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Corn Contaminated with Deoxynivalenol: Effects on Performance of Poultry

Department of Animal Science, 247 Morrison Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853; Phone: (607) 255-8143; FAX: (607) 255-9829

Correspondence: Kavous Keshavarz

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of feeding corn contaminated naturally with deoxynivalenol (DON, vomitoxin) on performance of laying hens and growing chicks. Ten dietary regimens used in the laying hen experiment contained incremental levels of 0-2.1 ppm DON and 0-0.42 ppm zeralenone. Six dietary regimens used in the growing chick experiment contained 0 or 2.1 ppm DON and 0-0.42 ppm zeralenone. The criteria used for evaluating the effect of dietary treatments were body weight, body weight gain, egg production, feed consumption, feed conversion, egg weight, egg grades, shell quality, albumen quality, fertility and hatchability, organ weight, and presence of lesions in the mouth.

No adverse effects were observed in laying hens or growing chicks for any of these parameters even at the highest levels of DON contamination, which provided 2.1 ppm DON and 0.42 ppm zeralenone in the finished feeds. The data indicate that growing chicks and laying hens are relatively insensitive to corn contaminated naturally with 2-3 ppm DON and 0.4-0.6 ppm zeralenone, and having specifications similar to the corn samples used in this study. The results do not support the notion that corn contaminated with more than 0.5 ppm DON should be rejected for use in poultry feeds.

Key Words: Contaminated corn • deoxynivalenol • growing chicks • laying hens • zeralenone

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