Generally, up until the early to mid-1940’s trace minerals delivered to livestock were fed as inorganic oxides. From the mid 1940’s inorganic mineral sulphates were a more typical source, and these have been a main stay until today. Research carried out from over this time identified that mineral sulphates in the presence of moisture, due to ionic bonding, can break down to the positively charged metal ion that is highly oxidative, becomes prone to antagonism and can be quite antimicrobial, especially copper, killing not only potentially pathogenic bacteria but also the important “good” bacteria also. More recently it has also been shown that inclusion of sulphate trace minerals can also negatively affect the stability of various anti-oxidant vitamins in premixes and feed.
This research and looking to improve bioavailability led to a new form of trace mineral, chelated or erroneously named “organic” trace minerals, being developed and released to market in the 1970’s. The bonding between the metal and ligand (amino acid/protein) in these new trace minerals is a special type of covalent bond that is much stronger than an ionic bond and is much less likely to break in the of presence of moisture. Thus, when in animal the trace mineral that is typically absorbed at the small intestine is “protected” in the upper digestive tract through the stomach to small intestine reducing possible oxidation, antagonism and antimicrobial effects in the upper digestive tract.
Inclusion of chelated trace minerals has been shown to help improve performance of the livestock it is being fed to, however, due to normally a lower percent metal content, Table 1, in the chelate compared to the mineral sulphate increases cost.
The latest trace mineral technology IntelliBond Hydroxy Trace Minerals, released in the mid-1990’s, also have special covalent bonding between metal and ligands providing similar bioavailability when compared to chelated sources and much improved bioavailability compared to sulphates. IntelliBond Hydroxy Trace Minerals also provide the same “protection” to the metal through the upper digestive tract delivering the trace mineral to the small intestine for absorption. However, as the ligands the mineral is attached to are small compared to the large amino acid or protein of chelated sources, IntelliBond Hydroxy Trace Minerals contain a much higher amount of trace mineral per kilogram of trace mineral effectively reducing cost for the inclusion in feed.
Recent Australian research has reconfirmed the advantage of supplementing with IntelliBond Hydroxy Trace Minerals for poultry. This research asked two questions 1. Does the level and source of Copper supplementation positively influence broiler performance, carcass value and gut integrity? And 2. What are the effects of supplementing increasing levels of zinc from IntelliBond Z while maintaining low copper levels compared to other zinc sources in broiler chickens?
- Does the level and source of copper supplementation positively influence broiler performance, carcass value and gut integrity?
The study was conducted with 990 Ross 308 male broilers. A three-phase, corn-wheat-soya based diet was fed with AGP-free diets supplemented with a xylanase and phytase (500FTU). Birds were assigned to one of five treatments (Treatment table), with 11 replications and 18 birds per pen. All birds received a coccidia vaccination.
Broilers supplemented with IntelliBond trace minerals had a significantly better feed conversion ratio (FCR; 1.39) than those supplemented with inorganic trace minerals during all phases of growth (1.42; Figure 1). It was also observed that increasing the level of Copper to 100 ppm (from IntelliBond) further improved FCR (1.40; p < 0.001). Graded levels of Copper (T5) gave the best feed conversion of all treatments (1.39).
Figure 1: The effect of different trace mineral treatments on feed conversion ratio of broilers corrected to the mean body weight of the sulphate group. Columns with different superscripts (a, b, c, d) differ significantly (P < 0.001)
Figure 2: The effect of different trace mineral treatments on body weight of broilers. Columns with different superscripts (a, b) differ significantly (P < 0.001)
IntelliBond supplementation also significantly increased body weight gain (BW; Figure 2; p < 0.001), especially during the starter and grower periods. This study also showed Tibia breaking strength was significantly improved with IntelliBond C and Z supplementation versus the use of inorganic sources (Table 3).
The supplementation of IBC and IBZ instead of inorganic trace minerals significantly increased breast meat yield (Table 2), and reduced fat pad percentage in the resultant carcass at 35 days of age (Table 2).
The use of copper from IntelliBond at 100 ppm and IntelliBond supplied via the graded program reduced the Enterobacteria content of the caeca, compared to the negative control (T1; Table 2), whilst allowing Bifidobacteria to continue to proliferate. In the presence of IntelliBond trace minerals, significantly lower levels of the FITC-d marker was detected in the blood, indicating that tight junction permeability was significantly lower in the presence of IntelliBond C and Z compared to inorganic trace minerals.
