A Study of Surface Active Agents in Broiler Diets

288

R. E. FRY, J. B. ALLRED, L. S. JENSEN AND J. MCGINNIS

Hill, F. W., 1956 (personal communication). Jensen, L. S., R. E. Fry, J. B. Allred and J. McGinnis, 1957. Improvement in the nutritional value of barley for chicks by enzyme supplementation. Poultry Sci. 36: 919-921.

Lindblad, G. S., J. R. Aitken and W. G. Hunsaker, 1954. Studies on the use of barley in chick rations. Poultry Sci. 33: 1067. Titus, H. W., 1949. The Scientific Feeding of Chickens. The Interstate Publishers, Inc.

ROBERT J. LILLIE, J. R. SIZEMORE AND C. A. DENTON Animal Husbandry Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Maryland (Received for publication July 15, 1957)

C

ONFLICTING data have been reported in the literature on the role of surface active agents (referred to as surfactants herafter) in poultry nutrition. Ely (1951) and Ely and Schott (1952) showed a consistent growth response of chicks fed several surfactants. Their findings were not confirmed by the work of Scott et al. (1952), Stern et al. (1953), Morrison et al. (1954) and Branion et al. (1954). However, Ney et al. (1954) reported that a sodium alkyl aryl sulfonate detergent increased growth over the control group by 6 to 11 percent in a 12-week experiment. Synder et al. (1953) found a negative response with surfactants, in vitamin Buadequate practical diets. In the absence of vitamin Bi2, a growth stimulation was observed with ethmoid C/15 or an antibiotic. However, this response was not as good as that with vitamin B12. Likewise, March et al. (1954) presented evidence that the growth stimulating properties of surfactants depended on the type of ration used, and in no instance was the response with surfactants as great as that obtained with antibiotic. Balloun (1955) presented data to show that the 4 alkyl quaternary ammonium derivatives tested consistently improved efficiency of feed utilization in "old" and "new" environments. Growth was improved in the "old" environment but not in the "new" environment. The data also

suggested that the activity of quaternaries may be two-fold: one, a growth effect similar to antibiotics which is dependent on the environment, and second, improvement in feed efficiency which is independent of the environment. Almquist and Merritt (1955) reported that a commercial sodium alkyl aryl sulfonate in a turkey growing mash had a very slight effect on growth but improved efficiency of feed utilization in all comparisons. The results of studies on the effect of a single surfactant in the drinking water or in the feed and a combination of several surfactants in the feed only on the growth of chicks are presented in this paper. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE AND RESULTS

Experiment 1. Day-old straight run New Hampshire chicks were distributed into 14 uniform groups of 40 each on the basis of hatching weights. The chicks were reared on sawdust litter in a multiple-unit brooder house equipped with infra-red brooders. Body weight and feed consumption data were recorded at bi-weekly intervals. Water consumption data were recorded daily. Two basal diets were used in order to determine the effect of diet upon the growth response to the surfactant. These diets differ with respect to animal protein

Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Uniwersytet Warszawski Biblioteka Uniwersytecka on May 15, 2015

