Products - Special
Ingredients
A combination of grains, seeds and nuts, in conjunction with
vitamins and minerals is the basis for a number of commercially
formulated bird diets. What makes Dr Mac’s Organic
Origins different are the special ingredients added. These
include:
Spirulina
Spirulina (spy-rool-ee-na) is a blue-green alga and natural
food source for flamingos in the wild. It is a concentrated
source of antioxidants and has antiviral, anticancer and immune
stimulating properties. As it is high in β-carotene,
it is a safe form of provitamin A. It is not the same as
kelp meal, which offers other nutritional values.
Provitamin A Carotenoids
There is NO vitamin A in plants. Instead, plants
provide birds with sources of provitamin A carotenoids such as β-carotene. These
are converted to vitamin A on an ‘as needs’ basis,
thus avoiding toxicosis. Any surplus carotenoids are used
as antioxidants, having a protective function.
Vitamin A toxicosis is prevalent in nectarivorous birds. This
is evidenced by high liver concentrations in comparison to wild
birds. Symptoms of excess vitamin A include:
- Low breeding success
- High infertility
- High hatchling mortality
- Feathering aberrations in both passerines (carotenoids) and
psittacines (noncarotenoid)
Excesses of vitamin A enhance iron uptake and contribute to
iron storage disease (ISD) in frugivorous and insectivorous birds.
Excess vitamin A contributes to pancreatitis, deficiencies of
other fat-soluble vitamins (D, E and K), changes in vocalisation,
kidney disease and hyperkeratosis.
To minimise the potential for hypervitaminosis A, Dr Mac’s
products contain low concentrations of vitamin A and high concentrations
of provitamin A carotenoids such as β-carotene from spirulina. This
provides birds with more control over the production of vitamin
A when required and allows for sufficient uptake of other fat-soluble
vitamins.
Natural Carotenoids
Dr Mac’s Organic Origins passerine moulting diets
contain a range of carotenoids that have been derived from natural
sources. Only food-grade ingredients are used such as:
- annatto (Bixa orellana)
- anthocyanin (grape pomace)
- beet powder (Beta vulgaris)
- carmine (Dactylopius coccis costa, cochineal)
- carotene (Elaeis guinensis, palm oil)
- chlorophyll
- marigold
- paprika (Capsicum anuum)
- turmeric (Curcuma longa)
- spirulina (Spirulina platensis)
Bentonite Clay
Clay is added to bind pellets and helps to adsorb any
toxins from the diet. Although bentonite clay contains
high concentrations of certain minerals, they are not available
to the birds as they are tightly bound within stratified layers
of the clay. Additional minerals are added to the
diets according to the nutrient requirements of different species.
Calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate is a valuable source of calcium for
birds. This is selected in preference to calcium phosphate
as birds need high concentrations of calcium for breeder
and hand rearing diets but not necessarily higher concentrations
of phosphorous.
Iodine and Goitre
Many grains and seeds are low in iodine, contributing to iodine
deficiency and goitre, especially in budgerigars. Dr
Mac’s Organic Origins products contain certified organic kelp
meal as a natural source of iodine.
Probiotics
Beneficial gut bacteria (probiotics) compete with harmful
bacteria for nutrients. Vegetative forms such as Lactobacillus spp
break down when temperatures reach 45oC. Spore forms such
as Bacilli licheniformis and Bacilli subtilis used
in Dr Mac’s Organic Origins are heat resistant
and activated in the gut, being more beneficial for birds.
Osmolytes
Heat stress causes dehydration of cells, tissues and the whole
animal, resulting in reduced feed intake and growth and increased
mortality. Osmolytes maintain water and ion balance
in cells in an energy efficient manner, and help prevent cellular
dehydration. They protect macromolecules such as enzymes
from osmotic inactivation. Betaine, extracted
from beet pulp, improves water retention and reduces fluctuation
in body temperatures when exposed to heat stress.
Methyl Group Donor
Methyl groups (CH3) are single carbon units needed for synthesis
of essential metabolites (methionine, carnitine, creatinine,
phospholipids, RNA and DNA). They cannot be metabolised
and are obtained from dietary sources of choline, betaine and
methionine, with betaine the most efficient of
the three. Birds require a constant supply of dietary methyl
groups, which increases under stressful conditions such as extremes
of temperature, crowding and pathogen challenge. Methyl
groups are transferred from one substance to another via the
methylation cycle. Betaine is particularly
important in DNA/RNA synthesis, immunity functions, protein synthesis
and choline synthesis.
Choline
Choline is important in the synthesis of membrane lipids
and is converted to betaine. However, excess choline can
have a negative impact on biotin, which in turns impacts fatty
liver disease. While both nutrients provide methyl groups
to convert homocysteine to methionine, betaine carries
out the methylation function more efficiently. The addition
of betaine spares the methyl donor properties of choline,
requiring lower dietary intake of this vital nutrient. Other
functions of choline (synthesis of phospholipids and acetylcholine)
cannot be replaced by betaine but are provided by natural
choline in feed ingredients. Lecithin is a natural
source of choline used in Dr Mac’s Organic Origins.
Digestive Enzymes
Enzymes such as amylase, xylanase and protease, improve
the digestibility of cereal starch and vegetable protein components
in diets. These enzymes increase energy and starch
digestibility of feeds. Protein digestibility is also improved,
especially amino acids such as cysteine and threonine. In
reducing the amount of protein required to synthesise endogenous
enzymes, more energy is available for growth.
Yeast Culture
Yeasts increase palatability and digestibility of feeds,
improving feed consumption during hot weather and maintaining
egg size and production. By maximising digestibility and
nutrient availability, egg size may be increased in young hens
and good egg shell quality can be maintained in older hens.
Yucca
Yucca schidigera is a desert plant native to the
Southwestern United States and Mexico. The main constituents
of the yucca plant are sarsapogenin, similagenin and various
related sapogenins. Many of these are steroidal sapogenins
and are related to the compounds obtained from the sarsaparilla
plant, which are used in manufacturing progesterone pills.
Yucca has anti-inflammatory properties and is used in
the treatment of arthritis. It acts as a blood purifier
and assists the excretion of bile salts and cholesterol into
the intestine. As a diuretic it is beneficial in the treatment
of gout.
Coccidiostats
Yucca also has strong antiprotozoal (coccidiosis) properties. Coccidiosis
is a major parasitic intestinal disease, causing reduced performance
and mortality. It is associated with osmotic and ionic
disorders of the intestine. It is expensively controlled
through the use of synthetic coccidiostats or vaccines.
By helping combat osmotic stress, betaine can reduce
performance losses associated with coccidiosis. The effect
of betaine on cocci lesions is related to its unique osmolyte
function and is independent of its methylation function so this
function cannot be substituted with choline or methionine. Betaine also
improves nutrient digestibility during cocci challenge. Maintenance
of osmolyte balance improves intestinal cell integrity leading
to a reduction in invasion of cocci in the epithelial lining.
|