The best FCR as well as the best breast meat yield, resulting in the best return on investment (Table 3) was seen with the graded Copper treatment. It should also be noted that only with the high level Copper treatments there was a significant reduction in caecal Enterobacteria levels, indicating that the Copper from IntelliBond is having an antimicrobial effect within the hindgut. These results support the hypothesis that supplementing hydroxy trace minerals instead of inorganic trace minerals significantly improves the feed efficiency, carcass characteristics, and gut health status of broilers.
- What are the effects of supplementing increasing levels of zinc from IntelliBond Z while maintaining low copper levels compared to other zinc sources in broiler chickens?
This trial utilized 784 Ross 308 male broilers provided with a two-phase diet, based on wheat, soya and rice bran. All diets were AGP-free with xylanase and phytase (500 FTU) added. There were 7 treatments with 7 replications and 16 birds per pen (see treatment table). Measurements were taken for performance, carcass yield, health and laboratory analysis.
Study results clearly showed a positive effect on grow out performance and carcass yield in broiler chickens when IntelliBond Z (IBZ) was fed. Supplementing IBZ at 100 ppm significantly improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared to a combination of 100 ppm zinc sulphate and zinc oxide (p = 0.001). Study results confirmed that 40 ppm zinc from IBZ provided equivalent results when compared to 100 ppm zinc supplied via a ZnSO4 plus ZnO combination for both growth performance (p = 0.001) (Figure 3). Results demonstrated also better carcass yield (p = 0.003).
The impact of IBZ on tibia breaking strength was greater during the later stage of growth and diets with 40 to 100 ppm zinc from IBZ numerically improved breaking strength (p = 0.14) (Figure 4). Overall, the addition of IBZ significantly enhanced growth performance and breast meat yield in broilers. Based on fitted broken line models, the optimum dose of IBZ supplementation for body weight gain is 53.0 ppm (p = 0.001), feed conversion ratio is 73.0 ppm (p = 0.001) and breast meat yield is 86 ppm (p = 0.001).
Figure 3: Overall effect if Zinc titration on performance. Columns with different superscripts (a, b, c, d) differ significantly (P < 0.05)
Figure 4: Tibia Breaking Strength Day 35. Columns with different superscripts (a, b, c, d) differ significantly (P < 0.05)
For a cost-effective source of complexed trace minerals providing similar bioavailability to chelated trace minerals at a cost that is not much more than an inorganic trace mineral the latest trace mineral technology – crystalline hydroxy chloride trace minerals has Australian performed proven research.
More can be found here:
- Shemil P. Macelline , Peter H. Selle , Sonia Y. Liu , Lane Pineda , Yanming Han , Mehdi Toghyani , Inclusion of complexed trace minerals enhance performance of broiler chickens, Journal of Applied Poultry Research (2024), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japr.2024.100465
- Nguyen, T. T. H., Swick, R., Toghyani Khorasgani, M., Roberts, J. R., Morgan, N., & Wu, S. (2020). The effects of different sources and levels of trace minerals on poultry performance and gut health-Dataset.
- Nguyen, H.T.T., Kheravii, S.K., Wu, Sb. et al. Sources and levels of copper affect liver copper profile, intestinal morphology and cecal microbiota population of broiler chickens fed wheat-soybean meal diets. Sci Rep 12, 2249 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06204-9
- H.T.T. Nguyen, N. Morgan, J.R. Roberts, S.-B. Wu, R.A. Swick, M. Toghyani, Zinc hydroxychloride supplementation improves tibia bone development and intestinal health of broiler chickens, Poultry Science, Volume 100, Issue 8, 2021, 101254, ISSN 0032-5791, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2021.101254
- Nguyen, H. T. T., Morgan, N., Roberts, J. R., Swick, R. A., & Toghyani, M. (2020). Copper hydroxychloride is more efficacious than copper sulfate in improving broiler chicken’s growth performance, both at nutritional and growth-promoting levels. Poultry Science, 99, 6964-6973. DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2020.09.053
- Toghyani M, Nguyen TTH, Morgan NK, Wu SB, Swick RA, 2019. Laying performance, egg quality and feed stability in response to replacement of inorganic zinc, copper and manganese with hydroxychloride sources in Hy-line layer hen’s diet. In: 30th Annual Australian Poultry Science Symposium, Sydney, 17- 20, February 2019, The Pou Res Ass, pp 70.
