Feeding poultry with regional and fully organic components, in line with animal needs, is still very difficult to achieve in many parts of Europe. The supply of sulphur-containing amino acids (e.g., methionine) is especially challenging.
Solution
Nettles have traditionally been used as a poultry feed, and have a high protein content. The use of nettles for laying hens was tested in two feeding trials.
Dried nettles were used in proportions of 10% (trial 1) and 5% (trial 2) in the respective rations of the farms, replacing 5% of existing protein source. In trial 1, the milled grass was additionally reduced by 5 % (ration of trial 1, see table 1). The fodder was prepared on the farms with mobile grinding and mixing equipment. The feed (see figure 1) was fed ad libitum to almost 300 laying hens by automatic feeders. The bird genetics used were Sandy (trial 1) and Lohmann Brown (trial 2). The feeding duration was 10 days in trial 1 and 26 days in trial 2. Trial 1 took place in the mobile house (see figure 2), trial 2 in the permanent house.
Description
The aim was to reduce the amount of purchased protein concentrates. Concentrates usually contain oilcakes from all over the world (e.g. soya, sunflower, rapeseed and sesame). The use of nettles also promises a health-promoting effect.
• Subjective evaluation of the feed by farmers and consultants was very positive. The hens also accepted the changed rations very well. The feed intake did not change (120-130 g per hen and day).
• The faeces were very solid and tended to be positively influenced.
• The laying performance of the animals was constant (at almost 80 % of flock in trial 1 and 88 % in trial 2).
• The quality characteristics (egg shell, yolk colour, protein quality) did not change in the tests.
• The nettles were purchased for the trials. The stalk content was very high, so the feed values were worse than expected. In our own cultivation trials, significantly higher methionine levels were found with pure leaf mass. Further trials with higher percentages in the ration would be interesting here.
• The purchase of nettles as medicinal and spice plant (organic) is very costly (approx. 5 €/ kg). Other sources are not available. Nettles are not included in the list of authorised feedstuffs. Therefore, feeding on a larger scale is legally not possible in the long term. The experiment was only a first estimation of the potential.
In order to use the comment function, you must register with the third-party provider "Disqus".
When you activate this function, your browser establishes a direct connection with the servers of the third-party provider. We would like to point out that data is transmitted to the third-party provider after activation, and the latter may set cookies that can also be used for analysis and marketing purposes. For more information, please refer to our privacy policy.
Disqus
In order to use the comment function, you must register with the third-party provider "Disqus".
When you activate this function, your browser establishes a direct connection with the servers of the third-party provider. We would like to point out that data is transmitted to the third-party provider after activation, and the latter may set cookies that can also be used for analysis and marketing purposes. For more information, please refer to our privacy policy.
Activate