Dietary supplementation with ferric tyrosine improves zootechnical performance and reduces caecal Campylobacter spp. load in poultry

Currie, D.; Green, M.; Dufailu, Osman A.; Pitoulias, M.; Soultanas, Panos; McCartney, E.; Lester, H.; Van den Eede, Liza; Apajalahti, J.; Mahdavi, Jafar

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of ferric tyrosine on the reduction of Campylobacter spp. and zootechnical performance in broilers exposed to Campylobacter spp. using a natural challenge model to simulate commercial conditions. Additionally, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of ferric tyrosine against common enteropathogens were evaluated.

On day 0, 840 healthy male day-old birds (Ross 308) were randomly allocated to 6 replicate pens of 35 birds and fed diets containing different concentrations of ferric tyrosine (0, 0.02, 0.05 and 0.2 g/kg) in mash form for 42 days.

Overall, broilers fed diets containing ferric tyrosine showed significantly improved body weight at day 42 and weight gain compared to the control group.

However, birds fed ferric tyrosine ate significantly more than the control birds so significant improvements in FCR were not observed.

Microbiological analyses of caecal samples collected on day 42 of the study showed, per gram sample, 2-3 log10 reduction in Campylobacter spp. and 1 log10 reduction in Escherichia coli in the groups fed diets containing ferric tyrosine compared to the control and Salmonella enterica, indicating that ferric tyrosine does not exert antimicrobial activity.

Collectively, these results show that birds fed ferric tyrosine grew faster and consumed more feed compared to the control birds indicating potential benefits of faster attainment of slaughter weight with no significant reduction on feed efficiency. Moreover, ferric tyrosine significantly reduces caecal Campylobacter spp. and E. coli indicating potential as a non-antibiotic feed additive to lower the risk of Campylobacter infections transmitted through the food chain.

Citation

Currie, D., Green, M., Dufailu, O. A., Pitoulias, M., Soultanas, P., McCartney, E., Lester, H., Van den Eede, L., Apajalahti, J., & Mahdavi, J. (2018). Dietary supplementation with ferric tyrosine improves zootechnical performance and reduces caecal Campylobacter spp. load in poultry. British Poultry Science, 59(6), 646-653. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071668.2018.1507015

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 25, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Aug 16, 2018
• Publication Date: Aug 16, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jun 26, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 17, 2019
• Journal: British Poultry Science
• Print ISSN: 0007-1668
• Electronic ISSN: 1466-1799
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 59
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 646-653
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00071668.2018.1507015
• Keywords: Broilers; Campylobacter; Control; Ferric tyrosine; Iron chelate
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/941550
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00071668.2018.1507015
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in British Poultry Science on 16 August 2018, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00071668.2018.1507015
• Contract Date: Jun 26, 2018