Newborn piglet care is a challenge on every farm. In the early stages of their lives, these young animals are more susceptible to health issues that would never affect older, more developed pigs. These challenges can come from all angles, as disease-causing organisms (such as bacteria, protozoa and viruses) are present in every part of the farm environment. From the sow to farm personnel, equipment, bedding and feed materials, there is no escape from these threats.

Even with the appropriate biosecurity measures in place, as piglets grow, they encounter other health-impacting sources. Changes in the diet, for example, can cause digestive disorders, manifested as diarrhea and failure to thrive and grow.

Due to the exposure to and consumption of external, potentially disease-bearing entities, such as water, feed and bedding, maintaining proper immunity is essential. Optimizing gut structures and microbial populations is vital for young animals, as it establishes the basis for their ongoing health and development. Piglets have very specific needs to establish good gut health and functions and to limit disease development. Providing the best gut health in young piglets can be achieved through various feeding interventions. Here are three crucial stages of developing good gut health in piglets to help put you on the right path.

1. Optimize colostrum from the sow

While in the womb, pigs benefit from the fully developed immune system of the sow. However, once born, piglets do not take any of these immunities along with them, essentially starting from scratch. To help encourage good gut health, the producer's task is to ensure that the newborn piglets have a good supply of immunoglobulins (Igs). These act as the first line of defense for young piglets, helping them to build their immune system to fight off the challenges they face in their environment. The best source of Igs is the colostrum supplied by the piglet’s mother, making it a crucial first step in optimizing gut health in piglets.

After the initial colostrum intake, piglet immunity status tends to diminish, making them more vulnerable to disease, which commonly manifests as:

• Diarrhea
• Dehydration
• Poor milk consumption

In addition, the switch from a milk-based diet to a grain-based diet at weaning means that their gut structures and microbial populations need to adapt quickly. This difficult period is referred to as the “weaning gap” in terms of health and immunity and occurs somewhere between 14–21 days of age.

To ensure that piglets continue to get the support they need and have a strong base to help them through the diet transition, the expression of Igs in the sow’s colostrum must be optimized. This can be achieved by including prebiotics and mannan-rich fractions (MRF) in sow gestation diets. Feeding trials (Spring et al., 2006) have shown that doing so increases the levels of all Igs in the colostrum and in the blood of the subsequent piglets that receive it.

2. Promote good gut health directly

As well as using them to optimize the mother’s colostrum, pre- and probiotics can be administered orally to piglets, promoting the development of the correct bacterial balances within the gut, establishing the best basis for future disease prevention, and maximizing health and growth.

Long-established research studying MRF has shown that it binds to the projections on the surface of disease-causing microbes, preventing them from attaching to the gut wall, which they need to do to reproduce, leading to harmless removal in feces. In addition, this binding activity interacts with the immune system in the gut, promoting faster responses to any disease threat. Multiple trials have shown that this activity of promoting better gut health increases feed intake, digestion and growth and improves feed conversion.

3. Use high-quality creep feeds

When piglets reach the age to begin weaning, creep feeding is introduced to prepare their digestive systems for the change in diet. This is another opportunity for the producer to bolster the young animal’s gut health by formulating creep feed with the best-quality raw materials, processed to maximize digestion and supplemented with proven feed ingredients. These can include:

• Nucleotides to facilitate gut tissue development
• Enzymes for maximum digestion
• Chelated minerals to ensure the best uptake and establish tissue mineral reserves during times of stress

These types of diets will ease the difficult period during weaning and will not compromise the gut environment, keeping disease at bay. Nucleotides are the building blocks of DNA and are essential for young animal development. They have been shown to significantly increase the growth of gut tissues and are important for repairing and preventing damage to the gut wall. A more robust gut structure is necessary to withstand the change from milk to grain-based feeds at weaning, when the erosion of essential structures (villi) for nutrient absorption can occur.

