiamycin, flavomycin, lincomycin, bacitracin MD, turkey poult) 1986 Poultry Science 65:2314-2317 INTRODUCTION
Improvements in the utilization of nutrients in response to antibiotics in the diet have been demonstrated for more than three decades (Machlin et al, 1952; Jukes, 1955). The beneficial activities of antibiotics have been attributed to their effects on the gastrointestinal microbial flora because growth response to antibiotic feeding does not occur under germ-free conditions (Coates et al., 1963; Freeman et al., 1975). Microorganisms that are normally present in the digestive tract require certain nutrients. Considerations of these requirements become especially important when diets marginal in essential nutrients are fed. Virginiamycin, an antibiotic that has recently been approved for use in the United States, has been shown to enhance the growth and feed efficiency of broilers (Eyssen et al., 1962; Eys-
1 Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Journal Series Number 6634. 2 Present address: Ralston Purina Co., St. Louis, MO 63164. 3 To whom correspondence should be addressed.
sen and De Somer, 1963; Combs and Bossard, 1963; March etal. 1978; Miles and Harms, 1984; Miles et al., 1984b). Additionally, Harms and Miles (1983), Miles and Harms (1983), and Miles et al. (1984a) demonstrated that virginiamycin has the ability to enhance protein and sulfur amino acid utilization in turkey poults, replacement pullets, and broilers. March et al. (1978) reported that feeding virginiamycin resulted in a 7.2% increase in energy utilization by broilers grown to market weight. The two experiments presented here were conducted to compare the effect of virginiamycin with three other antibiotics when fed in diets marginal in certain essential nutrients required by the turkey poult.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In Experiment 1 a total of 704 day-old Nicholas Large White turkey poults were used in two trials. The corn-soybean meal basal diet contained sulfate-free trace minerals and no supplemental choline (Table 1). The basal diet was deficient in protein (25.4%) for the growing poult based on requirements estimated by the
2314
ANTIBIOTICS AND METHIONINE UTILIZATION
National Research Council (NRC, 1981), and was calculated to contain .448% methionine, .403% cystine, 1014 mg/kg choline and 2,990 kcal metabolizable energy/kg. This diet would impose a nutritional stress to the poult because dietary (corn-soy) methionine would have to be used to furnish both methyl groups and sulfate to the metabolic pool. A 2 x 4 factorial arrangement of treatments was used that included 0 or .18% supplemental DL-mefhionine and no antibiotic or bacitracin MD4 (BMD), flavomycin5 (FM), and virginiamycin (VM); antibiotics were provided 50, 2, and 20 g/ton, respectively. At 1-day of age poults were sexed and randomly assigned to pens in electrically heated Petersime battery brooders with raised wire floors. Each pen contained 4 male and 4 female poults. Each of the 8 experimental diets was fed to a total of 11 pens of birds. Diets and deionized water were offered ad libitum throughout the 21-day experimental period. Poults were individually weighed at 21 days of age and feed consumption was determined. Experiment 2 was conducted the following year and consisted of two trials with a total of 1,120 Nicholas Large White turkey poults. The basal diet was similar to that fed in Experiment 1 (Table 1). Lincomycin (LM) was included as a treatment and added at 4 g per ton. Each of the diets was fed to a total of 14 replicate pens each containing 4 males and 4 females. In both trials in this experiment, identical experimental procedures were followed as described in Experiment 1. Data collected from both experiments were subjected to analysis of variance; significance of differences between treatment means was determined using Duncan's multiple range test (1955). There was no trial x treatment or sex x treatment interaction in either experiment; therefore data were combined for presentation. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Experiment 1. A significantly (P=£ .05) higher body weight, compared with controls, was attained by birds fed each of the three antibiotics in addition to the methionine supplemented basal diet (Table 2). There was no significant
Registered trademark of A. L. Laboratories, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 17632. Registered trademark of American Hoescht Corp., Somerville, NJ 08876.
