The RELACS project developed recommendations for vitamin B2 supplementation in slow-growing organic broilers and laying/parent hens in organic poultry systems.

The issue is basically the need for vitamin B2 (riboflavin) as a supplement in poultry diets. In the organic sector, non-GMO sources/supplements are mandatory. But non-GMO sources of vitamin B2 are more expensive than their GMO counterparts.

The RELACS project, in order to optimise feed production costs and reduce dependence on external sources, studied and tried to re-evaluate what the actual levels of vitamin B2 supplementation in organic production are according to different types of animals.

The project's practice papers provide recommendations for organic poultry systems to meet the real vitamin B2 requirements of the animals. Data from the project experiments indicate that laying hens in organic systems can be supplemented with a maximum level of 4.0 mg/kg feed without impacting on the performance and animal health of the hens and their offspring. This level of supplementation is lower than the 5-7mg/kg of feed recommended by Blum et al. (2015).

Equally, less riboflavin can be used for slow-growing broilers than the amounts currently recommended for conventional broilers (Blum et al., 2015). The RELACS study indicates that feed supplementation for organic slow-growing broilers can be 4.0 mg Vit B2/kg feed. Both values can be applied by organic poultry farmers throughout Europe.

The practice abstracts referring to the illustrated practices can be downloaded at the following links: HERE for laying hens  and HERE for broilers .

Source: RELACS