Seed, Feed, Weed

Over the last 40 years, Alltech has conducted extensive research studying gut health and has designed several gut health management programs that focus on supporting animal performance from birth by promoting favorable bacteria communities, building natural defenses and maximizing growth. The Seed, Feed, Weed (SFW) concept is one such program that is designed to modify the gut microbial population to establish favorable and more diverse microbial populations after birth. This program utilizes the advice above to help establish and maintain a beneficial and diverse gut microbiome in piglets. The SWF program supports gut health in piglets by:

• Seeding the gut with favorable organisms: It is vital to “seed” the intestine with the correct bacteria as soon as possible after birth. The first organisms to colonize the gut will determine the composition of the flora by creating the micro-environment necessary to establish a complex microbial community and optimal architectural development. With the right intestinal microflora now in place, piglets show improved early growth, feed conversion, uniformity and livability.  
• Feeding the favorable organisms: In addition to “seeding” the gut with the correct pioneer species, it is crucial to enhance the capacity of favorable organisms to colonize and rapidly dominate the microbial community in the small intestine. Once a beneficial microbial community and intestinal ecology is established, the villi will flourish. This step is critical for piglet health and feed efficiency because the healthier a piglet’s villi, the more efficiently nutrients will be absorbed.
• Weeding out the unfavorable microorganisms: The gut can also contain harmful pathogenic microbes (e.g., enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli), which can damage the intestinal villi. It is, therefore, important to “weed them out” before they can attach to the gut lining and replicate enough to cause disease. By blocking the attachment mechanisms of unfavorable organisms with a type-1 fimbria blocker, their capacity to compete with the favorable organisms (e.g., Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus) in the gut is reduced. Minimizing the gut’s exposure to these harmful microbes will help to improve the animal’s natural defenses and shorten its recovery time from disease.

Figure 1. The Seed, Feed, Weed concept is designed to modify the microbial population in the gut to establish favorable and more diverse microbial communities after birth.

Providing solutions for each step of the Seed, Feed, Weed process, Alltech offers a range of products for both the sow and their young that help to optimize piglet nutrition and support gut health and development. These include:

• Actigen^®
• NuPro^®
• Allsyme SSF^®
• Bioplex^®
• Sel-Plex^®
• Viligen™

As they start life, baby pigs are extremely vulnerable. Any change in their environment potentially exposes them to a whole new group of pathogens, which can limit their performance. Furthermore, as they mature over the weaning period, they are typically moved into new environments and exposed to other equipment, animals and people. Ensuring that the best gut health is established as early as possible is key to limiting disease, increasing health and welfare and maximizing growth. This is essential for the young piglet and helps to ensure optimal lifetime performance and profitability for producers in a sustainable manner. The use of gut health management programs will also play a pivotal role in helping producers work toward antibiotic- and ZnO-free production.

I'd like to learn more about pig nutrition.

Let's face it: raising profitable pigs is hard work. Optimizing your bottom line while staying competitive is a challenge on its own. But add fluctuating feed costs, new regulations and an unpredictable market to the mix, and the task can feel daunting. In addition, supply chain disruptions have further exacerbated the need for producers to minimize losses, with many hoping just to break even to keep their farms afloat.

Whether we are in challenging or prosperous times, lowering the cost of production is essential because every pig producer is looking for ways to maintain their farm’s profitability and ensure its future for years to come.

Three strategies for reducing your pig cost of production

Feed costs represent the biggest input for producers, often accounting for up to 70% of production costs. Pig producers must adapt their feed strategy to maximize feed efficiency. Here are three ways to reduce production costs without impacting your herd’s performance.

1. Reducing feed costs for pigs

The biggest challenges the livestock industry currently faces are the pressure to reduce feed costs and the continuous effort to gain a better understanding of available feed ingredients. The animal cannot fully utilize around 25% of the available nutrients in feed ingredients due to anti-nutritional factors in feed. Keeping that in mind, producers worldwide are making a concerted effort to lower the cost of production and maximize feed efficiency based on nutritional and economic factors (which often vary) while maintaining animal welfare and using sustainable approaches to meet demands.

Pig producers look to increase feed digestibility to manage the short-term risks associated with reduced market prices.

Increasing feed digestibility helps:

• Make more nutrients available for the pig to absorb.
• Improve performance, allowing producers to send animals to market faster.
• Lower feed costs.

Enzyme technologies, such as Allzyme^® Spectrum Swine, help pigs optimize the nutritional values in feed, allowing for improved dietary efficiency while supporting sustainable swine production. The unique combination of enzymes in Allzyme Spectrum Swine increases cost-efficiency by maximizing the diet’s potential at every growth stage. Developed through solid state fermentation (SSF), Allzyme Spectrum Swine produces a multi-enzyme solution that works in synergy with the complete pig diet, optimizing nutrients — including amino acids, calcium and phosphorus — while enhancing the use of raw materials (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Solid state fermentation (SSF) process

As a result, a complete dual action matrix is produced. This matrix gives nutritionists flexibility in formulating diets and, in turn, the release of more nutrients for the pig, which leads to cost savings for the producer. Figure 2 shows an example of a finishing diet that utilized Alltech’s enzyme technologies to improve digestibility and lower the cost per ton of feed. This example is representative of a typical diet in the eastern corn belt of the United States.