2315
difference in body weights among the antibiotic treatments. In contrast, only VM significantly improved body weight compared with control when antibiotics were added to the methioninedeficient basal diet. Additionally, poults fed the methionine-deficient basal diet containing VM consumed significantly more feed than when fed the diet containing FM but not significantly more than when fed the control or BMD. Feed efficiency was significantly improved with the addition of the antibiotics to the methioninedeficient and methionine-adequate diet. Virginiamycin-fed birds grew with significantly better efficiency in both the methionineadequate and deficient diets. Experiment 2. Addition of LM and VM to the methionine-adequate basal diet significantly increased poult body weight (Table 3). In the absence of supplemental methionine, FM and LM significantly improved body weight gains compared with the control and BMD; VM produced an additional increase in growth compared with that obtained with FM and LM. There were no significant differences in feed consumption among experimental treatments within each of the two basal diets. Feed efficiency data indicated that birds fed FM, LM, and VM performed similarly in the unsupplemented diet and outper-
TABLE 1. Composition of basal diet* Ingredient
(%) Yellow corn Soybean meal (49% protein) Dicalcium phosphate (18.5% P, .22% Ca) Limestone Salt Animal fat Microingredients (choline and SO-free)2
48.81 43.17 2.09 1.42 .30 3.71 .50
1 Calculated analysis based on National Research Council values (1984): fat, 8140 kcal metabolizable energy/kg; protein, 25.4%; energy, 2,990 kcal/kg; methionine, .448%; cystine, .403%; choline, 1,014 mg/kg.
'Supplied per kilogram of diet: 6,000 IU vitamin A; 2,200 ICU vitamin D 3 > 11 IU vitamin E; 2.2 mg menadionine dimethylpyrimidinol bisulfite; 4.4 mg riboflavin; 13.2 mg pantothenic acid; 59.6 mg niacin; 22 Mg vitamin B 1 2 ; 11 jig biotin; 125 mg ethoxyquin; 126.1 mg MnC0 3 ; 300.1 mg iron citrate; 15.97 m g C u C l ' 2 H 2 0 ; 1.65 mg KI; 41.85 mg ZnO.
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BURESH ETAL. TABLE 2. Performance of poults when fed different antibiotics with and methionine-adequate diets (Experiment 1)
Antibiotic
Control Bacitracin MD Flavomycin Virginiamycin
methionine-deficient
Feed efficiency
Supplemental methionine
Body weight
Feed consumption
(%)
(g)
(g/poult)
(g feed/g body weight)
0 0 0 0
281.9 a 298.9 a 293.9 a 326.3 b
390.6 a b 401.4 a b 387.4 a 415.2 b
1.39* 1.34 d 1.32c 1.27 a
422.8 C 441.4 d 439.4 d 446.3 d
586.2 C 589.6 C 587.0 C 580.5 C
1.39* 1.34 d 1.34d 1.30 b
Control Bacitracin MD Flavomycin Virginiamycin
.18 .18 .18 .18
Means within each criterion and methionine level with different superscripts are significantly different (P<.05) according to the multiple range test of Duncan (1955).
TABLE 3. Performance of poults fed diets with two methionine levels and with four antibiotics (Experiment 2)
Antibiotic
Control Bacitracin MD Flavomycin Lincomycin Virginiamycin Control Bacitracin MD Flavomycin Lincomycin Virginiamycin
Supplemental methionine
Body weight
Feed consumption
Feed efficiency
(%)
(g)
(g/poult)
(g feed/g body weight)
0 0 0 0 0
319.9 a 328.9 a 357.1 b 349.2 b 375.1 c
432.1 a 436.6 a 461.5 a 447.0 a 472.5 a
1.36 d 1.34 d 1.30° 1.29 c 1.29c
475.4 d 478.1de 490.1de 498.5* 515.2 f
615.5 b 619.0 b 608.5 b 609.9 b 619.4 b
1.30 c 1.29 c 1.24 b 1.23 a b 1.21 a
.18 .18 .18 .18 .18
a—f Means within each criterion and methionine level with different superscripts are significantly different (P<.05) according to the multiple range test of Duncan (1955).
formed the control and BMD-fed birds. In the methionine-supplemented diet FM, LM, and VM again outperformed the control and BMD. In conclusion, there are numerous antibacterial agents that can promote growth in poultry. There is also sufficient evidence in the literature to indicate that these agents do not have similar modes of action (Visek, 1978). Results of the battery brooder experiment reported here indicate that virginiamycin in the starter feed is more effective than three other antibiotics in situations where sulfur amino acids or protein per se are limiting.
Supplementation of basal diets with the antibiotics improved poult body weight gains and feed efficiency values. The magnitude of this growth response was greater in the diets deficient in protein, choline, and sulfur amino acids.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was supported by grants-in-aid from A. L. Laboratories, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, and Smithkline Corporation, West Chester, PA.
