AB Vista (United Kingdom)

Dietary fiber (DF) in poultry nutrition was once viewed mainly as an anti-nutritional factor that reduced energy density and nutrient digestibility. Current research shows DF can play important functional roles in gut health, nutrient utilization, and overall performance when its type and inclusion level are carefully managed. Fiber fractions differ widely in chemical composition and physical properties such as solubility, water-holding capacity, and water-binding capacity. These factors influence digesta viscosity, passage rate, microbial fermentation, and satiety, making precise fiber characterization critical for effective diet formulation. Traditional methods like crude fiber analysis underestimate total fiber and miss key soluble fractions. Modern approaches, including total dietary fiber analysis and near-infrared spectroscopy allow for better quantification of both insoluble and soluble components and support incorporation into real-time feed formulation. By understanding and targeting specific non-starch polysaccharides or oligosaccharides, nutritionists can promote beneficial fermentation, encourage short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production, and minimize undesirable protein fermentation or pathogen growth. Dietary fiber also supports intestinal barrier function by stimulating gut development, increasing villus height, and fueling epithelial cells through SCFAs. However, poorly balanced fiber can impair nutrient absorption, increase maintenance energy needs, or elevate digesta viscosity, particularly in young birds. Monitoring gut health is now possible by using biomarkers as tools to evaluate intestinal integrity, inflammation, and microbial balance as we investigate the impact of dietary fiber, but further work is needed to standardize these measures and account for flock variability When properly applied, DF can enhance feed efficiency, improve welfare by reducing hunger-driven behaviors, support reproductive performance, and strengthen disease resilience. A data-driven, precision approach combining accurate fiber analysis, enzyme supplementation, microbiome profiling, and non-invasive gut health biomarkers offers the greatest potential to optimize both productivity and sustainability in poultry systems. The purpose of this symposium was to stimulate discussion and enhance understanding of dietary fiber and its potential benefits in improving poultry production. This paper provides an overview of each contributing author's role in the symposium. Dr. Caitlin Evans addressed the challenges associated with current fiber nomenclature and emphasized the need to improve analytical methods and overall understanding of fiber. She brings strong credibility to this topic as a Technical Manager for Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and Feed Milling Engineer at AB Vista, and as a Ph.D. graduate of Kansas State University. Dr. Amy Petry shared her expertise on the impact of fiber in swine nutrition and how these findings can be applied to poultry. She is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Animal Sciences at the University of Missouri, where her research focuses on improving fiber utilization and its effects on energy efficiency and animal health. Dr. Tim Johnson, Professor in the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Minnesota, highlighted the importance of understanding the poultry microbiome and its role in developing strategies to enhance bird performance. Dr. Mike Kogut contributed his expertise as a Research Microbiologist and Lead Scientist with the Food and Feed Safety Research Unit at the Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center. Finally, Dr. Carrie Walk, Head of Research at AB Vista, along with Dr. Tara York, AB Vista's Technical Director for North America, integrated the key themes of the symposium, connecting the presented research and practical applications.

Moderately fermentable dietary fiber (with different crude fiber [CF] levels), especially when combined with stimbiotic (STB) supplementation, can enhance intestinal health, nutrient utilization, and overall performance in laying hens, although effects depend on fiber type, level, and diet composition. To investigate this, 1200 Bovans White laying hens (32 weeks old) were assigned to a 2 × 6 factorial experiment with two levels of supplementation (without or with 0.01% STB) and six dietary fiber treatments: Control (commercial diet), Corn-soybean, 75:25 wheat-corn, 50:50 wheat-corn, 25:75 wheat-corn, and Corn-soybean. The study spanned five 28-day periods, evaluating productive performance, egg quality, and intestinal morphology. Dietary fiber levels significantly improved feed intake (p = 0.0029), egg production (p < 0.0001), egg mass (p < 0.0001), feed conversion (p < 0.0001), and intestinal structure (p ≤ 0.05), while STB alone had limited effects. Hens fed 75:25 and 50:50 wheat-corn diets consumed more feed, and the highest egg production and mass were observed in layers receiving Control, 75:25 wheat-corn, and Corn-soybean diets. Egg quality benefited from the fiber-STB interaction, producing heavier eggs with higher yolk pigmentation (p ≤ 0.05), thicker shells (p ≤ 0.05), and specific gravity (p ≤ 0.05). STB supplementation increased jejunal villus width (p = 0.0001) and absorptive area (p = 0.0063), whereas fiber type affected ileal villus width (p = 0.0025) and absorptive area (p = 0.0156). Fiber-STB interaction influences the duodenum villus width (p = 0.0106), crypt depth (p = 0.0011), villus-to-crypt ratio (p = 0.0058), and absorptive area (p = 0.0086), and ileum villus width (p = 0.0011), crypt depth (p = 0.0058), and absorptive area (p = 0.0086). In conclusion, the use of 0.01% STB in diets with high crude fiber levels (25:75 and 75:25 wheat-corn ratios) improves performance, egg quality, and intestinal health in laying hens.

