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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment » Agroecosystems Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #287894
Title: Supplemental lysine sulfate does not negatively affect performance of broiler chicks fed dietary sulfur from multiple dietary and water sources

Author
item BOBECK, ELIZABETH - Iowa State University
item PAYNE, ROB - Degussa Corporation - Germany
item Kerr, Brian
item PERSIA, MIKE - Iowa State University

Submitted to: Journal of Applied Poultry Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/2013
Publication Date: 9/10/2013
Citation: Bobeck, E., Payne, R.L., Kerr, B.J., Persia, M.E. 2013. Supplemental lysine sulfate does not negatively affect performance of broiler chicks fed dietary sulfur from multiple dietary and water sources. Journal of Applied Poultry Research. 22:461-468.

Interpretive Summary: Composition of commercial poultry diets may change depending on price of ingredients, and recently, the increasing production of corn-derived ethanol has created a surplus of the by-product dried distillers’ grains with solubles (DDGS). Since corn DDGS contains all of the nutrients from the grain in a concentrated form (except most of the starch), DDGS are a rich source of crude protein, amino acids, phosphate, and other nutrients. Corn naturally contains from 0.03-0.43% sulfur (S) and the fermentation and removal of starch from the corn during the ethanol production process concentrates that S to approximately 0.21-1.93%. In addition, S content in poultry drinking water varies across the USA, with the average drinking water content being approximately 32 mg/L, with 2,500 mg/L reported as the maximum acceptable level before high S water causes management problems. Concerns in reaching dietary S toxicity have arisen due to simultaneous high-S feed inputs (DDGS, lysine supplements, water) and input variation. Research results described in this report provides nutritionists at universities, feed companies, allied industries, and poultry production facilities data that excess S is easily excreted, and that under the experimental feeding conditions herein, supplementation with up to 1% additional lysine sulfate (or similar product) did not reduce performance in comparison with chicks fed a lower S diet with access to normal or high S water.

Technical Abstract: Commercial producers and nutritionists have questioned the performance consequences of sulfur (S) from various dietary and water sources combined in current commercial production. The combination of high S containing feed ingredients, including dried distiller’s grains with solubles (DDGS) and dietary additives that contain S such as lysine sulfate or copper sulfate, has the potential to create high S exposure, especially when combined with high S drinking water. The tolerance of growing broiler chicks to S was determined by supplementation of a corn-soybean- 5% DDGS diet with up to 1% lysine sulfate or an equal amount of S from sodium sulfide. An additional diet containing copper and zinc sulfate served as a positive control for source of S and high S inclusion. These diets were fed to chicks provided with normal or high water S. We hypothesized that the addition of S sources to a commercial diet would not reduce the performance of growing chicks given access to normal or high S water. Data showed dietary S requirements were met and excess S was easily excreted, hence under the experimental feeding conditions, supplementation with up to 1% additional lysine sulfate (or similar product) did not reduce performance in comparison with chicks fed a lower S diet with access to normal or high S water. Analysis of the high S diet from copper and zinc sulfate suggests reduced water and feed consumption although there were no effects on chick weight gain.