ANTIBIOTICS AND METHIONINE UTILIZATION REFERENCES Coates, M. E., R. Fuller, G. F. Harrison, M. Lev, and S. F. Suffolk, 1963. Acomparison of the growth of chicks in the Gustafsson germ-free apparatus and in a conventional environment with and without dietary supplements of penicillin. Br. J. Nutr. 17:141. Combs, G. E, and E. H. Bossard, 1963. Comparison of growth response of chicks to virginiamcyin and other antibiotics. Poultry Sci. 42:681-685. Eyssen, H., V. De Prins, and P. DeSomer, 1962. The growthpromoting action of virginiamycin and its influence on the crop flora in chickens. Poultry Sci. 41:227-233. Eyssen, H., and P. De Somer, 1963. The mode of action of antibiotics in stimulating growth of chicks. J. Exp. Med. 117:127-138. Freeman, B. M., A.C.C. Manning, G. F. Harrison, and M. E. Coates, 1975. Dietary aureomycin and the response of the fowl to stressors. Br. Poult. Sci. 16:395-404. Harms, R. H., and R. D. Miles, 1983. The response of turkey poults to Virginiamycin in diets containing various levels of supplemental methionine. Poultry Sci. 62:1896-1898. Jukes, T. H., 1955. Antibiotics in Nutrition. New York Medical Encyclopedia, Inc., New York, NY. Machlin, L. J., C. A. Denton, W. L. Kellogg, and H. R.
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Bird, 1952. Effect of dietary antibiotic upon feed efficiency and protein requirement of growing chickens. Poultry Sci. 31:106-109. March, B. E., R. Soong, andC. MacMillan, 1978. Growth rate, feed conversion, and dietary metabolizable energy in response to virginiamycin supplementation of different diets. Poultry Sci. 57:1346-1350. Miles, R. D., and R. H. Harms, 1983. Sulfur amino acid sparing effect of virginiamycin in turkey poult diets. Poultry Sci. 62:1470. (Abstr.) Miles, R. D., and R. H. Harms, 1984. Influence of virginiamycin on broiler performance, uniformity and litter quality. Nutr. Rep. Int. 29:971-975. Miles, R. D., C. R. Douglas, and R. H. Harms, 1984. Influence of virginiamycin in pullets and broilers fed diets containing suboptimal protein and sulfur amino acid levels. Nutr. Rep. Int. 30:983-989. Miles, R. D., D. M. Janky, and R. H. Harms, 1984b. Virginiamycin and broiler performance. Poultry Sci. 63:1218-1221. National Research Council, 1984. Nutrient Requirements of Domestic Animals. Nutrient Requirements of Poultry. 8th ed. Natl. Acad. Sci., Washington, DC. Visek, W. J., 1978. The mode of growth promotion by antibiotics. J. Anim. Sci. 46:1447-1469.
Improvements in the utilization of nutrients in response to antibiotics in the diet have been demonstrated for more than three decades (Machlin et al, 1952; Jukes, 1955). The beneficial activities of antibiotics have been attributed to their effects on the gastrointestinal microbial flora because growth response to antibiotic feeding does not occur under germ-free conditions (Coates et al., 1963; Freeman et al., 1975). Microorganisms that are normally present in the digestive tract require certain nutrients. Considerations of these requirements become especially important when diets marginal in essential nutrients are fed. Virginiamycin, an antibiotic that has recently been approved for use in the United States, has been shown to enhance the growth and feed efficiency of broilers (Eyssen et al., 1962; Eys-
1 Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Journal Series Number 6634. 2 Present address: Ralston Purina Co., St. Louis, MO 63164. 3 To whom correspondence should be addressed.
sen and De Somer, 1963; Combs and Bossard, 1963; March etal. 1978; Miles and Harms, 1984; Miles et al., 1984b). Additionally, Harms and Miles (1983), Miles and Harms (1983), and Miles et al. (1984a) demonstrated that virginiamycin has the ability to enhance protein and sulfur amino acid utilization in turkey poults, replacement pullets, and broilers. March et al. (1978) reported that feeding virginiamycin resulted in a 7.2% increase in energy utilization by broilers grown to market weight. The two experiments presented here were conducted to compare the effect of virginiamycin with three other antibiotics when fed in diets marginal in certain essential nutrients required by the turkey poult.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In Experiment 1 a total of 704 day-old Nicholas Large White turkey poults were used in two trials. The corn-soybean meal basal diet contained sulfate-free trace minerals and no supplemental choline (Table 1). The basal diet was deficient in protein (25.4%) for the growing poult based on requirements estimated by the
2314
ANTIBIOTICS AND METHIONINE UTILIZATION