Quail farming necessitates the provision of balanced diets to promote avian health and performance, with dietary fiber and feed additives exerting significant influence on immune and physiological responses. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of stimbiotic inclusion in diets characterized by varying fiber profiles on hematological and biochemical parameters in European quails (Coturnix coturnix coturnix). A total of six hundred quails, aged from 1 to 35 days, were assigned to 12 distinct treatments, each comprising 5 replicates of 10 birds. The dietary treatments included a corn-soy control, two basal diets featuring corn (low soluble fiber) and wheat (high soluble fiber), and three mixed diets that combined corn and wheat in varying proportions, with each diet supplemented with or without 0.01% stimbiotic. Blood samples were collected at 14 and 35 days of age. In the initial phase (1-14 days), the addition of stimbiotic resulted in increased hemoglobin levels and a reduction in total white blood cells, heterophils, and lymphocytes, indicative of an enhanced immune status. In contrast, dietary fiber was found to influence liver enzyme activity and triglyceride levels. During the growth phase (15-35 days), stimbiotic continued to exert positive effects on hemoglobin and packed cell volume, while dietary fiber increased eosinophil counts, modulating the immune response without affecting other parameters. In conclusion, dietary fiber plays a functional role, particularly during the growth phase, while stimbiotic inclusion enhances immune function in both developmental stages, demonstrating that both strategies contribute positively to the health and performance of European quails.

Abstract Sow diets rich in fermentable fiber may improve farrowing kinetics; however, U.S. fiber sources are largely unfermentable. Stimbiotics may address this gap by driving microbial degradation of insoluble fiber. The experimental objective was to evaluate total dietary fiber and stimbiotic supplementation during the periparturient period and through lactation on litter performance and piglet viability. A total of 860 sows (25% parity 1, 38% parity 2-3, and 37% parity 4+) were assigned to a randomized complete block design with a 2x2 factorial treatment arrangement. Factors included a top dress of corn (CON) or an equal blend of wheat-middlings and soyhulls (FIB) supplemented with (+) or without (-) a stimbiotic (0.15% Signis; AB Vista, Marlborough, UK). Sows received 227g of top dress twice daily (0.454 kg/d) alongside their lactation diet (TDF = 246g, 372g for CON and FIB fed sows, respectively), starting 1 day after entering farrowing stalls until weaning. Litter performance was collected throughout the experimental period. Litter viability was assessed at 24- and 72-hours post-farrowing on a 4-point scale, with 0 indicating no reduced viability and 4 indicating four or more. After farrowing, only sows with piglets cross fostered within treatment group remained enrolled in the study (N=640). Count data were analyzed using a negative binomial generalized linear mixed model fit for overdispersion, and categorical data used odds logistic regression. Diet, stimbiotic, parity, and their interactions were used as fixed effects with total born as a covariate, and farrowing room as a random effect. Number of mummies did not differ among treatments (P&amp;gt;0.1). There was a trend toward a diet by stimbiotic interaction for stillborns (P=0.056); sows fed FIB or CON with stimbiotic supplementation tended to have reduced stillborn rates (1.04, 0.83, 0.75, and 0.84 stillborns per litter for CON-, CON+, FIB-, and FIB+, respectively). Likewise, CON- increased lower viability piglets at 24-h and 72-h post-farrow (Diet x Stimbiotic, P&amp;lt; 0.05). An interaction among diet, stimbiotic, and parity was observed for born alive (P=0.039). FIB supplementation increased born alive, but CON+ improved born alive specifically in parity 1 sows. There was a tendency for a diet by stimbiotic by parity interaction for pigs weaned per litter (P=0.066). Parity 1 sows fed CON+ tended to wean nearly a pig more per litter than CON- (11.1, 12.0, 11.4, and 11.6 pigs per litter for CON-, CON+, FIB-, and FIB+, in parity 1, 11.0, 11.6, 11.4, and 10.9 for parity 2 and 3, and 11.3, 11.3, 11.0, and 11.3 for parity 4+, respectively). Similarly, preweaning mortality tended to be reduced by 18% in parity 1 sows fed CON+ (Diet x Stimbiotic x Parity, P=0.054). Collectively, fiber and stimbiotic supplementation in the periparturient period improved farrowing performance, but effects through lactation were parity dependent.

