Factors Affecting Feed Energy Utilization Efficiency of Laying Hens

Animals need energy to maintain life, grow and develop. The metabolic activities of various nutrients in the feed in the animal body are completed with the participation of energy. Animals get their energy from carbohydrates, fats and proteins in their feed. Layer hens are no exception.

However, in daily production practice, when the flocks are healthy, different farmers use the same feed to feed laying hens, resulting in a large gap in economic benefits. The main reason is the difference in feed energy utilization due to feeding level.

Factors that affect feed energy utilization are:

1. Factors of the flock itself

Chicken flocks at different production stages have different feed utilization rates. For example, the chicks are low and the adult chickens are high; there are also differences between individual laying hens, and thus the utilization rate of feed energy is also different.

2. Feeding and management level

Under the appropriate feeding management level, with the increase of the feeding level, the effective energy of the feed used for the maintenance of the body will be relatively reduced, and the net energy used for production will increase, and the benefit will increase accordingly. However, if it is not raised at a suitable feeding level, as the feed intake of laying hens increases, due to the decrease in digestibility, the energy utilization rate of feed will decrease, the feed-to-egg ratio will increase, and the benefit will decrease.

3. Feed factors

When preparing laying hen feed, it is necessary to ensure the balance of various nutrients: energy, protein, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, etc. In order to maximize the energy utilization rate of the feed. On the contrary, it will cause waste of feed nutrients, increase the burden on the body, and affect digestion and absorption.

The feed should be changed according to the seasons and temperature. Only by timely adjusting the ratio of energy and protein and reasonably controlling the level of crude fiber can the energy utilization rate of the feed be improved and the benefit increased. At the same time, the quality of the feed is also very important. If the feed mycotoxin is high, it will also have a negative impact on the nutritional value of the feed and the energy digestion and utilization rate.

4. Breeding environmental factors

The feeding environment of the chicken flock, such as changes in temperature, humidity, ventilation, light, and stocking density, will affect its energy utilization. For example, the temperature changes, the distribution of feed nutrients in the body to maintain needs and production changes, and then the utilization rate of feed energy also changes. When laying hens suffer from cold stress, feed energy is mainly used to maintain body temperature, while the energy used for laying eggs is bound to decrease; when under heat stress, the energy used for feed production is reduced.

5. Disease factors

The diseases that laying hens will encounter include respiratory diseases, intestinal diseases, parasitic diseases, liver diseases and various nutritional deficiencies. These diseases will affect the feed intake of laying hens, the digestion and absorption and utilization of nutrients, and also affect the conversion of energy, which will eventually lead to a decrease in the energy utilization rate of feed.

If you encounter the problem of low feed energy utilization in laying hens, you can start to deal with it from the above aspects.