Figure 2: Feed cost savings with Alltech’s enzyme technologies

2. Improving pig efficiency, starting with the sow

In recent years, genetics has played a major role in improving sow efficiency by increasing the number of pigs produced per sow per year. As litter size increases, piglet birth weight decreases and litter variability increases. Low birth weight is a major predisposing factor for pre-weaning mortality (Figure 3), and lower weaning weights often result in slower growth and fatter carcasses.

Figure 3: Effects of piglet birth weight on pre-weaning mortality

(Feldpausch, et al., 2019)

Increasing birth weight can:

• Improve piglet variability.
• Help reduce the number of pigs that require special attention.
• Decrease pre-weaning mortality rates.
• Improve piglet weaning weight.

Everything you want the piglet to receive comes through the sow until weaning, so it is crucial that the sow’s nutrition program is fully implemented as planned and that she can transfer vital trace elements, such as those found in Bioplex^® and Sel-Plex^®  trace minerals, to the piglet.

Some technologies on the market today are being utilized differently now than they have been at any time to improve sow reproductive performance. Alltech’s Mineral Management program has been shown to:

• Increase the number of piglets born alive.
• Increase the birth weight of smaller pigs in the litter without affecting larger pigs (Kalaw et al., 2009).
• Reduce variation within the litter at weaning and slaughter (Ma et al., 2020).

Figure 4: Litter birth weights from sows fed inorganic or organic trace mineral sources

(Bertechini et al., 2012)

Reducing weaning variation allows pig producers to market pigs in a much tighter window and reduce variation heading into slaughter. Reducing variation at slaughter can also reduce sort losses at the processing facility and lead to increased revenue per pig (Cheng, Claudy, Que and Schinckel, 2019).

Bioplex minerals have also demonstrated that there is less degradation of vitamins as well as enzymes. A reduction in enzyme effectiveness or vitamin activity can lead to an increase in cost or a less favorable production response. Research has shown that several enzymes are heavily reduced in the presence of inorganic minerals and less damaged when exposed to their organic counterparts in the form of Bioplex (Santos, Connolly and Murphy, 2014).

3. Improving water consumption

Does the water your pigs drink impact their performance and productivity, thereby reducing production costs? A pig’s water consumption is just as important as their feed intake because pigs that do not drink enough water will not consume enough feed. Pigs tend to drink around 10% of their body weight per day or roughly two times the amount of feed they eat.

Keeping the pH in a lower range for a longer period reduces the conditions that allow harmful bacteria to grow and flourish. Adding acidifiers, such as Acid-Pak 4-Way^®, to drinking water is an effective approach to acidification, especially when intake is low or variable, because it:

• Reduces water pH and keeps it in a more favorable range (<5 pH).
• Sweetens the taste of water, helping make young pigs more inclined to drink water.
• Improves water intake, which, in turn, improves the pig's ability to digest feed.
• Leads to better enzymatic activity.

Acid-Pak 4-Way is typically used following weaning or during stressful times in the pig's life.

The cost of pig production

While numerous variables can affect production costs, understanding the factors that affect feed quality and implementing a quality-assurance program will help ensure that the best possible nutrition is delivered to your pigs and help pig producers save more money in the long run. Use our pig profit calculator at Alltech.com/every-cent-matters to see how much you can save with Alltech nutritional technologies.

References:

Bertechini, A. G., Fassani, E. J., Brito, J. Á. G. D., & Barrios, P. R. (2012). Effects of dietary mineral Bioplex in pregnant and lactating sow diets on piglet performance and physiological characteristics. Revista Brasileira De Zootecnia, 41(3), 624–629. doi: 10.1590/s1516-35982012000300022

Cheng, J., Claudy, J., Que, Y., & Schinckel, A. P. (2019). PSII-21 Evaluation of the impact of the magnitude of errors in the sorting of pigs and market price for market on the optimal market weight. Journal of Animal Science, 97(Supplement_2), 231–232. doi: 10.1093/jas/skz122.407

Feldpausch, J. A., Jourquin, J., Bergstrom, J. R., Bargen, J. L., Bokenkroger, C. D., Davis, D. L., … Ritter, M. J. (2019). Birth weight threshold for identifying piglets at risk for preweaning mortality. Translational Animal Science, 3(2), 633–640. doi: 10.1093/tas/txz076

Johnson, R. J., & Campbell, R. G. (1991). Rhone-Poulenc Animal Nutrition and Bunge Meat Industries, Australia. In: Manipulating Pig Production III. Proceedings of the Third Biennial Conference of the Australasian Pig Science Association (pp. 138–138).

