Sammendrag
Poultry housed in floor pen systems are able and likely to consume litter
materials from the floor. How consumption of different types of litter
materials affects growth performance, nutrient digestibility, gut function and
gut health in poultry is a largely unexplored research area. Recent data from
an experiment with egg-laying hens performed at NULS in has indicated that the
type of litter material in the litter bath affects feed intake and feed
utilisation. Hens with access to paper had a higher feed intake compared with
control birds with no access to litter material and with birds with access to
wood shavings, thus resulting in a poorer feed utilisation.
A total of six experiments with broilers will be conducted in this project.
Three experiments will be done in Norway at the Norwegian University of Life
Sciences (NULS) and a further three experiments will be conducted in Australia
at the University of New England (UNE) and Inghams Enterprises Pty Ltd. Staff
from the South Australian Research & Development Institute (SARDI) will
utilise their expertise in gut microbial community profiling in the Australian
experimentation. Experimentation in both countries is necessary because NULS
has unique expertise and facilities not available in Australia, and because of
quarantine restrictions, it is not possible to bring gut and feed samples from
Norway to Australia to be examined by Poultry CRC researchers at UNE and
SARDI. Furthermore, independent experimentation in Australia based on results
obtained in Norway is necessary to validate results under Australian
conditions.
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Vitenskapelig sammendrag
Poultry housed in floor pen systems are able and likely to consume litter
materials from the floor. How consumption of different types of litter
materials affects growth performance, nutrient digestibility, gut function and
gut health in poultry is a largely unexplored research area. Recent data from
an experiment with egg-laying hens performed at NULS in has indicated that the
type of litter material in the litter bath affects feed intake and feed
utilisation. Hens with access to paper had a higher feed intake compared with
control birds with no access to litter material and with birds with access to
wood shavings, thus resulting in a poorer feed utilisation.
A total of six experiments with broilers will be conducted in this project.
Three experiments will be done in Norway at the Norwegian University of Life
Sciences (NULS) and a further three experiments will be conducted in Australia
at the University of New England (UNE) and Inghams Enterprises Pty Ltd. Staff
from the South Australian Research & Development Institute (SARDI) will
utilise their expertise in gut microbial community profiling in the Australian
experimentation. Experimentation in both countries is necessary because NULS
has unique expertise and facilities not available in Australia, and because of
quarantine restrictions, it is not possible to bring gut and feed samples from
Norway to Australia to be examined by Poultry CRC researchers at UNE and
SARDI. Furthermore, independent experimentation in Australia based on results
obtained in Norway is necessary to validate results under Australian
conditions.
Vis fullstendig beskrivelse