A comparison of formic acid or monoglycerides to formaldehyde on production efficiency, nutrient absorption, and meat yield and quality of Cobb 700 broilers

After being banned by the European Commission in 2018, the use of formaldehyde as a feed amendment in the United States has come into question. Therefore, this study was conducted to explore alternatives to formaldehyde, such as formic acid and monoglycerides, and their effects on poultry production. In total, 1,728 Cobb 700 broilers were randomly assigned to 96-floor pens on day of hatch (18 birds/pen). Using a randomized complete block design (4 blocks), treatments were assigned to pens with blocking based on location within the barn, with the eastern half of the barn designated for digestibility and the western half designated for production (per experiment: 8 control pens and 10 pens per treatment). All diets were based on a negative control (NC), basal diet. Dietary treatments consisted of: NC, NC + 0.25% formalin (F), NC + 0.25 and 0.50% Amasil NA (AML and AMH; 61% formic acid and 20.5% Na-formate), and NC + SILO Health 104L (SILO; mixture of monoglycerides; 0.5% from 0 to 14 d, 0.4% from 14 to 28 d, and 0.2% from 28 to 42 d). Water and feed were provided ad libitum. Performance data were collected during feed changes on d 0, 14, 28, and 42, with digestibility data collected at d 14 (2 per pen) and carcass quality (6 per pen) assessed at d 46 with a randomly selected group of broilers. A one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett's multiple comparison, where treatments were evaluated against F were conducted using JMP 14.0 (P ≤ 0.05). Main effect of treatment was significant for performance, nutrient digestibility, and carcass quality. Differences in body weight and ADG were observed from d 14 to d 28, resulting in a trending improvement in lysine digestibility on d 14 and carcass quality on d 46 of birds fed AML and AMH in comparison to those fed F (P < 0.05). Whereas birds fed SILO had reduced digestibility of methionine on d 14 and a decrease in meat quality on d 46 in comparison to those fed F (P < 0.05). Therefore, Amasil NA at 0.25 or 0.50% may be an effective alternative to formaldehyde as a feed amendment for poultry production.