Kalaw, P.R., Yatco, J.T., Yatco, G.B., et al., The incidence of small piglets at birth and at weaning can be reduced by Bioplex Sow Pak (poster).  Alltech’s 25th Symposium.  

Ma, L., He, J., Lu, X., Qiu, J., Hou, C., Liu, B., … Yu, D. (2020). Effects of low-dose organic trace minerals on performance, mineral status, and fecal mineral excretion of sows. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences, 33(1), 132–138. doi: 10.5713/ajas.18.0861

Santos, T., Connolly, C., & Murphy, R. (2014). Trace Element Inhibition of Phytase Activity. Biological Trace Element Research, 163(1-2), 255–265. doi: 10.1007/s12011-014-0161-y

I want to learn more about nutrition for my pig herd.

Over the next few years, food production must almost double to meet the needs of the world population and the global demand for protein. This has put pressure on the livestock sector to maximize output while reducing the usage of resources, making animal feed the largest and most important component in the industry to provide healthy and sustainable animal protein.

One of the biggest challenges for the feed industry and animal nutrition is the rising cost of feed, which can account for up to 70% of total production expenses. Furthermore, around 25% of the available nutrients cannot be fully utilized by the animal due to anti-nutritional factors in the feed, which could be costly for the global livestock industry.

Today, the greatest challenge for the nutritionist in the feed industry is reducing this indigestible fraction and maximizing feed efficiency based on nutritional and economic factors, which often vary and may be unique to each production system.

Improving animal and feed performance with feed innovation

Scientific innovation is critical for the future of animal nutrition and protein production. Some key areas of focus for the global animal feed industry to improve animal and feed efficiency are:

• Improving animal performance characteristics (e.g., feed-to-weight-gain ratios, smart feed for more nutritious animal products)
• Minimizing costs (e.g., less expensive base ingredients, more efficient utilization of grain for feed)
• Maximizing feed production efficiencies in a sustainable way (e.g., processes and practices)

While traditional feedstuffs continue to be used at high rates, new and novel feedstuffs are now routinely implemented in animal feed formulation. A range of innovative applications are being used to optimize and assess the continued development of efficient and sustainable advances. Advanced technologies, such as nutrigenomics, reveal the relationship between feed nutrients and gene expression. Nutrigenomics allows the industry to identify feeds that can help animals reach their genetic potential by directly impacting the genes responsible for growth rate, meat quality and disease prevention.

Another technology that will allow for the prompt characterization of the nutritional value of raw feed materials is in vitro digestion modeling. These models, which can be used for both poultry and swine, provide real-time decision-making options to maximize feed usage while also improving animal production.

A third area of feed innovation involves providing supplemental feed that contains exogenous enzymes, also known as feed enzymes, which aid digestion by promoting the release of nutrients that are typically unavailable to the animal, improving animal performance in a sustainable way.  

The role of enzymes in the feed industry

Enzymes, which are essential for life, serve a wide range of functions and are especially important to the feed industry, thanks to their ability to break down nutrients. Enzymes are naturally occurring catalysts that speed up the rate of most chemical reactions that take place within cells.

Enzymes play a key role in the animal’s digestive process. Although digestive enzymes are produced by the animal itself — or by naturally occurring microbial organisms in the animal’s digestive system — producers have also used exogenous feed enzymes for many years for nutrient utilization and improved performance in animal feed.

Using poultry nutrition as an example, feed substrates and enzymes can generally be thought of in three ways:

1. Naturally produced endogenous poultry enzymes in the digestive tract of the bird for the liberation of nutrients from feed components, such as starches, proteins and lipids
2. Exogenous enzymes not native to the animal’s digestive system that act on recalcitrant substrates, which are not easily digested but which could potentially be utilized as nutrients, such as the glucose in cellulose in poultry diets (e.g., use of cellulase enzyme in poultry nutrition)
3. Exogenous enzymes not produced by the animal’s digestive system that could act on difficult-to-digest substrates, as well as any anti-nutritive effects, due to compounds such as β-glucans, xylans and phytate (e.g., phytase enzyme in poultry feed)

Performance and profitability are often the primary reasons for utilizing feed enzymes, as they are the direct result of the improved digestibility and the increased availability of nutrients like phosphorous, carbohydrates and amino acids and, in turn, an increase in available energy as well. However, feed enzymes also allow for the use of a broader range of feedstuffs, which can allow for flexibility in the formulation of the diet by using non-conventional sources or alternative raw materials. These alternative sources are a direct result of the growing demand for corn, wheat and soybean meal. The increased demand for grains has also increased their value, leading feed producers and nutritionists to look for alternative feedstuffs to reduce costs. Non-conventional dietary sources, however, might not be as readily digestible, as the animal may lack the necessary endogenous digestive enzymes and, as such, will glean less nutrition from the feed. The utilization of exogenous enzymes to make the feed more digestible increases the nutritional value of these non-conventional feed sources for the animal.

