For many years urea has been used as the most common non-protein nitrogen feed source for ruminants, while it is assumed that could be toxic for single-stomach animals like poultry. Therefore, I was surprised by seeing an article studied different levels of urea in laying hens diet to reduce soybean meal content.
No you can t use NPN in simple stomach animals. This is good only for Ruminents
It is worth reading this - http://www.ajas.info/Editor/manuscript/upload/9-34.pdf, and other sources of comment, although this paper is now 20 years old.
Replacement of protein by urea in poultry diets seems an unlikely posibility, although urea is essentially non-toxic to mono-gastric animals. It is toxic to ruminants in excess as their digestive process readily produces ammonia from urea, and ammonia is toxic, but in small amounts is converted by gut bacteria to amino-acids.
The "problem" with poultry digestive tracts is that they do not provide a sufficiently large habitat for bacteria that would have long enough to produce significant amounts of ammonia, and then convert it to amino-acids.
No, because poultry is not ruminant, and gut microbiota has only a very limited capacity to use urea for bacterial protein synthesis, and bacterial protein has practically no importance for poultry. Otherwise urea would be toxic for poultry.
Dear Mr. Mezes!
I agree with others scientific workers and professors, with urea you cant expect such wanted growth rate or eggs production......please check in that "urea paper for hens" if they gave some probiotic bacteria in the feed ratio ????
Best
Vesna
Dr. Dave Jones was quite clear in answer to your question. Nothing to add.
You can not use urea in the diets of chickens. Because the idea of using urea depends on the presence of the microorganisms in the digestive system in animals., Which is working to convert urea nitrogen to protein, and animal use this protein to build their tissues. But, the digestive system of birds where there is no microorganisms which can convert urea to protein. May this microorganisms exist in cecum but in small amount. Otherwise urea would be toxic for poultry.
Dear Vesna Hristova,
probiotic bacteria requires mainly energy source from the diet but in less extend nitrogen because it is available in the gut in adequate amount for them. Therefore I keep my opinion, urea is not useful.
Urea inclusion in poultry diet is not recommended as not much benefit will be derived by the birds, though little quantity may not be dangerous.
Grimson et al,(1971) reported that pigs (monogastric animals like poultry) that received 2% urea as a source of nitrogen (N) consumed less feed, gained less rapidly and required more feed per kg body weight (BW) gained as compared to those fed equivalent diet without urea.
Dr. Mezes
I agree with Dr.Miklos Mezes · poultry is a monogastric, and gut microbiota has only a very limited capacity to use urea for bacterial protein synthesis,
Also, urea would be toxic for poultry
Dear Mr. Mezes!
Yes, I agree with you, but sorry I have made one mistake,I wanted to ask Mr. Maziar to check in that article where found that urea is used for feeding hens, if they are combinate with some starter cultures or prebiotics, because I cant understand this way of poultry feeding......sorry once again, this answer was directed for Mr. MM Asli.....best regards
As you know well, the ruminants have a cycles for converting this, but there isn't any mechanisms like this in poultry!!! even in intestine., then I'm sure that not only you wont have a good and reasonable FCR but also you will have poisoned laying hens!!
poor hens,
any way thank you for making discussion with the best distinguished prof(S) and Dr(s).
Urea normally is toxic to monogastric animals including poultry. As poultry has limited micro flora which can't convert ammonia (urea) in bacterial protein as do the ruminant microorganisms.
However, Mr. Mozair Movit-Asli, I would appreciate, if you could please reproduce here the study about feeding urea to laying hens. In this way we could see that why, how and in what conditions urea was used in poultry feed.
Thank you and regards.
as Dr.Shivazad always said to all student just ammonium citrate.
ruminants can use urea in their rumen, but poultry have not enough microorganism in cecca and Large intestine was too small. For pigs, caecum microorganism could use NH3 which come from urea by digestible tract or by blood caecum transfer.
I'd like to appreciate all for their comments and specially Dr Dove Jones for the paper he linked.
I guess the philosophy of using urea in hens diet is providing a N source for de novo synthesis of dispensable amino acids which is independent to intestinal microflora in poultry because liver is responsible for transamination and amino acids metabolism.
In general, Ure is a product of animal digestive, thus it plays no role for body consumption and animal may have a low growth when fed the diet containing ure. So We need more time to nursing them and it leads to low economical effective. that is really bad
In addition to some of the previous comments, urea supplementation in poultry diets may offer some potential as NPN considering the physiological functioning involved in the refluxes occuring in the colonic-caecal area of the birds. Urea can be utilized by the microbial activity in the caeca to form microbial biomass. By virtue of the colonic antiperistalsis (with frequency of about 10-20 times/minutes) some of the microbial proteins may be pushed back to the terminal ileum where they can be hydrolyzed and absorbed for protein supply. In this regard, urea as a source of NPN may be particularly important in birds fed diet deficient in certain non-essential amino acids.
