Humic acid as a feed additive in poultry diets: a review (original) (raw)
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Animals
Humic substances (HS) from different sources have been evaluated to replace or reduce the use of growth promoter antibiotics (GPA) in the feeds of broiler chickens. The objective was to evaluate the growth performance, tibia measurements, nutrient balance, meat quality, and microbiological status of broiler fed with an HS extract (EHS) under ad libitum (ADLIB) or feed restriction (REST). Individually caged broilers (n = 180, 14–35 day of age) were assigned to a factorial arrangement of three dietary treatments: (1) positive control with bacitracin methylene disalicylate (BMD) and salinomycin; (2) negative control without BMD nor salinomycin, and (3) same as negative control with 0.25% EHS, and two feeding regimens 1) ADLIB or REST for 24 h on d 1, 7, and 14. Results were subjected to ANOVA. Positive control and EHS-fed broilers showed higher carcass yield (p < 0.05) and lower oocyst excretion (p < 0.01) compared to negative control birds. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and Clostri...
Effects of Humic Acid on Broiler Chickens 1
2006
In view of the alleged effect of humic acid (HA) on growth plate arthrosis in humans, we sought to find if poultry tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) is caused by HA that can occur as a ground water contaminant. In 2 separate trials, broiler chickens were fed different concentrations of HA added to their diet for 4 and 5 wk. The effects of these treatments were measured by general health indices such as growth, feed conversion ratio, relative organ weights, blood differential count, serum chemistry, TD index, and bone biomechanical strength. Humic acid treatment decreased BW but appeared to improve feed conversion ratio. There was no effect on TD index
Humic Acid Substances in Animal Agriculture
Humic acids (HA), a class of compounds resulting from decomposition of organic matter, particularly plants are natural constituents of drinking water, soil and lignite. It inhibit bacterial and fungal growth, thus decrease levels of mycotoxins in feed. Stress management, immune system, anti-inflamatory activity, antiviral properties as well as prevention of intestinal diseases, mainly diarrhoea in humans and animals are described as its beneficial effect. The use of HA and related products in feed improved gut health for better nutrient utilization as well as improved the health status by working against pathogens by developing immunity. Routine use of HA in feed improved growth of broilers by increasing digestion of protein and trace element utilization but a few researches has been conducted in this area. However, also contradictory findings in piglets are described. Most of the literature found is from companies but scientific articles are rather limited. There are also strong limitations in the knowledge of HA uses as feed additive for growth of other species of animal. It is really difficult to compare the actual effects of HA preparations due to different sources and nature as well as because rearing of animal in different region of the world varies as climatic conditions and aspects. So, bio-effect of HA product depends on specification.
Acta Veterinaria Brno, 2019
Humic substances are currently being considered as a new feed component in replacement of antibiotic growth stimulators to improve growth and health in animals. The aim of our work was to evaluate the effect of the addition of humic substances to the feed at concentrations of 0.8% and 1.0% on the growth parameters, carcass yield, selected blood enzymes, minerals, and the bone quality in broiler chickens. One hundred fifty COBB 500 one-day-old male broiler chicks were randomly divided into one control and two experimental groups (n = 50) with three replications (16, 16 and 17 per pen), and fattened for 35 days. The broilers of the experimental groups (H0.8 and H1.0) were fed commercial feed mixtures with added humic substances (at 8 g·kg-1and 10 g·kg-1). The control group was fed a diet without the addition of humic substances. A slight increase in the final body weight and feed conversion ratio was noted in the experimental groups (P> 0.05). Significantly higher yields of breast ...
Agriculture
Despite the fact that humic substances (HS) have been frequently studied in relation to their effects on livestock health, studies on their influence on egg production and quality, immunity, and intestinal microbiota of laying hens are limited. In this study, the influence of 0.5% HS supplementation on the specific production parameters of eggshell mineral quality, immune parameters (relative expression of IgA, IGF-2, MUC-2 gene in cecum; activity of phagocytes, percentage of selected lymphocyte subpopulations in the peripheral blood), and number of lactic acid bacteria and enterobacteria in the intestinal contents in laying hens was tested. The addition of 0.5% HS to the laying hen feed had a positive effect on egg laying rate, daily egg mass, egg weight, feed conversion and eggshell quality and also had an immunostimulatory effect manifested by increased phagocyte activity and B cell response. Concurrently, an increase in the number of enterobacteria in the intestinal contents and...
American Journal of Biology and Life Sciences 2015; 3(2): 26-30.
This study was designed to investigate whether inclusions of humate into diets of hens during the late laying period increases egg production and improves egg quality. Hy-Line W-98 commercial White Leghorn (n=120), 50wk of age, were fed a control diet, 2.0, 4.0 or 6.0 mg of humic acid per kg live body weight for 65 d. Egg production was measured daily, egg weight and feed intake were measured biweekly. A sample of 30 eggs from each group was collected randomly to determine egg quality every 14d. The results showed that the laying hens that consumed drinking water with humic acid had greater (P ≤ 0.05) egg production, egg weight and egg mass than the control. Similarly, feed conversion improved (P ≤ 0.05) with the administration of humic acid in water. Yolk colour and egg grading from hens consuming humic acid water containing were significantly (P ≤ 0.05) improved than those from the control group. Formic acid had no effect (P ≥ 0.05) on albumin height and Haugh unit. In addition, the geometric means haemagglutination inhibition (HI) titres against Newcastle disease of birds consuming water containing humic acid were higher on all sampling days than those consuming water without acid. This study showed that humic acid at levels of 6.0 mg per kg live body weight positively influences production parameters including reduced mortality and feed conversion efficiency. However, there were no consistent effects on egg quality parameters.