A Study of Surface Active Agents in Broiler Diets

SURFACTANTS IN BROILER DIETS

289

TABLE 1.—Composition of basal diets

(groups 2 and 9). However, the incorporation of the surfactant either in the drinkDiet Ingredient ing water or in the feed was negative in 1 2 3 stimulating a growth response or improvPercent Percent Percent Ground corn 67.35 66.86 57.3 ing feed conversion on either basal diet. Soybean oil meal 24.0 32.0 24.0 Alfalfa meal 5.0 No definite relationship between the sur— — Butyl fermentation solubles 0.6 — — Steamed bone meal 1.0 3.0 1.0 factant either in the drinking water or in Ground limestone 1.0 1.0 1.0 Manganized salt 0.5 0.5 the feed and water consumption was ob— Iodized salt 0.2 0.34 — Fish meal 6.0 6.0 served. — Vitamin A a n d D feeding oil 0.3 0.3 — Vitamin B u supplement 0.1 0.1 0.1 Experiment 2. Five blends of surfactants Choline HC1 0.04 0.13 0.1 Manganese sulfate 0.02 were tested to determine whether or not a — — DL-Methionine 0.1 — — Vitamin M i x 0.06= combination of several surfactants would — — 100.00 100.00 100.00 elicit a growth response in broilers. The Feed Additives (mg./lOO grams) 5 Niacin 1.0 composition of the blends is summarized — 5 Riboflavin 0.5 — 3-nitro 4 hydroxy phenyl in Table 3. arsonic acid 5.0 — Chlortetracycline 2.0 Basal diet 3 used in this experiment is — Folic acid 0.2 — very much similar to basal diet 1, with a 500 meg. ribofiavin/gram. few modifications in the mineral and vi96 parts NaCl and 4 parts MnSO, • 4HjO. ' 400 I.C. units D and 1,200 U.S.P. units A per gram. tamin supplements (see Table 1). The 6 mg. B,j/lb. Contains per 100 pounds: 16.3 gms. dry vitamin A (10,000 negative control groups (7, 14) were fed U.S.P. units per gram), 3.63 gms. dry vitamin D (15,000 I.C. units/gram), 7.1 gms. riboflavin supplement (1 gram per ounce), basal diet 3. Groups 6 and 13 were fed diet and 500 mg. niacinamide. 3 supplemented with procaine penicillin and feed supplements (see Table 1). Diet G at the rate of 4 grams per ton; groups 1 1 contained 6 percent fish meal and none and 8, 2 and 9, 3 and 10, 4 and 11, and 5 of the feed supplements (arsenical, anti- and 12 were fed blends 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, b'otic, methionine, folic acid), whereas respectively. diet 2 was an all-vegetable protein diet Day-old straight run New Hampshire and contained the above mentioned feed chicks were distributed into 7 duplicate supplements. groups of 100 each on the basis of hatchDiet 1 was fed to groups 1 to 7, inclu- ing weights. The groups were given the sive, whereas diet 2 was fed to groups 8 to same rearing facilities and same manage14, inclusive. Chlortetracycline (10 ppm.) ment as in experiment 1. was fed to group 2, and fish solubles at the All the blends tested elicited a greater rate of 4 percent was fed to group 9. These growth response than the negative control 2 groups served as the positive controls. diet (groups 7 and 14) and the positive The experimental design of the groups fed control diet (groups 6 and 13). Feed conthe surfactant either in the drinking water version was improved by 4 of the 5 surfacor in the feed at two levels is shown in tant blends and by procaine penicillin G. According to the analysis of variance of Table 2. The active ingredient of the surfactant the means of males and females (Table 4), was para diisobutyl phenoxy ethoxy ethyl the differences are not statistically sigdimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride nificant with respect to growth. monohydrate. DISCUSSION The growth, feed conversion, and water The multiple-unit brooder house in consumption data are summarized in Table 2. Chlortetracycline and fish sol- which Experiments 1 and 2 were conubles produced a definite growth response ducted had been in use for many years and 1

2

1

2 4

5

Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Uniwersytet Warszawski Biblioteka Uniwersytecka on May 15, 2015

3

4

290

R . J . L l I X I E , J . R . SlZEMORE AND C. A. DENTON TABLE 2.—Growth, feed conversion and water consumption data obtained with New Hampshire broilers in experiment 1 10-week weights

Group

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Diet 1 Diet 1 plus 10 ppm. antibioticf Diet 1 plus 10 ppm. antibiotic plus 1,000 ppm. surfactant Diet 1 plus 1,000 ppm. surfactant Diet 1 plus 500 ppm. surfactant Diet 1 plus 250 ppm. surfactant in drinking water Diet 1 plus 100 ppm. surfactant in drinking water Diet 2 Diet 2 plus 4 % fish solubles Diet 2 plus 4 % fish solubles plus 1,000 ppm. surfactant Diet 2 plus 1,000 ppm. surfactant Diet 2 plus 500 ppm. surfactant Diet 2 plus 250 ppm. surfactant in drinking water Diet 2 plus 100 ppm. surfactant in drinking water

Water Feed consumed • conver- per chick sion* in 10 weeks

Males

Females

Mean

Lbs. 3.27 3.52 3.15

Lbs. 2.59 2.74 2.57

Lbs. 2.93 3.13 2.86

2.68 2.57 2.56

Lbs. 1.28 1.29 1.28

3.15 3.02 3.15

2.60 2.65 2.70

2.88 2.83 2.93

2.62 2.64 2.51

1.25 1.21 1.26

3.31

2.65

2.98

2.59

1.41

3.35 3.69 3.34

2.75 2.78 2.78

3.05 3.24 3.06

2.75 2.68 2.72

1.43 1.68 1.70

3.34 3.33 3.01

2.54 2.78 2.51

2.94 3.06 2.76

2.82 2.72 2.76

1.37 1.37 1.33

3.12

2.45

2.79

2.80

1.26

Total feed consumed Total gain f Chlortetracycline.