Despite the acknowledged advancements in the utilization of phytase dosing, limited research has been conducted on commercial laying hens. To assess the effectiveness of doses of exogenous phytase, a total of 320 laying hens aged between 44 and 64 weeks were utilized. These hens were divided into five treatments, which were then distributed using a completely randomized design with eight replicates, each containing eight birds. The treatments consisted of phytase supplementation levels of 0, 500, 1000, 1500, and 3000 FTU/kg. Quadratic regression equations were utilized to determine the maximum and minimum values for the levels of phytase supplementation. A significant difference was observed in the levels of phytase supplementation, where a quadratic model was fitted to various variables including egg weight (g), egg mass (g/bird/day), feed conversion per egg mass (g/g), yolk concentration (%), albumen concentration (%), shell thickness (μm), shell strength (kgf), specific gravity, and yolk color. Further, an increased supplementation improved the digestive tract of the hens, thereby providing a better villus-crypt ratio. Considering the advantageous effects of phytase dosing, it is recommended to supplement corn and soybean meal-based diets with 1500 FTU/kg of bacterial phytase for laying hens during the 44- to 64-week production period.

Abstract Dietary fiber has been shown to promote a healthy gut microbiota, while stimbiotics enhance fermentable substances and boost the expansion of the commensal microbiome, improving host health by alleviating deleterious effects of proinflammatory responses. The intended purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the effectiveness of dietary fiber sources and stimbiotic on the sustainability of F18 enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) challenge. A total of 216 piglets were blocked (n = 8) by weaning body weight (BW) and randomly assigned to 1 of 4 dietary treatments, including corn-SBM based control diet (CC), high fiber diet (HF: 5.0, 3.8. 2.5% sugar beet pulp and 4.0, 3.0 and 2.0% soy hulls for phases 1, 2, and 3, respectively), CC plus 0.01% stimbiotic (CS: Signis, ABVISTA Marlborough, UK), and HF plus 0.01% stimbiotic (FS). Pigs were fed a four-phase feeding regimen: phase 1 (d 0-9), phase 2 (d 9-16), phase 3 (d 16-22), phase 4 (d 22-41). Dietary fiber and stimbiotic were provided from weaning (d 0) to d 22, and then a common diet was fed from d 22 to the end of the trial. On d 5 postweaning, all pigs were orally inoculated with 10 mL of F18 ETEC (108 CFU/mL). One median BW pig from each pen was selected at weaning for fecal sampling. Before the challenge, the same pigs were sampled on d 5 and again on d 8 and d12. Samples were used to quantify the E. Coli using 3M Petrifilm (3M Food Safety, St. Paul, MN) and virulence genes of the isolate were qualified using multiplex PCR. Colony-forming-count was log-transformed. All data normality was verified using Univariate procedure and analyzed using Mixed procedure of SAS (Cary, NC). Pigs fed both CS and HF increased average daily gain (ADG) in phase 2 and phase 1-3 compared with pigs fed CC diets, while adding stimbiotic had no additional benefit to HF (Fiber×Stimbotic P = 0.03 and 0.06, respectively). This response led to heavier BW in pigs fed CS at the end of phase 3 compared with pigs fed CC with HF and FS as intermediate (Fiber×Stimbotic P = 0.06, respectively). Overall, average daily feed intake (ADFI) was greater in pigs fed CS than pigs fed FS while no difference was found between CC and CF (Fiber×Stimbotic P = 0.02). Dietary fiber did not impact gain to feed ratio (G:F); however, G:F was improved in stimbiotic fed pigs in phase 2 (Stimbiotic P = 0.01). Total coliform count was reduced from d 2 to d 7 (day; P &amp;lt; 0.01), but neither fiber nor stimbiotic altered the coliform count. Results of this study demonstrated that both high fiber and stimbiotic help restore ADG when pigs were challenged with ETEC. Additionally, stimbiotic also benefited feed efficiency and resulted in the heaviest BW.