Feed nutrition in chicken has been a source of worry as researchers work to find and enhance broiler growth performance and meat quality. Heat stress is one reason that causes chicken birds to eat less and lose weight, affecting marketing age. Many alternatives exist for lowering heat stress in chicken, including a quite favorable effect after employing betaine as a feed additive, according to studies.
What is betaine?
According to Poultry World, betaine supplement has special properties that improve meat quality since it regulates the osmotic balance, nutritional metabolism, and antioxidant capacity of broilers and is accessible in chemically pure form as a feed additive. Because betaine is an anti-stress agent, it is important to understand how the chemical form additive improves growth performance, intestinal microbial population, and feed digestibility.
The importance of using betaine to improve broiler meat
Betaine helps boost chicken immunity
The use of betaine in chicken feeds has been found to boost avian immunity and increase performance. Betaine’s capacity to be utilized as a feed additive has already been demonstrated in several studies, and it has therefore begun to play an important part in chicken nutrition.
Improving carcass yield with Betaine
The major goal of every broiler production is to achieve a specified weight within a certain time frame. Most broiler meat production takes a maximum of 56 days to produce a whole dressed broiler carcass weighing 2.5kg to 3.0kg. Studies have shown a rise in breast proportion, decreased belly fat, and a lower incidence of death using betaine as a feed additive. Below is a table showing a significant difference in betaine used as a feed additive.
| Body Weight Gain (g) in 21 days | Body Weight Gain (g) 42 days |
|---|---|
| 545 | 1,954 |
| 676 | 2,128 |
| 710 | 2,186 |
| 725 | 2,228 |
| 738 | 2,258 |
| 659 | 2,069 |
| 708 | 2,161 |
| 732 | 2,273 |
| 740 | 2,324 |
| 737 | 2,244 |
Impact of betaine on meat quality
An analysis of the study’s findings indicates that betaine supplementation was helpful in improving body weight and feed conversion ratio during the early stages of development but not during the final phases. It was also observed that the addition of betaine considerably reduced the amount of abdominal meat and the percentage of breast meat but had no impact on other carcass compositions. Betaine may enhance the digestion of some nutrients.
Anhydrous betaine outperforms hydrochloride betaine in enhancing growth performance and breast muscle yield in broiler chickens, according to the study. Betaine supplementation may also improve broiler meat quality by decreasing lactate concentration to elevate muscle final pH, modifying meat water distribution to reduce drip loss, and increasing muscle antioxidant capacity.
Alternate methods to improve broiler performance
Getting the best performance out of your broiler stock will not solely depend on feed additives, but on overall poultry management, which begins with stocking high quality chicks from trusted sources, providing enough feed and water at all times (Feed Ad-libitum), and ensuring strict biosecurity on the poultry farm before considering growth promoters and boosters to improve performance in broiler production.
Conclusion
For broilers, 1,000 mg/kg anhydrous betaine was proposed, taking into account both growth performance and meat quality. Betaine supplementation reduces stress in broiler chicken production. Betaine improves nutritional digestion and raises broiler chick immunity.