It should be noted that more often than not, the digestive contribution of the reflux capability of poultry have been under-estimated and there is immense need to explore this area of research. Probably, in years to come, we may have to re-define our views and recognitions of the potentials in the digestive functioning of poultry!
hai,
I do agree Poultry bird cannot use Urea, as others mentioned it is toxic.
There is no way (so far as literature on this topic is concerned ) that urea could be used directly as feed for poultry because of the absence of the complex stomach in poultry as opined by earlier contributers. Unless there is evidence to the contrary which you would want to share with us, it is not advisable.
As you know there are microorganisms in the digestive tract of ruminants, it is necessary to use NPN.So it is impossible to use nitrogen in meat and laying poultry.
Even if we accept a narrow fermentation process in laying hens ,the fermentation site is out of absorbtion site.
It is not advisable to feed NPN to poultry(monogastrics) due to reasons advanced by some of the researchers in this discussion. Like it's been said, microrganisms that would breakdown and utilise the ammonia are not readily availablein poultry as is the case with ruminants...ammonia is highly toxic upon accumulation, highly absorbed into the blood stream and hence toxicity.
I love the academic argument of Saheed Salami of Wageningen. However, as brilliant as it is, we all must know that the capacity & capability of poultry caecum vis-avis the microbial content & species puts a lot of constraints on the system for effective use of urea as it is now. Its economic viability for now is called to question. While scientists continue to explore, I support the laboratory investigations that perhaps will open a vista of hope. For instance, one cannot foreclose possibility of future research breakthrough in breeding that may increase the size & species of microbes that will begin to substantially utilize urea. Therefore using graded levels of urea is of course the way to start even though it may not make any reasonable impact now.
Dear all: It's waste of time to spend our resources on exploring the possibility of using urea as a source of NPN in poultry diet.
Thanks, Dr. Festus. I'm sure my previous scientific argument and insights into this future area of research sounds weird to some scientists here and that must have accounted for the number of downvotes received. At Wageningen, we believe that research should be progressive and certainly, there's no limit to the possibilities in science. Perhaps, that's why we continue in our giant steps in taking the lead in agricultural research in the world. Surprising to note here, it's presently considered by most animal science researchers in WUR, as a serious academic mistake to refer to poultry as monogastric species. In the coming years, I'm certain that WUR Professors will get to the public (world) with substantial scientific views on why poultry should be regarded as polygastrics. Till then, thinking progressively is the key to achieve solutions for sustainable animal nutrition.
As you know, Animals with complex stomach like sheep and cow can use urea as a source of nitrogen, but mono-gastric animals can not.
I support Dairo and Saheed on the issue. Any research that can reduce the use of conventional protein source for poultry production should be welcomed and encouraged.
Saheed, it is not just poultry alone that is in this class, all the presently classified monogastrates fall into this category. Of what importance is the caecum and its contents? I equally believe things may change particularly the nomenclature & perhaps improved functions of some organs.
Traditionally, use of urea (even trials with avis faeces - because of high NPN content) were made in polygastrics especially in cattle (steers). Use of clean (fastly soluble), non obduced urea (or processed in any way) is even dangerous in dairy cow. Bulls (steers) seems to be more robust (and usually sustain shorter). I could believe that there is scientific will to replace horibly expensive pland protein in monogastric (avis), but personally thing, that it must be processed in some way, to provide available nitrogen in GI tract of birds.
NPN is of little significance in monogastric animals as they lack microorganisms like ruminants to convert low quality protein in to high quality
Firstly poultry are erroneously classified as monogastrics, they are polygastrics due to the compartmentalisation of their GIT (crop, proventriculus, gizzard and stomach). On the issue on whether they can utilise NPN to some extent they can, here is why. Firstly the microbial population of the GIT is able to synthesise amino acids de novo from non specific nitrogen sources. However, most of this de novo synthesis occurs in caeca in poultry (using uric acid). One might think that these amino acids will be of no use to the bird since the absorptive powers of the hindgut are limited but in poultry there is the retrograde flow of digesta from the hindgut in an orad direction. This presents an opportunity for the amino acids synthesised in the caeca to be absorbed in the ileum.