Over the past 20 years, enzyme supplementation in the animal feed sector has grown and developed dramatically. The global feed enzyme market is currently estimated to be more than US$1 billion and is expected to grow by another 8% over the next five years. Right now, phytase holds the largest market share; however, the use of proteases and NSP enzymes, such as xylanase, has accelerated to such an extent that they are being included in over 57% of monogastric diets. Enzymes in poultry feed has been the largest segment, followed by the swine and aquaculture industries.

Feed enzymes over the years

Early research studying the role of enzymes in poultry nutrition was already taking place in the 1920s. The R&D evolution continued through the 50s and 60s, when barley diets were commonly fed, and research showed that enzymes improved poultry performance. During the 80s and 90s, a better understanding of NSPs in fiber and their impact on animal performance became a focus of the research, and the use of xylanase also became prevalent. During the late 90s, the use of phytase became standard practice. Currently, in terms of the feed penetration of phytase and carbohydrase enzymes such as xylanase, the feed enzyme sector is a mature market. The benefits of providing exogenous enzymes in the feed include the reduction of anti-nutritional factors in the animal feed, the use of lower-cost feed ingredients and an improvement in feed conversion and animal performance — but in order to get the most out of your animal nutrition, it is important that you choose the right feed enzyme to meet your needs.

A unique process development

The majority of feed enzyme production originates by using both bacterial and fungal microorganisms produced either from the submerged fermentation (SmF) or solid-state fermentation (SSF) processes. 

Naturally occurring microbial strains for the production of enzymes are of great value and continue to be utilized, but the use of recombinant versions accounts for the majority of industrial enzyme production today. 

Solid-state fermentation systems can be tailored to address specific needs based on the substrate and microbial selection. For example, Aspergillus niger produces a cocktail of enzymes that contain multi-enzymes such as phytase, xylanase, cellulase, protease and β-glucanase. These enzymes, both as individual applications or as a concoction of enzymes, have a broad spectrum of industrial applications.

Early assessments characterized SSF as being a simplistic process, less technologically advanced than the SmF process, but that assessment was later shown to be erroneous and based on a poor understanding of SSF process requirements. Recent rigorous studies have shown that, with the proper design, the technical and economic advantages of SSF far outweigh those of SmF. The many economic advantages of SSF over SmF include a lower capital investment, lower energy requirements, a lower environmental impact based on water consumption and waste generation, and lower costs for downstream processing. Additional studies are needed to continue identifying opportunities for agro-industrial residues as substrates and to match the appropriate microbes to cultivation conditions. Tray fermentation has become the proven leader in large-scale SSF applications, and much work has been completed on the control of key parameters to optimize growth at a commercial scale. Innovations in engineering to allow for large-scale SSF processes offer a major opportunity for growth in the commercial enzyme industry.

Maximizing feed efficiency with enzyme technologies

Enzymes are well-known to be an effective solution for optimizing feed efficiency. Enzyme supplementation in animal diets increases nutrient digestion by breaking down anti-nutritive components, such as phytate and NSPs, into forms that are more readily absorbed by the animal, reducing the environmental impact as well, while saving on costs for producers. 

Feed efficiency starts with an accurate knowledge of raw materials and their quality, allowing for the precise adjustment of the feed formulation. How well an enzyme performs, in many cases, is determined before it even reaches the animal. Feed processing methods — whether milling, grinding or, particularly, pelleting — can have a major impact on enzyme stability. Furthermore, digestive tract conditions, particularly pH changes and substrate availability, can also influence enzyme efficiency.

Enzyme characteristics can vary widely depending on the source. Solid-state fermentation has the potential to offer competitive advantages based on cost and efficacy.

Click here for more information about the Alltech Enzyme Management Program.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Salmonella is the cause of an estimated 1 million food-borne illnesses in the United States every year, including 19,000 hospitalizations and more than 300 deaths. The most common symptoms of a Salmonella infection are diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. Serious Salmonella infections are more likely to manifest in those who are under 5 years old or are over 65 years old, or in those with weakened immune systems (e.g., diabetics or cancer patients). Although illness from Salmonella is often the result of improper food preparation or several other factors, poultry producers and backyard flock owners can help reduce consumer risk through good management practices.

