Animal Husbandry
Advanced solutions for animal wellness
Type of Poultry birds
Broiler birds
- Birds are raised primarily for meat purpose
- 1-day-old chicks are used
- Birds are fed with three types of commercial feeds
- Pre-starter (0-14 days)
- Starter (15-21 days)
- Finisher (22-42 days)
- Most vaccines are added in the container with drinking water
- Vaccines are given as per schedule
- OSA was used @100ml/1000 birds/day through drinking water
Layer birds
- Birds are raised primarily for egg purpose
- Birds start to lay eggs after 12 weeks
- Studies are underway at two doses
- 10 ml/l000 birds/day
- 20ml/1000 birds/day
- Most vaccines are added in the container with drinking water
- Vaccines are given as per schedule
- OSA is given through drinking water
Stabilized Ortho Silicic Acid (OSA)
OSA Poultry is the proprietary formulation for stabilized Ortho Silicic Acid.
Dose of application: 125 ml/1000 birds/day
Importance of Silicon in poultry
- Silicon plays a important role in glycosaminoglycan formation
- Silicon content is high in metabolically active state of oestoblast
- Silicon performs multiple role in
- Structural role
- As a component of connective tissue (bone, Cartilage, Skin)
- Metabolic function
- Silicon plays an important role in bone calcification, Ca:P ratio is below 1.0 if chicks are fed with silicon supplemented diets
- Silicon deficient chicks
- exhibit skull deformities
- weak skeletons
- thin legs
- smaller combs
Studies in Poultry
T0: Control, T1: Feeding from 1st to 21st day, T2: Feeding from 1st to 41st Day
Increase in body weight
| After week 3 | After week 7 | |
|---|---|---|
| T0 | 340.61 | 2187.27 |
| T1 | 352.38 | 2275.15 |
| T2 | 350.22 | 2380.81 |
9% increase in body weight in T2 compared to 4% in T1
Daily feeding of OSA has found to be effective in increasing body weight
Food conversion ratio (FCR)
| FCR | |
| T0 | 1.92 |
| T1 | 1.86 |
| T2 | 1.72 |
10% reduction in FCR
Reduction in FCR indicates lower feed consumption
Bone strength is very important for broiler chicken. For this serum calcium and phosphorous levels are critical. Since broiler chickens are raised for meat therefore they gain excess weight. Heaviness of these birds often imparts musco-skeletal disorders.
Hematological parameters
| Blood serum protein (gm/dl) | 4.37 | 4.57 | 4.59 |
| Blood serum calcium (mg/dl) | 7.47 | 7.50 | 7.60 |
| Blood serum phosphorous (mg/dl) | 3.79 | 3.85 | 4.01 |
Regular OSA application
OSA application has resulted in ~5% increase in hematological parameters.
OSA imparts positive impact of growth and development of chicken
Eviscerated Yield and allied components
| Eviscerated yield (%) | 81.3 | 81.8 | 82.7 |
| Organ weight (g) per 100 g carcass | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Giblet weight (g) per 100g carcass | 7.9 | 8.0 | 8.2 |
| Bone (g) in 100 g meat | 32.4 | 32.9 | 33.7 |
Layer bird trial
| Control | 10ml/1000 birds/ day | 20ml/1000 birds/ day | |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2020 | 4.65 | 0.35 | 0.76 |
| Jun 2020 | 7.06 | 2.14 | 2.69 |
| Jul 2020 | 7.67 | 3.03 | 3.30 |
| Aug 2020 | 8.59 | 3.35 | 3.45 |
| Sep 2020 | 9.04 | 4.06 | 4.02 |
| Birds were mixed to fill gap in cage | |||
| Oct 2020 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.8 |
Cattle trial
| Control | Treated | |
| Milk consumed/day (Kg) | 1.39 | 1.40 |
| Body weight (kg) | 0.87 | 1.35 |
| Cumulative FCR | 1.59 | 1.03 |
Feeding of OSA liquid @ 1ml/day/calf for initial 90 days is beneficial for overall growth and development of calves