The importance of enzymes in the poultry industry is ever increasing because they help to extract as many nutrients as possible from the raw material available and reduce environmental impacts. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to examine the effect of a natural enzyme complex (ASC) on diets low in AME, Ca and P. Ross 308 broilers (n = 900) were fed one of four diets: (1) positive control (PC) with no enzyme added (AME 12.55 MJ/kg, AVPhos 4.8 g/kg and AVCal 9.6 g/kg); (2) negative control (NC) with no enzyme added and down-specified for AME, Ca and P (AME 12.18 MJ/kg, AVPhos 3.3 g/kg, AVCal 8.1 g/kg); (3) negative control plus ASC at 200 g/t; and (4) negative control plus ASC at 400 g/t. Broiler performance, digesta viscosity, tibia mineralization and mineral content were analyzed at d 21. Between d 18 and 20, excreted DM, GE, total nitrogen, Ca, and P were analyzed. ASC at 200 g/t and 400 g/t improved the FCR (p = 0.0014) significantly when compared with that of the NC. There were no significant differences in BW or FI between the treatments. Birds fed ASC at 200 g/t and 400 g/t had significantly improved digesta viscosity (p < 0.0001) compared with that of the PC and NC and had significantly higher excreted DM digestibility (p < 0.01) than the NC and the PC with 400 g/t ASC. ASC inclusion significantly improved P retention (p < 0.0001) compared with that in the PC. Ca retention was significantly increased by 400 g/t ASC compared with that in the PC and NC (p < 0.001). AME was significantly higher (p < 0.0001) for all treatments compared with that in the NC. There were no significant differences between treatments for any of the bone measurements. This study showed that feeding ASC can support the performance of broilers when fed a specification reduced in Ca, P and AME, with the greatest results being seen with the higher inclusion level of ASC.

Phosphorus is required by laying hens for a variety of biological functions. It is usually provided in excess, in a readily digestible inorganic form in diet formulations. However, this does not represent an efficient use of a finite resource and can result in water pollution. Plant bound phosphorus in phytate, is common in commercial poultry diets, and represents an alternate source of phosphorus, however poultry lacks the enzyme to digest it. By adding enzymes to their diets, the availability of this phytate-bound phosphorus can be increased allowing for the reduced inclusion of inorganic P in the diet formulation. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the effect of a natural enzyme complex that contains phytase and xylanase in layer diets. Novogen Brown Classic layers (n=314) were fed one of two diets: (T1) control diet or (T2) control diet plus a natural mixed-enzyme product with both, phytase and xylanase. Experimental diets were provided for 12 days after which the excreta from each pen were collected for an additional three days to determine total retention and ileal digestibility of phosphorus and gross energy. At the end of the trial the birds were euthanized, and their ileal contents were collected. Productivity parameters were also recorded over the course of the study. The amount of phosphorus detected in the excreta of the control group was significantly higher than the amount detected in the enzyme-supplemented group (P<0.05). Both phosphorus retention and phosphorus ileal digestibility were significantly higher in the enzyme-supplemented birds (P<0.001). Gross energy digestibility was significantly higher in the enzyme-supplemented birds for both the total tract and ileal samples (P<0.001). There were only numerical improvements, not significant, in the layer productivity parameters. This study showed that the enzyme supplement can improve total retention and ileal digestibility of phosphorus and gross energy in older layers.