National Research Council (NRC, 1981), and was calculated to contain .448% methionine, .403% cystine, 1014 mg/kg choline and 2,990 kcal metabolizable energy/kg. This diet would impose a nutritional stress to the poult because dietary (corn-soy) methionine would have to be used to furnish both methyl groups and sulfate to the metabolic pool. A 2 x 4 factorial arrangement of treatments was used that included 0 or .18% supplemental DL-mefhionine and no antibiotic or bacitracin MD4 (BMD), flavomycin5 (FM), and virginiamycin (VM); antibiotics were provided 50, 2, and 20 g/ton, respectively. At 1-day of age poults were sexed and randomly assigned to pens in electrically heated Petersime battery brooders with raised wire floors. Each pen contained 4 male and 4 female poults. Each of the 8 experimental diets was fed to a total of 11 pens of birds. Diets and deionized water were offered ad libitum throughout the 21-day experimental period. Poults were individually weighed at 21 days of age and feed consumption was determined. Experiment 2 was conducted the following year and consisted of two trials with a total of 1,120 Nicholas Large White turkey poults. The basal diet was similar to that fed in Experiment 1 (Table 1). Lincomycin (LM) was included as a treatment and added at 4 g per ton. Each of the diets was fed to a total of 14 replicate pens each containing 4 males and 4 females. In both trials in this experiment, identical experimental procedures were followed as described in Experiment 1. Data collected from both experiments were subjected to analysis of variance; significance of differences between treatment means was determined using Duncan's multiple range test (1955). There was no trial x treatment or sex x treatment interaction in either experiment; therefore data were combined for presentation. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Experiment 1. A significantly (P=£ .05) higher body weight, compared with controls, was attained by birds fed each of the three antibiotics in addition to the methionine supplemented basal diet (Table 2). There was no significant
Registered trademark of A. L. Laboratories, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 17632. Registered trademark of American Hoescht Corp., Somerville, NJ 08876.
2315
difference in body weights among the antibiotic treatments. In contrast, only VM significantly improved body weight compared with control when antibiotics were added to the methioninedeficient basal diet. Additionally, poults fed the methionine-deficient basal diet containing VM consumed significantly more feed than when fed the diet containing FM but not significantly more than when fed the control or BMD. Feed efficiency was significantly improved with the addition of the antibiotics to the methioninedeficient and methionine-adequate diet. Virginiamycin-fed birds grew with significantly better efficiency in both the methionineadequate and deficient diets. Experiment 2. Addition of LM and VM to the methionine-adequate basal diet significantly increased poult body weight (Table 3). In the absence of supplemental methionine, FM and LM significantly improved body weight gains compared with the control and BMD; VM produced an additional increase in growth compared with that obtained with FM and LM. There were no significant differences in feed consumption among experimental treatments within each of the two basal diets. Feed efficiency data indicated that birds fed FM, LM, and VM performed similarly in the unsupplemented diet and outper-
TABLE 1. Composition of basal diet* Ingredient
(%) Yellow corn Soybean meal (49% protein) Dicalcium phosphate (18.5% P, .22% Ca) Limestone Salt Animal fat Microingredients (choline and SO-free)2
48.81 43.17 2.09 1.42 .30 3.71 .50
1 Calculated analysis based on National Research Council values (1984): fat, 8140 kcal metabolizable energy/kg; protein, 25.4%; energy, 2,990 kcal/kg; methionine, .448%; cystine, .403%; choline, 1,014 mg/kg.
'Supplied per kilogram of diet: 6,000 IU vitamin A; 2,200 ICU vitamin D 3 > 11 IU vitamin E; 2.2 mg menadionine dimethylpyrimidinol bisulfite; 4.4 mg riboflavin; 13.2 mg pantothenic acid; 59.6 mg niacin; 22 Mg vitamin B 1 2 ; 11 jig biotin; 125 mg ethoxyquin; 126.1 mg MnC0 3 ; 300.1 mg iron citrate; 15.97 m g C u C l ' 2 H 2 0 ; 1.65 mg KI; 41.85 mg ZnO.
2316
BURESH ETAL. TABLE 2. Performance of poults when fed different antibiotics with and methionine-adequate diets (Experiment 1)
Antibiotic
Control Bacitracin MD Flavomycin Virginiamycin
methionine-deficient
Feed efficiency
Supplemental methionine
Body weight
Feed consumption
(%)
(g)
(g/poult)
(g feed/g body weight)
0 0 0 0
281.9 a 298.9 a 293.9 a 326.3 b
390.6 a b 401.4 a b 387.4 a 415.2 b
1.39* 1.34 d 1.32c 1.27 a
422.8 C 441.4 d 439.4 d 446.3 d
586.2 C 589.6 C 587.0 C 580.5 C
1.39* 1.34 d 1.34d 1.30 b
Control Bacitracin MD Flavomycin Virginiamycin
.18 .18 .18 .18
Means within each criterion and methionine level with different superscripts are significantly different (P<.05) according to the multiple range test of Duncan (1955).
