BOKU Symposium 2025
This year, we once again participated in the 23rd BOKU Symposium Animal Nutrition 2025, which took place on Thursday, February 27, in Vienna. The event focused on the general theme: “The Future of Protein Supply in Animal Nutrition.”
Our colleagues, Dr. Ralph Schemmer and Florian Mader, were on-site to present our latest experimental results.
This year, we were represented with two scientific posters for the first time. The following sections provide a more detailed overview of these studies.
Different oil and fat sources in diets of fast-growing broiler chickens | Results
The title of the poster by Dr Ralph Schemmer, together with the South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences and the University of Bonn, was: „Different oil and fat sources in diets of fast-growing broiler chickens: Effect on performance and carcass traits”
The background: Oils and fats are essential components in animal nutrition and contribute to increasing the energy density of the feed. Highly digestible and energy-rich feed components are particularly important for fattening chickens in order to enable rapid growth and efficient meat production. Spray-cooled fat powders offer a stable alternative to liquid oils and fatty acid mixtures, while the digestibility and effect of the fats depend heavily on their origin and composition. This study investigates the effects of different fat and oil sources on the performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens.
Results of the study:
- To cover the nutritional needs, e.g. metabolizable energy, in broiler nutrition using fat and oil sources is crucial to optimize efficiency in fattening and hence economic success.
- The utilization of the fat sources is affected by numerous factors such as the age of the birds, the amount of inclusion as well as physical aspects like source, quality and particle size of the fats.
- The addition of BEWI-SPRAY® 99 L in combination with BEWI-FATRIX® SynerG+ resulted in higher dressing and increased carcass weight. BEWI-SPRAY® 99 L, both alone and in combination with BEWI-FATRIX® SynerG+ led to a higher breast meat yield.
Field study on dietary acidification in transition dairy cows | Results
The title of the poster by Florian Mader together with the veterinary practice “Tierarztpraxis an der Güterstraße” and KuhBlick GmbH was: „Field study on dietary acidification in transition dairy cows: assessing feed homogeneity and urinary parameters as indicators of DCAD optimization and metabolic adaptation“
In this study, our BEWI-FATRIX® Anionic was used to acidify the urine.
Background: The transit phase of dairy cows is a critical time with significant metabolic challenges, especially hypocalcaemia due to increasing calcium requirements. A proven risk mitigation strategy is to reduce the dietary cation-anion balance (DCAB) with anionic salts to promote calcium mobilisation. However, the success of this method depends on an even feed intake and the homogeneous distribution of acid salts in the total mixed ration (TMR). This study investigates the practical application of ration acidification in transit cows and provides insights into the optimisation of this strategy in dairy farming.
Results of the study:
- Consistent and homogeneous feed delivery: The success of dietary acidification in transition cows depends on the uniform and consistent distribution of acidic salts in the feed. Initial evaluations using a particle separator (shaker box) are essential to ensure feed homogeneity.
- Monitoring tools: While urine pH is a cost-effective method for assessing dietary acidification, it is not a reliable standalone indicator. Fractional NABE is a more sensitive and robust parameter for evaluating metabolic acidification.
- Multi-Parameter approach: Combining fractional NABE, urinary calcium levels, and the DCAD in the total mixed ration provides a comprehensive and reliable method for monitoring the effectiveness of calcium mobilization and dietary interventions.