Potential sources of bacterial contamination include: 

• Wild birds/pests (e.g., beetles, flies or rodents) 
• Water 
• Visitors 
• Hygiene 

In poultry production, there are eight key areas that must be given attention in order to reduce bad bacterial contamination on-farm and aid in the prevention of Salmonella.

1. Clean facilities and dedication to biosecurity:  Residual contamination from previous flocks is a common cause of Salmonella in birds. Cleaning areas that birds often touch (e.g., drinking and feed containers) or frequent (e.g., the coop) before the birds arrive and after they leave can help reduce the prevalence of Salmonella. Effective biosecurity and pest control are also key to avoiding contamination in the coop. 

2. Feed:  Contaminated grains and feed ingredients can increase the risk of Salmonella in the final feed. Use heat-pelleted feed, and source feed from mills that maintain stringent quality standards. 

3. Water management:  Water management is a crucial part of any Salmonella control program for poultry, since water can serve as a medium for the organism to spread from bird to bird. Chlorination, as well as the use of organic acids in drinking water, can help to reduce Salmonella levels in the flock. 

4. Dust:  Like water, dust can also foster the spread of Salmonella. Try to keep dust levels in and around the coop below 3 milligrams per cubic meter. 

5. Litter and manure management:  Poultry litter and manure with high moisture and pH levels allow Salmonella to thrive. Managing the moisture and pH of the litter and manure can be effective ways to prevent it from spreading. 

6. Managing gut flora: Establishing and maintaining proper gut flora soon after hatching is critical for mitigating Salmonella contamination. Programs that include the use of probiotics, organic acids, enzymes and yeast technologies have proven effective at maintaining optimal gut health. Several Alltech products that can support gut health — including Sel-Plex^®, Bioplex^®, Allzyme^® ;SSF, Bio-Mos^®, Yea-Sacc^® and Integral^® A+ — are incorporated into all Hubbard Premium Quality poultry feeds.

7. Coccidiosis: Intestinal challenges caused by poor gastrointestinal integrity can have a major impact on Salmonella levels in broilers. As such, strong coccidiosis management should be part of every Salmonella control program. 

8. Vaccination: Especially at the breeder level, the use of vaccines has the potential to reduce the prevalence of Salmonella among day-old chicks. You should only purchase chicks from a reputable source. While vaccines can be applied to backyard poultry, a poultry veterinarian should be consulted to design a suitable program for your birds. 

Cleaning and personal hygiene for your safety 

People can get sick from eating Salmonella-infected meat or eggs or by touching infected poultry or housing. Birds can carry Salmonella but show no symptoms or signs of illness. Fortunately, however, there are several factors that can boost protection: 

• Always wash your hands with soap and water (or use hand sanitizer) immediately after touching birds, their housing, eggs or meat. Require visitors to do the same. 
• Do not allow backyard poultry inside your home, especially where food or drink is prepared, served or stored. 
• Wear a specific pair of shoes when taking care of or visiting birds that you do not wear elsewhere. Leave this footwear outside and request that visitors to do the same. Rubber boots are a popular option. 
• Do not eat or drink where poultry live or roam. 
• Do not kiss or snuggle backyard poultry and then touch your face or mouth. 
• When cleaning the equipment or materials you use to raise or care for your birds, do so outdoors, not inside.
• Any individuals with potentially weakened immune systems should not touch the birds.
• Source young birds from government-inspected hatcheries or reputable sources that have a bird health plan.
• Maintain a clean coop and collect eggs often. 
• Clean dirty eggs with fine sandpaper, a brush or cloth — but DO NOT wash eggs with cold water, as this can pull Salmonella into the egg.
• Refrigerate eggs after collecting them and cook them thoroughly before serving.

To expand on the CDC statements regarding Salmonella in backyard flocks, many of these precautions should also be applied when going to a feed or retail store that offers baby chickens, turkeys and/or ducks for purchase. Many stores are now enclosing the birds in an effort to discourage handling, but it is still a good idea to wash and/or sanitize your hands prior to leaving the store.

Additionally, take extra precautions when cooking or handling raw chicken. Try to limit the exposure of raw chicken to temperatures above 40 degrees Fahrenheit (e.g., leaving raw chicken out on the kitchen counter). Always cook poultry thoroughly — use a meat thermometer to ensure that the proper temperature is met — and disinfect surfaces where meat was stored or prepared. The safe internal temperature for cooked chicken is 165° Fahrenheit (75° Celsius).
 