No because poultry doesnt have a sufficient micriflora to digest urea and the GT is not ready to use urea
Poultry belong to the animals with simple stomach, meaning that they donot have the ability to ferment and synthesize their protein from microbes in the GIT like ruminants. The polygastric animals have the rumen which contains a lot of microbes able to synthesize ammonia fron non-protein nitrogen like urea. This ammonia is in turn utilize by these microbes for protein syntesis. Ironically one of the non-protein nitrogen NPN) used by ruminants is usually obtained from poultry; uric acid found in the litter of chickens. In developing countries these poultry droppings serve as cheap source of NPN for inclusion in ruminant diets.
The answer is no if not properly urea is dangerous even for ruminants. More work needs to be done.
That's an interesting issue. I wish you posted the reference to the article. What I'm aware of is a few studies wherein urea as an alkali has been used to detoxify potential alternatives of soybean meal such as brewers dried grain and neem ( Azadirachta indica , A. juss ) kernel cake prior to their inclusion in diets. Nagalakshmi et al. (1999) showed that their is still an optimal level of urea that can be used this way without affecting performance and general health of the birds.
References:
Isikwenu, Jonathan Ogagoghene, et al. "Effect of replacing groundnut cake with urea fermented brewer’s dried grains in broiler chicks diets." Animal research international 5.1 (2008): 795-800.
Nagalakshmi, D. "Performance of broiler chicks fed on diets containing urea ammoniated neem (Azadirachta indica) kernel cake." British poultry science 40.1 (1999): 77-83.
Birds lack of urease bacteria in their stomach, the urea consumption or other non-protein Nitrogen are suffering from severe alkalosis.
Poultry are different than ruminant. Ruminant (in fact microorganism exist in their rumen) are able to produce microbial protein from nitrogen but poultry can not do that. and poultry need to amino acids for a normal growth. while there is no mechanism in their body to be able to produce amino acid from nitrogen or urea.
In European Union it is forbbiden. You can only use urea in ruminants with a functional rumen.
I have no scientific evidence or information. The information available so far suggests not.
poultry consider as mono-gastric animal have no functional rumen so it cant utilize urea as NPN. urea contained ration is toxic for poultry
poultry consider as mono-gastric animal have no functional rumen so it cant utilize urea as NPN. urea contained ration is toxic for poultry
urea in cuttle:
- Source of nonprotein nitrogen (NPN)
- Containing 45% nitrogen equivalent to 28.2% of CP
- Urea is converted to ammonia in the rumen. With an energy source for microbial protein production of ammonia by rumen microbes used
Yes, I agree that urea is mostly used to feed ruminants. But I used a research plan for broiler chicks. Desirable results were obtained.
I would like to have the document in which these results are sustained.
Although urea is not recommended in poultry feed, sometimes we can detect urea in the feed. How much urea could be tolerable in poultry feed?
As urea is a source of NPN, it is useful in ruminant diets, however in scarce dietary situations it may be useful for poultry as well. For example if the broiler diet contains sufficient essential amino acids but marginal or deficient in non essential amino acids, urea might be useful.
Urea is true but urea is used in specific proportions in ruminant or chicken diets
Laying hens due to different physological conrdition, cyrcaedian rhythm, and feeding method have different amino acid metabolism than broilers. In addition to simplest amino acid, glutamin needs for albumen and yolk (continues processes) also is needed. Urea inclusion in low levels, about 1- 3 kg/ton feed, can be used in low protein diet of laying hens. But this recommendation and hope to observe non deleterious effects depended to very factors such as:
Low microorganisms that produce exogenous urease
Supply other non-essential amino acids: glycine, hydroxy proline, and etc.
I don't think urea can be used for monogastric animals due to the lack of micro organisms in their stomach which secrete enzymes like grease which are badly needed for utilization of urea.such enzymes are mainly produced by rumen microbes found in the forestomach of ruminant animals.
In my point of view I don’t think that urea can be used as mono gastric animals because of the absence of microorganisms in the digestive tract, it is necessary to use NPN. So it is impossible to use nitrogen in meat and laying poultry
In my point of view I don’t think that urea can be used as mono gastric animals because of the absence of microorganisms in the digestive tract, it is necessary to use NPN. So it is impossible to use nitrogen in meat and laying poultry
NPN substance are not useful in GI tract of poultry. But, sometime there might be some adulteration by adding urea as NPN substance to show the increased amount of CP. But, I have some fermentation study adding small amount of urea as a source of nitrogen of the microorganism.
If it has to be a small quantity, does anyone know the maximum inclusion rate before affecting performance ?
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