Causes of poor digestion and absorption of feed in poultry

It seems that the smuggling of feed, or more accurately, the exit of undigested feed with broiler glaucoma, has a variety of causes that are difficult to enumerate, but most likely the blame is placed on the quality of the feed. It is noticed that there are feed grains on the bed with orange mucus and may be blue in colors. Different, in addition to the birds that suffer from smuggling feed suffer from loss of pigmentation, where the color of the birds’ legs becomes white instead of yellow, which is the important indicator of the vitality and safety of the intestines in birds. It is normal as seen a difference in the homogeneity of the herd.

Anatomical lesions are often seen in the glandular and muscular stomachs of infected birds. The lesions are also found in the small intestine. It is important to mention that in countries that use substitutes for maize such as rice such as guana, we do not observe the emergence of such a case.

Extensive research conducted during 1996 on this worldwide problem failed to identify any specific toxin in maize. It was believed, to a large extent, that the disease was caused by an unknown toxin, or that the corn was of low nutritional value. The severity of the disease and clinical symptoms vary depending on the experience of management, the interaction of the condition with other diseases, and the method of shipment of forage crops. According to previous reports, this situation may occur in some farms individually, while in other cases it occurs collectively, and the disease was not previously observed globally.

The managers of broiler farms, through their long experience, often blame the quality of the feed, however, the seriousness of this problem led to consideration of other potentially related matters.

The following is a simplified explanation of the most important factors that may be the cause of this disease. It is worth noting that what we will mention can be added to a lot of causes that can be identified later. Also, this condition can result from one cause or a number of causes that overlap with each other.
Many infectious and nutritional diseases can cause primary lesions in the viscera, for example, bird flu, Newcastle disease, vitamin A deficiency and histomonas are all capable of causing such changes. Newcastle and influenza cause intestinal inflammation characterized by hemorrhages and necrosis, and histomonas are associated with severe lesions in the cecum, while vitamin A deficiency causes lesions in the esophagus and giblets.

It is worth noting that most infectious diseases cause occasional, temporary diarrhea, or glaucoma with excessive moisture. During the early stages of many infectious diseases such as infectious bronchitis, infectious laryngotracheitis, epidemiological tremor, etc., birds suffer from diarrhea and no pathological lesions are observed in the viscera. It is clear that those diseases mentioned above are completely different from the phenomenon of classical fodder smuggling and only diarrhea was considered as part of its clinical symptoms.
Smuggling of feed occurs as a result of defects in the digestion and absorption of nutrients. Although the causes may be multiple, the simple clinical expression in broiler chickens is feed smuggling.

The most important causes of poor digestion of feed ingredients in broiler chickens

1. Heat stress: When birds suffer from heat stress, they increase the consumption of drinking water in an attempt to reduce its temperature, and a lot of this water will be thrown with glaucoma, which leads to the humidity of the livelihood and thus to the moisture of the mattress.
2. Eat salty brewWhen the consumption of salt increases, the birds will consume an additional amount in excess of the normal limit of water to contribute to the excretion of salt, which leads to the expulsion of a greater amount of water with glaucoma and thus the moisture of the litter. The increase in salt may result from the wrong mixing of the feed or as a result of neglecting levels Salt in some components of the ration such as fish flour or the omission of salt levels in the drinking water. Therefore, if the drinking water is not fresh, even if it is lightly, this must be taken into account when installing the ration. During heat waves, measures can be taken to increase the water consumption of birds by increasing the proportion of salt in the feed mixture as a means of controlling heat stress.
3. Coccidiosis (coccidiosis)As the damage to the intestinal lining as a result of clinical or subclinical infection of coccidiosis can cause the passage of undigested food through glaucoma, especially in young birds. The smuggling of fodder is often associated with coccidiosis aserfulina and maxima, so appropriate measures must be taken to control coccidiosis By adding appropriate anti-coccidiosis to the feed.
4. Tapeworms or roundworms: Intestinal endoparasites can apparently irritate the gut, causing undigested feed to pass through the glaucoma.
5. Viral infection: where there are a number of viral infections associated with the smuggling of feed, such as:
   • Reovirus
   • Adenoviruses
   • coronavirus
   • Parvovirus
   • Enteroviruses
   • Toga virus and others.

   For a long time, reoviruses were considered a primary viral cause of feed smuggling or malabsorption syndrome. But now it became clear that this type of virus (Rio) does not play a clear role in the problem of feed smuggling in broiler chickens, but it causes viral arthritis and vaccination is recommended to control it.

6. Bacterial infection: Bacterial enteritis often occurs as a secondary infection due to a viral infection or coccidiosis. But it is better to follow preventive programs to control bacterial problems through the use of growth stimulants such as Lincomycin Premix. In addition to controlling coccidiosis, maintaining the integrity of the immune system, and taking appropriate biosecurity measures. It is worth noting that the alimentary canal serves as a large home for large numbers of beneficial bacteria, which are necessary for their normal functioning, but it is possible that the balance of this flora may be disturbed in light of pathological conditions. There is also a specific bacterial infection that affects the digestive system, causing necrotizing enteritis, which is Clostridium perfringes (C.perfringes). And such germs are naturally present in poultry guts because they are part of the natural flora of them.