For more information, please refer to the following articles from the CDC:  

https://www.cdc.gov/features/salmonellapoultry/index.html 

https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/backyardpoultry-05-19/index.html  

I want to learn more about poultry nutrition for my flock.

The following is an edited transcript of Tom Martin's interview with Dr. Kyle McKinney. Click below to hear the full interview. 

Tom:              The food industry has a four-quadrillion-dollar problem. You heard that right. This number represents the losses due to unused or misused nutrients in animals. With hundreds of thousands of acres being dedicated to farmland each year, agriculture is an important force that is continually shaping our world. But could a new enzyme begin to unlock this four-quadrillion-dollar opportunity? Is this the real key to creating a Planet of Plenty™?

                       As the global director of Alltech's Alternative Raw Materials and Feed Efficiency platform, Dr. Kyle McKinney is focused on feed efficiency. He earned a Ph.D. in agricultural biotechnology, focusing on the development of microbial fermentation systems to produce complex enzymes that improve feed and nutrition. Dr. McKinney joins us to talk about new opportunities for food and our future. Thanks for joining us, Kyle.

Kyle:              Thank you very much.

Tom:             Before we talk about the future, where are we today? Where is the state-of-the-art in feed efficiency right now?

Kyle:              When we talk about this opportunity, we consider the future of food and feeding the population. This whole concept and idea comes from the fact that, over the next 20 to 30 years, we're going to add two to three billion more people to the population. People say, during that timeframe over the next 30 years, we will have to produce more food in 30 years than we produced in the history of mankind.

                       When we read about the future of food, we see the positives and we see the challenges, the opportunities and some downright scary aspects, such as not having enough calories — not having enough food. So, we look at this as an opportunity — an opportunity to utilize technology, specifically an enzyme, to help the animal digest more available nutrients from our fields. I don't look at the doom and gloom. I believe that we will have plenty of food, and I believe that, when we look at our feedstuffs and you look at how much we lose in terms of nutrients and calories now when we're feeding our animals, it's an enormous opportunity — a four-quadrillion-dollar opportunity.

Tom:             We're tossing around some enormous numbers here. I mentioned that number: quadrillion. For perspective's sake, that's 1,000-trillion dollars. If you place one quadrillion British pound coins on top of each other, they reach beyond our solar system. That's how much we're talking about. We're talking about four quadrillion dollars in losses due to unused or misused feed in animals. So, the scope and the proportion of this is beyond imagination. When we hear about unused or misused feed, what does that mean, and how does this happen?

Kyle:               If you put some context behind that number, we produce about 3 billion tons of grains per year. Much of that goes into feedstuffs to feed our animals. The problem is that we lose about 25 percent, on average, of the available nutrients because of fibrous components in the feeds. I use the terminology of a bird nest that traps nutrients and the animal can't digest.

                        So, when we look at and consider 3 billion tons of feed, of grain, and we consider the 25-percent losses, and you look at the calorie levels of all those grains, that's really where we get to in terms of this four quadrillion, which is an enormous number to even consider.

Tom:              It is, it is. We hear that there's a new enzyme that could transform this problem into something of an opportunity. What is the new enzyme and how was it identified?

Kyle:               Our focus has always been on getting the most out of our diets. To do that, you have to consider that there are lots of components in a diet that trap nutrients — lots of variations of fiber, if we want to go that simple. To break all those fibrous components down, we believe it takes many enzymes.

                        We focused on a technology called solid state fermentation. Solid state fermentation is an ancient technology. What we are able to do is utilize a non-GMO organism, a fungus. We grow that fungus on a high-fiber feedstuff, and it produces a whole host of natural enzymes that are designed to break down grains and feedstuffs because we start with that.

                        So, our approach is utilizing solid state fermentation to produce an enzyme complex, many enzymes, to work on the many fiber substrates that we have in a diet. We don't focus on just one or two. We're focusing on a dozen or more of these substrates that are trapping nutrients. We can break those down. We see the most benefit in terms of nutrient availability for the animal.

Tom:              And is this technology being applied?

Kyle:               This technology is being applied. We've been pioneers in this solid state fermentation system. We have a facility in Serdan, Mexico, that produces for Alltech globally. We do research in terms of looking at how we can improve that system. We do research looking at new microorganisms that may give us even better enzyme complexes to focus on and get more and more out of the diet. That's the challenge the industry has, and that's the challenge we pose for ourselves: how do we continue improving the efficiency of those diets? Which means, as we feed more animals to feed the growing public, we've got more grain sources, because we're getting more efficient. That's one way we're approaching this Planet of Plenty^TM concept, using this solid state fermentation enzyme technology.