TABLE 3. Performance of poults fed diets with two methionine levels and with four antibiotics (Experiment 2)
Antibiotic
Control Bacitracin MD Flavomycin Lincomycin Virginiamycin Control Bacitracin MD Flavomycin Lincomycin Virginiamycin
Supplemental methionine
Body weight
Feed consumption
Feed efficiency
(%)
(g)
(g/poult)
(g feed/g body weight)
0 0 0 0 0
319.9 a 328.9 a 357.1 b 349.2 b 375.1 c
432.1 a 436.6 a 461.5 a 447.0 a 472.5 a
1.36 d 1.34 d 1.30° 1.29 c 1.29c
475.4 d 478.1de 490.1de 498.5* 515.2 f
615.5 b 619.0 b 608.5 b 609.9 b 619.4 b
1.30 c 1.29 c 1.24 b 1.23 a b 1.21 a
.18 .18 .18 .18 .18
a—f Means within each criterion and methionine level with different superscripts are significantly different (P<.05) according to the multiple range test of Duncan (1955).
formed the control and BMD-fed birds. In the methionine-supplemented diet FM, LM, and VM again outperformed the control and BMD. In conclusion, there are numerous antibacterial agents that can promote growth in poultry. There is also sufficient evidence in the literature to indicate that these agents do not have similar modes of action (Visek, 1978). Results of the battery brooder experiment reported here indicate that virginiamycin in the starter feed is more effective than three other antibiotics in situations where sulfur amino acids or protein per se are limiting.
Supplementation of basal diets with the antibiotics improved poult body weight gains and feed efficiency values. The magnitude of this growth response was greater in the diets deficient in protein, choline, and sulfur amino acids.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was supported by grants-in-aid from A. L. Laboratories, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, and Smithkline Corporation, West Chester, PA.
ANTIBIOTICS AND METHIONINE UTILIZATION REFERENCES Coates, M. E., R. Fuller, G. F. Harrison, M. Lev, and S. F. Suffolk, 1963. Acomparison of the growth of chicks in the Gustafsson germ-free apparatus and in a conventional environment with and without dietary supplements of penicillin. Br. J. Nutr. 17:141. Combs, G. E, and E. H. Bossard, 1963. Comparison of growth response of chicks to virginiamcyin and other antibiotics. Poultry Sci. 42:681-685. Eyssen, H., V. De Prins, and P. DeSomer, 1962. The growthpromoting action of virginiamycin and its influence on the crop flora in chickens. Poultry Sci. 41:227-233. Eyssen, H., and P. De Somer, 1963. The mode of action of antibiotics in stimulating growth of chicks. J. Exp. Med. 117:127-138. Freeman, B. M., A.C.C. Manning, G. F. Harrison, and M. E. Coates, 1975. Dietary aureomycin and the response of the fowl to stressors. Br. Poult. Sci. 16:395-404. Harms, R. H., and R. D. Miles, 1983. The response of turkey poults to Virginiamycin in diets containing various levels of supplemental methionine. Poultry Sci. 62:1896-1898. Jukes, T. H., 1955. Antibiotics in Nutrition. New York Medical Encyclopedia, Inc., New York, NY. Machlin, L. J., C. A. Denton, W. L. Kellogg, and H. R.
2317
Bird, 1952. Effect of dietary antibiotic upon feed efficiency and protein requirement of growing chickens. Poultry Sci. 31:106-109. March, B. E., R. Soong, andC. MacMillan, 1978. Growth rate, feed conversion, and dietary metabolizable energy in response to virginiamycin supplementation of different diets. Poultry Sci. 57:1346-1350. Miles, R. D., and R. H. Harms, 1983. Sulfur amino acid sparing effect of virginiamycin in turkey poult diets. Poultry Sci. 62:1470. (Abstr.) Miles, R. D., and R. H. Harms, 1984. Influence of virginiamycin on broiler performance, uniformity and litter quality. Nutr. Rep. Int. 29:971-975. Miles, R. D., C. R. Douglas, and R. H. Harms, 1984. Influence of virginiamycin in pullets and broilers fed diets containing suboptimal protein and sulfur amino acid levels. Nutr. Rep. Int. 30:983-989. Miles, R. D., D. M. Janky, and R. H. Harms, 1984b. Virginiamycin and broiler performance. Poultry Sci. 63:1218-1221. National Research Council, 1984. Nutrient Requirements of Domestic Animals. Nutrient Requirements of Poultry. 8th ed. Natl. Acad. Sci., Washington, DC. Visek, W. J., 1978. The mode of growth promotion by antibiotics. J. Anim. Sci. 46:1447-1469.