   There are many predisposing factors that contribute to the activity of such germs:

   • Damage to the gastrointestinal tract due to exposure to coccidiosis
   • Exposure to high levels of organisms in the poultry house environment
   • Changes in diets, especially pH and viscosity
   • High energy relationships
   • Restricted or restricted feeding programs
   • Excess density within the barn
   • Excessive moisture in the mattress
   • Changes in the physical properties of the forage (such as changing it from granulated to crushed or vice versa) during the growth stage
   • Feeding on some types of animal protein

   It is possible for us to put a simple picture of the case of necrotizing enteritis as follows:
   Exposure to coccidiosis aserfulina damages the epithelium of the gastrointestinal tract, which negatively affects the absorption of nutrients, as it decreases to a minimum. It also leads to an overgrowth of Clostridium perfrings more than the average, and thus the emergence of a case of necrotizing enterocolitis.

   The increasing emergence of such a situation has worried many producers in the poultry sector.

   It has been shown in some areas that the content of microbes in the soil is more than (600,000) spores per gram, under ideal conditions. Therefore, soil sterilization conditions must be followed using 100 g of salt per 1 square meter, where it is mixed and left for 2-3 days, then the mattress is replaced. This procedure significantly reduces the number of germs and we may need to repeat the sterilization process again.

7. Mycotoxins: More than 200 toxins have been identified in feed materials. A common example is ochratoxin (A), which increases the fragility of the intestinal epithelium and reduces its resistance. Also, the aflatoxin toxin causes damage to the liver and obstruction of the bile duct, thus lowering the levels of bile in the lower part of the intestine, resulting in malabsorption of fats. Trichothycin toxin (T2) is associated with lesions in the oral cavity, muscular and glandular stomachs, in addition to the intestines, as this toxin is very caustic and causes chemical burns to the place it touches. The sources of toxins contamination are mainly caused by rotting feed materials or unclean feed warehouses in addition to contaminated transportation media. Therefore, it is important to discourage mold growth in feed materials by purchasing high quality feed materials and storing them under appropriate conditions. Inhibitors can be added to the feed materials to reduce the growth of molds. In any case, feed materials with high levels of toxins must be added to toxin binders and mixed with better types of feed materials in order to reduce the negative effects.
8. Acid tannins: Toxic levels of tannins in diets cause gastric and esophageal ascites, haemorrhages, ulcers, necrosis, and degeneration of the intestinal mucosa with an increase in mucous secretions with thickening of the gall wall, and all this leads to the smuggling of feed. Tannins acid is present in the outer layer of grains, especially some types of sorghum (rye), knowing that its presence in grains at these high levels reduces the consumption of wild birds during harvest periods in the field, but of course it will cause poor palatability and thus rejection by poultry producers when their proportions rise
9. Biogenic Amines: These compounds are present in low levels in animals, plants and organisms, and they become toxic at higher levels. They cause more problems in hot seasons, especially when bacterial growth increases, which affects the level of free amino acids as well as protein, and thus animals are affected. Lesions associated with toxic levels include glandular enlargement of the stomach, erosion of the gizzard, erosion of the intestinal epithelium and consequently reduced weight and feed conversion rate. It also disrupts the immune response. It causes diarrhea and birds lose good pigmentation of the legs, as we have said, weight and poor food conversion.
10. Gizzerozine:This toxin results from excessive treatment of fish flour during manufacturing processes and prevention of such a situation is by providing only good quality feed, so such quality is excluded from fish flour.
11. Rancid fats: It is a common cause of feed smuggling in broiler chickens, especially in extreme heat climates where fats ran very quickly if not stored properly. Pests include glandular gastritis, muscular stomach erosion, and enteritis. Oxidation includes fats included in the composition of feed materials, in addition to soluble fat compounds, as they produce free radicals that suppress the immune response and affect weight and food conversion rates. They also affect pigmentation and lead to the erosion of the muscular stomach.
12. water quality:The body of broiler chickens consists of 60% water, and it is normal for birds to consume sufficient quantities of water in proportion to their needs. However, in many establishments, the water quality is not properly ascertained, so the consumption of poor quality water causes irritation to the alimentary canal and insufficient absorption. For foodstuffs, which leads to the rapid smuggling of feed. In order to reduce the level of bacterial contamination, it is necessary to chlorinate the water. Therefore, a rate of (1-3) parts per million of free chlorine within the levels consumed by birds is considered a good and adequate thing. It is strongly recommended to use the nipples system because it is better than the regular drinkers system as it prevents contamination, but periodic sterilization is required to ensure the continuity of its safety.
13. The quality of the litter: The litter is likely to be the first thing that the bird consumes before feed and water, so it must be of high quality, free of foreign bodies and new. At least, the brooding bed should be taken care of during the first week, as eating the litter during the first week can cause irritation and irritation of the intestinal epithelium of the chicks, which results in poor absorption of nutrients.

Conclusion
Determining a specific cause for fodder smuggling is a difficult matter, as there are a group of factors that combine to lead to the emergence of such a situation. Here, bacterial as well as viral isolation must be carried out in addition to the procedure for detecting toxins, as well as ensuring the presence of parasites in addition to conducting a histological diagnosis. But not all of these procedures are available in even the largest facilities.

But in general, proper management plays the most important role in preventing this phenomenon. Therefore, we must remain vigilant and follow the smallest details within the sheds in order to control, even in a small way, such a phenomenon.