Tom:              And in this application, you're actually seeing those results.

Kyle:               Absolutely. We see it with our enzyme system. For example, we can improve the digestibility of this grain feedstuff 7 to 8 percent. So, if you take 7 to 8 percent of the amount of calories that we're losing in all of our grains in feedstuff, it's an enormous number. It's going to allow us to feed more animals in the future.

Tom:              I know that you spent some time working for Alltech in Costa Rica on a project focused on using the Alltech Crop Science portfolio to control disease and reduce chemical applications. It also allows your team to set up a fermentation lab to evaluate more sustainable microbial solutions for disease control. How has the knowledge gained from that work informed what you're doing now?

Kyle:               The tie between those two projects is simply our expertise in fermentation, in microbial fermentation. We learned a lot about producing microorganisms in our systems in Costa Rica that we were able to take to our facilities in Kentucky and our facilities in Mexico and others and be more efficient in how we produce our products. So, the tie there was simply the fact that we went to Costa Rica, we set up a fermentation system, we're very successful in utilizing this type of technology to reduce chemical input. What we gained is knowledge of how to become more efficient in our production models that allowed us to move to different locations that we have production locations in globally.

Tom:              Earlier, you referenced population growth in the world. I'm wondering how this new enzyme will factor in supporting a Planet of Plenty.

Kyle:               If you look at the numbers, in 2050, there's an expectation that we will require 70 percent more meat, more food — and that's something around 500 million tons more meat in 2050 than we're producing today. That's something around 1 billion more tons of milk than we're producing today.

                        In the last 60 years, we haven't had additional acres of land growing grains, so we've accomplished amazing feats in agriculture; with less land, we produced more meat. Moving into the next 30 years, who knows how much more additional land we'll free up for grain production to produce more protein? This SSF enzyme technology and enzyme complex is going to be critical for the simple fact that we don't know that we'll have more acres of land. We probably will find it somewhere. But we've got to get more efficient because we do know one thing: we're going to have to produce more meat and protein to feed the population.

Tom:              Kyle, what else are you keeping an eye on in terms of alternative raw materials? In a traditional industry like farming, why is it important to look for new ways of doing things?

Kyle:               The hot topics in alternative materials right now are insect proteins. In Kentucky, it's hemp. [Kentucky is] the number one hemp-producing state in the United States. How is that going to play into how we're feeding animals in the future is a key question, and it's our duty to keep an eye on and understand how some of these alternative materials will play a role as we feed animals. At the moment, we're still very traditional corn and soy. But the new technologies, specifically in terms of insect protein and insect meals, are going to be probably the fastest-growing segment in the next five to ten years.

Tom:              That's fascinating. I've been wondering if Alltech had an interest in hemp because it's so popular in Kentucky (where Alltech is headquartered) and it grows all over the state. Is there actual activity in this area?

Kyle:               Our activity began with Alltech Crop Science looking at some of our technologies for improving efficiency. That is a project that's ongoing. But in terms of animal feed and animal nutrition, our researchers are digging into how hemp will play a role. Right now, it's not going into diets, but we have to keep an eye on this and see how that changes and see how it fits into feeding strategies.

Tom:              Getting back to insects — also fascinating, and there certainly are plenty of them. But are there particular species that are of interest?

Kyle:               The number-one insect used right now is called the black soldier fly. Picking the right insect is all in determining the growth rate of the insect — how much protein is in that fly meal. So, black soldier fly is the number-one insect producer at the moment.

Tom:              What would you say are the trends that you're keeping your eye on right now?

Kyle:               I think the trends that we're looking at in Alltech really revolve around technology and agriculture. How are we getting more efficient in monitoring animals, feeding animals, observing the nutritional needs of the animals, and what new technologies are going to allow us to do that? So, I think we, internally, have some programs where we're looking at innovation for sensors, for example. But it all gets back to us focusing on how we are improving the nutritional component of that animal and improving profits for our farmers and our growers.

Tom:              Dr. Kyle McKinney, Alltech's Alternative Raw Materials and Feed Efficiency platform global director. Thank you so much for joining us.

Kyle:               Thank you.

Dr. Kyle McKinney spoke at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE). Click here to learn about ONE and how you can access innovation on demand. 

Click here for more information about the Alltech Enzyme Management Program.