so consequently may be considered an "old" environment. In these two experiments no statistically significant responses were obtained from the various surfactants employed. Thus our data fail to confirm those of Balloun (1955) who obtained a favorable response on quaternary ammonium compounds in an "old" environment, and verify the work of Morrison el al. (1954), Stern et al. (1953), Synder et TABLE 3.—Composition of surfactant blends Blend 1 Quaternary OR 82-128 1 Soap "L"* Glycerol Monostearate 80% procaine penicillin Sodium sulfate 1

2

3

4

(grams per ton of feed) 64 114 — 64 OT0 — 1,135 272 46 — 118

— — 454

— 1,135 —

748

—

454

5 64 390

— 1.25' 454

Nonyl phenoxy ethoxy carbo-methyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride. 2 Refined tallow soap, primarily sodium stearate. a Equivalent to 1 gram pure procaine penicillin per ton of feed.

al. (1953), all of whom observed no statistically significant growth responses with surfactants. It should be noted that although the surfactant blends did not elicit statistically significant responses, they gave slight but consistent growth improvements over the negative controls and penicillin supplemented controls in all test lots to which they were fed. The lack of a significant growth response in ten week trials, even though all or most of the treated lots show some growth improvement over the negative controls is not unusual. In Balloun's work (1954) the growth improvement attributed to penicillin alone was 0 and 7% in one particular experiment, and the addition of a quaternary compound in the penicillin supplemented basal diet did not stimulate growth. Balloun suggested that this lack

Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Uniwersytet Warszawski Biblioteka Uniwersytecka on May 15, 2015

1 2 3

Dietary treatment

291

SURFACTANTS IN BROILER DIETS TABLE 4.—Effect of surfactant blends upon the growth and feed conversion of New Hampshire broilers in experiment 2 10-week weights Pen

Blend

Males Females

Mean

Feed conversion*

1

Lbs. 3.54 3.55 3.55

Lbs. 2.78 2.82 2.80

Lbs. 3.16 3.19 3.17

3.16 3.05 3.10

2 9 Average

2

3.58 3.53 3.56

2.85 2.81 2.83

3.22 3.17 3.19

3.06 3.07 3.07

3 10 Average

3

3.41 3.46 3.44

2.88 2.78 2.83

3.14 3.12 3.13

3.50 3.10 3.30

4 11 Average

4

3.47 3.65 3.55

2.61 2.93 2.79

3.04 3.29 3.17

3.19 2.94 3.07

5 12 Average

5

3.57 3.45 3.50

2.84 2.86 2.85

3.26 3.15 3.20

3.02 2.99 3.00

6 13 Average

Procaine penicillin G

3.52 3.31 3.42

2.81 2.81 2.81

3.16 3.06 3.11

2.94 2.13 3.01

7 14 Average

None

3.44 3.44 3.44

2.75 2.67 2.71

3.09 3.06 3.07

3.12 3.18 3.15

0.22

0.24

0.21

0.33

0.37

0.32

L.S.D. L.S.D.

0.05 (between any 2 groups) 0.01 (between any 2 groups)

* See footnote in Table 2.

of response of the quaternary compound was probably "due to the same factors which contributed to the small response to antibiotics in other experiments in the same environment." Although not always statistically significant, chlortetracycline consistently improved growth (Snyder et ah, 1953). In one experiment, the results of 4 simultaneous replications with a surfactant showed that chick growth was not stimulated. However, chicks fed the surfactant in one of the 4 replicates averaged 8 grams heavier than those fed the antibiotic in the same replicate. Under the conditions of our experiments, the results show that the surfactant blends performed as well as procaine penicillin with respect to growth and feed conversion. Sodium sulfate is known to stimulate growth under certain conditions, according to Machlin et al. (1955) and Gordon and Sizer (1955). Since the five surfactant

