What Is The Role of Vitamin D3 in Layer Feed?

Compared with feed additives research that has only been around for decades, our country has a long history of keeping poultry, and laying hens are one of important sources of income. Since laying hens have an important mission to produce eggs, their demand and consumption of vitamin d3 powder are very large, which determines that vitamin d3 plays an important role in layer feed.

Here is the content list:

• Is it necessary to add vitamin d3 powder to layer feed?

• What are the main sources of vitamin d3 powder needed by laying hens?

• How to add sufficient but not excessive vitamin d3 powder to laying hens?

Is it necessary to add vitamin d3 powder to layer feed?

Vitamin d3, after being ingested by laying hens, can create an acidic environment in the intestines of chickens, which promotes the easy dissolution of calcium and phosphorus salts and is absorbed by the intestinal wall, promoting the deposition of calcium and phosphorus in the bones, as well as reducing the excretion of phosphorus in the urine.

For laying hens, the effect of vitamin d3 feed additives is much stronger than other vitamins. However, fish meal, meat meal and other common animal feeds contain less vitamin d3, and the content in cereals, cakes and bran is even more insignificant. The vitamin d3 obtained by laying hens from these feeds is far from sufficient.

If the chicken lacks vitamin d3, then no amount of calcium addition will help. Even if the calcium and phosphorus in the diet are sufficient and the ratio is appropriate, their absorption and utilization will be affected.

Chickens show a series of calcium and phosphorus deficiency symptoms: such as poor growth of chicks and broilers, loose feathers, soft or curved beaks and claws, curved sternum and deformed leg bones. For laying hens, the impact is even more serious, which can reduce egg production and hatchability.

What are the main sources of vitamin d3 powder needed by laying hens?

There are two main sources of vitamin D needed by laying hens. The first is self-synthesis. Chicks synthesize less vitamin d3 feed additives, while young chickens need to be active in the sun for more than 50 minutes a day, and laying hens need to be in the sun frequently to meet the synthesis.

However, in chicken farms with intensive breeding, the ultraviolet rays in the sun have been filtered out by glass, and this effect cannot be achieved. In this case, farmers should choose the second source of vitamin d3.

The second source of vitamin d3 is feed additives, which are particularly important for indoor chicken and chicks. When the calcium and phosphorus in the feed are insufficient or the ratio is inappropriate, the amount of vitamin d3 added should be appropriately increased.

However, if chickens consume too much vitamin d3, dozens of times more than the required amount, calcium will be deposited in the kidneys and conduct damage. When farmers add vitamin d3 powder, they also need to control the amount of vitamin d3. It cannot be based on experience and must be properly proportioned by weighing figure.

How to add sufficient but not excessive vitamin d3 powder to laying hens?

No matter how experienced the farmer is, when designing and applying powder vitamin d3, the breeding standards should be determined in advance and the opinions of relevant professionals should be consulted. Before configuring vitamin d3 feed, influence of various factors such as feed variety, formula, storage time are ought to be taken into consideration.

They should also acquire the flexibility of livestock and poultry health status, breeding environment, weather season and other factors on the basis of livestock and poultry requirements. Adjust the feeding standards to ensure that the animals need vitamins under actual conditions and maintain a better state and production performance.

For laying hens feed, the vitamin d3 level should be appropriately increased to improve the absorption and utilization of calcium and phosphorus. In the peak season for laying eggs, vitamin d3 can make laying hens give full play to their production performance, increase feed remuneration to a greater extent, and make chickens lay more eggs and lay heavier eggs.

In the off-season of laying eggs, which is the upcoming winter, the use of vitamin d3 feed additives can increase the egg production of laying hens as well, improving the economic benefits of raising chickens.

Vitamin d3 plays a key role in the formation of eggs, not only for laying hens, as long as egg-laying poultry, especially indoor intensive farming, require powder vitamin d3. Polifar Group provides feed additives with superior performance to help you turn the off-season of laying eggs into the peak season of laying eggs, bringing you more farming income than previous years.