Effect of Hemicell on Mortality

An experiment was conducted at Southern Poultry Research in Athens, GA, where broilers were uniformly challenged with Coccidial and Clostridia pathogens in the presence or absence of Hemicell^® and medications. Results are given in Table 1. These results demonstrate that Hemicell^® significantly improved mortality, gain and feed conversion. Under disease challenge conditions the presence of the β-Mannan fiber is especially harmful.

Table 1 – Effect of Hemicell^® on Performance of Broilers Challenged with Coccidiosis and Necrotic Enteritis
Infection¹	Medication²	Hemicell^®	Gain 8-21 days (g)	F/G³ 8-21 days	Mortality 8-21 days (%)
Yes	No	No	258.1^b	2.448^a	42.71^a
Yes	No	Yes	324.4^a	2.063^b	20.83^b
Yes	Yes	No	345.6^a	1.866^b	5.21^b

Notes: 1: Birds challenged at 8 days of age with 75,000 E. acervulina and 5,000
E. maxima oocysts per bird and at 11, 12, and 13 days with 108 cfu C. perfringens,
all by oral gavage. 2: BMD, 50 g/ton and Sacox, 60g/ton. 3: Adjusted for mortality.

The above research trial was conducted in broilers under severe disease stress in order to accentuate the impact of Hemicell^® on mortality. The positive benefit of Hemicell^® on mortality is also demonstrated in turkey field trials that have been conducted. In 4 of 5 such field trials, mortality was improved, yielding an average improvement of 0.53% under commercial growing conditions. Please see Table 2 below.

Table 2 – Summary of Results of Field Tests of Hemicell^® in Turkeys
Field Test	Number of Flocks (H/C)	Turkey Size	Improvement in Live Performance
Field Test	Number of Flocks (H/C)	Turkey Size	Weight (lbs.)	Feed Conversion	Wt.-adj. Feed Conv.¹	Livability	Gain/Day (lbs)
1994²	240/220	28 lb. Tom	1.00 (P<0.10)	0.013 NA	0.053 (P<0.01)	0.70% (P<0.20)	0.007 (P<0.02)
1995²	58/61	30 lb. Tom	1.12 (P<0.05)	0.044 (P<0.05)	0.089 (P<0.05)	1.28% (NS)	0.006 (P<0.05)
1995³	57/56	20 lb. Tom	0.07 (NS)	0.030 (P<0.05)	0.033 (P<0.05)	0.82% (P<0.16)	NA
1997²	54/61	14 lb. Hen	0.69 (P<0.05)	0.028 (P<0.10)	0.04 (P<0.05)	0.16% (P<0.05)	NA
1997²	55/50	30 lb. Tom	0.59 (P<0.25)	0.038 (P<0.12)	0.062 (P<0.05)	2.23% (P<0.13)	0.003 (P<0.15)
Average Result:			0.69 lbs (2.8%)	0.031 (3.1 points)	0.055 (5.5 points)	0.53%	0.005 lbs/day

Notes: (1) Weight improvements adjusted at ratios of 25:1 for Toms and 15:1
for Hens; (2) Rotational field trial format was used for these trials; (3)
Parallel feeds, with and without Hemicell®, were made in this field trial.