SUMMARY

In a series of two broiler experiments, studies were undertaken to determine the nutritional significance of surfactants in the drinking water or in the diet. A surfactant (quaternary ammonium compound) administered in the drinking water did not improve growth or efficiency of feed utilization. Five surfactant blends incorporated in the diet gave consistent growth improvements, although in no instance was the response statistically significant. All of the blends produced a larger growth response based on the average weight of both sexes than procaine penicillin fed at a level of 4 grams per ton. Feed conversion was improved by 4 of the 5 surfactant blends and by procaine penicillin. Evidence was obtained that under a given environment blended surfactants of the type employed will compare favorably to antibiotic supplements in their effect on chick performance. REFERENCES Almquist, H. J., and J. B. Merritt, 1955. The effects of a detergent in the diet of range turkeys. Poultry Sci. 34: 740-741. Balloun, S. L., 1955. The effect of quaternary ammonium derivatives in chick diets. Poultry Sci. 34: 191-196. Branion, H. D., and D. C. Hill, 1954. Detergents and chick growth. Poultry Sci. 33: 62-66. Ely, C. M., 1951. Chick growth stimulation produced by surfactants. Science, 114: 523-524. Ely, C. M. and S. Schott, 1952. Surface active agents as growth stimulators in chick rations. Dist. Feed Conf. Proc. 7:72-84. Gordon, R. S., and I. W. Sizer, 1955. Ability of sodium sulfate to stimulate growth of the chicken. Science, 122: 1270-1271.

Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Uniwersytet Warszawski Biblioteka Uniwersytecka on May 15, 2015

1 8 Average

blends contained sodium sulfate, more research is needed to determine whether or not the growth responses obtained with surfactant blends are due to sodium sulfate per se, the surfactant, or a synergistic effect of sodium sulfate and the surfactant.

292

R . J . LlLLIE, J . R . SlZEMORE AND C. A. DENTON a sodium alkyl aryl sulfonate detergent on the growth of chicks. Poultry Sci. 33: 297-299. Scott, H. M., B. C. Johnson and E. A. Goffi, 1952. Effect of surface active agents on chick growth. Poultry Sci. 31:746-747. Snyder, J. M., B. C. Johnson and H. M. Scott, 1953. Surface active agents and the time of their effect on chick growth with special reference to vitamin B12 and aureomycin interrelationships. Poultry Sci. 32: 527-531. Stern, J. R., and J. McGinnis, 1953. Comparative growth response of chicks to detergents, germicides, and penicillin. Poultry Sci. 32: 26-28.

Wanted: A National Procurement and Training Program in Poultry G E O . D. QUIGLEY

University of Maryland, College Park (Received for publication July 22, 1957)

T

HE rapid changes in the poultry industry are evident to all who are engaged in it, but they are especially apparent to those whose experience spans 10, 15, 25 or more years. The operation of poultry production and the distribution of our products, is undergoing the same change apparent in most of agriculture,—indeed in almost all kinds of business, and we find fewer units, but larger ones. Both vertical and horizontal integration is coming into the poultry picture very rapidly, and the advent of the contract system of producing turkeys, broilers and eggs has been described as nothing short of revolutionary in agricultural history. The changes which we see are producing concentrations of capital, administrative responsibility, and expenditures for advertising and promotion, which are large and substantial. This is true both within the poultry industry, and in closely allied contributing industries, as feed, equipment, and drugs. In turn this results in a demand for trained personnel which shows evidence of fast outdistancing the

supply. Trained personnel are an absolute necessity when administrative responsibility and concentration of capital reach the heights already achieved in poultry. This demand will probably continue to increase through the years. There was a time not many years ago, when a graduate in poultry was not in demand if he wanted a job. Very few farms could employ him, hatcheries were small and family operated, marketing units were small, feed and allied industries were small or ineffective, and about the only jobs were with federal or state governments, an occasional hatchery, etc. As late as five years ago, if an employer desired to hire a trained graduate, he could usually write in by May 15, look over the crop, and make a selection. Wages were low, and in many instances they were so meagre as to invite the question as to what was the point of a college education anyhow. Today we are not able to fill the demand. An employer who waits until May 15, unless he has an exceptional offer, may

Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Uniwersytet Warszawski Biblioteka Uniwersytecka on May 15, 2015

Machlin, L. J., W. T. Shalkop and P. B. Pearson, 1955. Effect of methionine, sodium sulfate, alpha tocopherol and other compounds on muscle degeneration in young chickens. Poultry Sci. 34: 1209. March, B. E., M. Burdett and J. Biely, 1954. Antibiotics and surface active agents in chick nutrition. Poultry Sci. 33: 300-304. Morrison, A. B., W. G. Hunsaker and J. R. Aitken, 1954. Influence of environment on the response of chicks to growth stimulants. Poultry Sci. 33: 491-494. Ney, L. F., and G. W. Newell, 1954. The effects of