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 trials.
Description
Test 1 was a feeding trial with laying hens.
Dried nettles were used in proportions of 10% and 5% in the respective rations of the farms. The feed was fed ad libitum to almost 300 laying hens for 10 and 26 days. Advisor assessment and bird acceptance of the feed were very positive. 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. The quality characteristics (egg shell, yolk colour, protein quality) did not change.
Test 2 was a cultivation trial with nettles. On two trial plots the sowing was done by purchased seeds (no-till) and by vegetative propagation (stolons). During growing, different fertiliser applications were tested. Consisting of chicken manure and sulphur (Kieserite 25 % MgO, 50 % SO3) in autumn and spring to provide information on the influence of sulphur applications on methionine concentration.
Purchased seeds had a poor germination. Propagation from cuttings (stolons) is more effective. The crop should not be harvested too late, in order to achieve the highest leaf proportion. Any influence of fertiliser application could not be determined. Clearly visible is the influence of the soil temperature. Later cuts provided significantly better
methionine yields. Analysis of the pure leaf mass yielded good methionine values up to 4.52 g/kg DM88. Compared to small-grained legumes, nettle cultivation is very costly and the additional methionine yields are too low when considering the extra cost.
The effects of nettles as feed for poultry were mostly neutral: on laying performance, egg quality, animal health and behavior. The birds acceptance of nettle as feed was very good.
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