Evaluation of a Product Derived from Porcine Plasma Protein and a Yeast Product with Similar Biological Activity in Diets of Growing Broilers

SIMPLE SUMMARY: A 42-day feeding trial was carried out in a commercial research institution to determine the efficacy of two bioactive protein products, betaGRO(®) (BG) and celluTEIN(®) (CT). The birds were grown under two different environments. One was a low stress environment using clean wood shavings, while the other was a high stress environment where used wood shavings were obtained from a commercial farm that had suffered high mortality to simulate a commercial environment. Growing birds in the high stress environment had a negative impact upon overall bird performance; however, the addition of either BG or CT successfully mitigated these detriments. Improvements in 42-day body weight and feed conversion were observed in chicks grown in both environments in response to the addition of either BG or CT. Birds fed BG and CT were more uniform than birds grown on control diets. Mortality of birds in the high stress environment was significantly reduced by the addition of BG or CT. Addition of BG and CT resulted in improvements in total carcass yield and breast meat yield. This was observed under both environmental conditions, and in a similar magnitude for both products. ABSTRACT: The post-hatch period of a broiler is an integral point in their development and for the programming of musculoskeletal and immune cells. Therefore, the efficacy of two bioactive protein products, betaGRO(®) (BG) and celluTEIN(®) (CT) to impact post-hatch and lifelong development was evaluated. Birds were grown under a low stress environment using clean wood shavings litter and a high stress environment with used litter from a commercial farm that had suffered high mortality. Each additive was fed at 300 g/ton from day 1–14 and 50 g/ton from day 15–42. Growing birds in the high stress environment had a negative impact on performance (p < 0.05); however, addition of either BG or CT successfully mitigated the detriments of the high stress environment (p < 0.05), and in many cases, the performance was equal to or better than the performance of birds on the control diet in the low stress environment. Birds fed BG and CT experienced improvements in 42-day feed conversion, and were more uniform than birds grown consuming the control diet (p < 0.05). Mortality of birds in the high stress environment was reduced by addition of BG or CT (p < 0.05). Addition of BG and CT resulted in improvements in carcass and breast meat yield (p < 0.05). Together, these data suggest that BG and CT can be used interchangeably to improve broiler health and performance.