Dietary zinc and growth, carcass characteristics, immune responses, and serum biochemistry of broilers

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 815
Author(s):  
Shizhen Qin ◽  
Lingyan Zhang ◽  
Fang Ma ◽  
Yanzhuo Che ◽  
Haibo Wang ◽  
...  

Context Zinc (Zn) is an essential trace element, and plays an important role in growth, bone formation, feathering and appetite of broilers. Accurate supplementation of this mineral is the aim of the animal husbandry. Thus, it is crucial to optimise the Zn concentration in the diet of broilers. Aims The present study was performed to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of Zn on the growth performance, carcass characteristics, immune responses and serum biochemistry of broilers. Methods A total of 180 1-day-old male broilers (Arbor Acres) were randomly allotted by bodyweight to one of five treatments with six replicates of six birds each. The birds were fed a Zn-unsupplemented corn–soybean meal basal diet (27.75 or 26.88 mg/kg Zn by analysis) or one of the four Zn-supplemented diets, which were the basal diet supplemented with 40, 80, 120, or 160 mg Zn /kg as Zn sulfate (reagent grade ZnSO4•7H2O), for 42 days. Key results No differences were detected on growth performance or carcass characteristics among treatment groups. However, the total protein concentration and albumin concentration tended (P = 0.09) to increase with an increasing concentration of dietary Zn. The antibody titer of Newcastle disease (ND), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in serum on Day 21 were significantly increased (P < 0.05) as the Zn supplementation increased in broiler diets. Conclusions These results indicated that dietary Zn supplementation improves the serum antibody titer of ND and ALP activity of broilers, and 86 mg Zn/kg was appropriate for broilers when fed a corn–soybean meal diet in the early stage. Implications The present results have provided scientific basis for broiler production, and accurate supplementation of Zn would effectively improve the growth performance and reduce production costs.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Navid Naderi Boroojerdi ◽  
Mostafa Rajabzadeh

Abstract An experiment was conducted on 240 one-day old male (Ross308) chicken to the effect of substitution of dried mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) with soybean meal on growth performance and carcass characteristics broiler chicks. Chicks fed in a completely randomized design with 4 replicate cages (12 birds per cage). Five dietary treatments used: 1- Control treatment: Basal diet based on corn-soybean meal without adding dried mealworm, 2- Replacement of 5% dried mealworm with soybean meal in the base diet, 3- Replacement of 10% dried mealworm with soybean meal in the base diet, 4- Replacement of 15% dried mealworm with soybean meal in the base diet and 5- Replacement of 20% dried mealworm with soybean meal in the base diet. The results of the experiment showed that 3rd and 4th treatments with a substitution of 10 and 15 percent showed a higher mean weight gain and a daily gain, but their feed intake was lower comparing other treatments, and finally, the feed conversion ratio showed a significant decrease with respect to control treatment using these replacement levels. At 21 and 42 days of age, carcass yield and relative weight of the breasts showed significant increases in treatments 3 and 4, and other characteristics of chicken carcasses were not affected by the test treatments. The experiment showed that replacing soybean meal with 10% and 15% worm powder significantly improved the performance of broiler chickens, but no significant difference was found between the two levels.


2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (8) ◽  
pp. 1692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sima Sarlak ◽  
Sayed Ali Tabeidian ◽  
Abasali Gheisari

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of time of initiation of feeding after hatching and influence of diet composition on growth performance, carcass characteristics, digestive tract development and immune responses of broilers. A total of straight-run 420 Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly allotted to six treatments with five replicates of 14 chicks each. The dietary treatments consisted of feeding a maize-soybean meal diet immediately posthatching until 14 days of age (Control), fasting for 24 or 48 h posthatching, feeding maize for 24–48 h posthatching, and feeding a maize gluten-dextrose pre-starter diet for 5 days posthatching. The study lasted from 0 to 42 days of age. For the entire 42-day period, chicks fasted or fed maize for 48 h posthatching or those fed the maize gluten-dextrose diet for 5 days posthatching had lower (P < 0.05) feed intake and lower (P < 0.05) weight gain compared with the Control. However, birds fasted or those fed maize for 24 or 48 h posthatching had similar (P > 0.05) feed intake and weight gain as the Control. The duodenal villus height and villus height:crypt depth ratio were lower (P < 0.05) and the duodenal crypt depth was higher (P < 0.05) in birds fasted for 48 h posthatching compared with the Control. Conversely, birds fasted for 48 h posthatching had higher (P < 0.05) jejunal villus height and villus height:crypt depth ratio and lower (P < 0.05) jejunal crypt depth compared with the Control. The antibody titres against Newcastle disease was lower (P < 0.05) for the groups other than the Control, whereas the antibody titres against Avian Influenza virus was lower (P < 0.05) in birds fasted for 48 h posthatching and in those fed maize for 48 h posthatching compared with the Control. Also, birds fed maize for 24 h posthatching had lower (P < 0.05) antibody titres against sheep red blood cells compared with the other treatments. These results indicated that feeding a maize-soybean meal starter diet immediately after hatch has a beneficial effect on growth performance and immune response of broilers and improves morphological development of the intestine.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 327
Author(s):  
Zhen-Wei Zhang ◽  
Yan-Lu Wang ◽  
Yong-Yan Chen ◽  
Luo-Tong Zhang ◽  
Ying-Jie Zhang ◽  
...  

This study was conducted to evaluate the dietary supplemental effects of 2-nitroethanol (NEOH) in comparison with monensin on methane (CH4) emission, growth performance and carcass characteristics in female lambs. Sixty female, small-tailed Chinese Han lambs (3.5 ± 0.3 month) were randomly allotted into three dietary treatment groups: (1) Control group, a basal control diet, (2) monensin group, the basal diet added with 40 mg/kg monensin, (3) NEOH group, the basal diet added with 277 mg/kg nitroethanol, and the feedlotting trial lasted for 70 days. Although dietary addition of monensin and NEOH did not affect nutrient digestibility of lambs, both monensin and NEOH decreased the calculated CH4 production (12.7% vs. 17.4% decrease; p < 0.01). In addition, the CH4 production represents less dietary energy loss in the monensin and NEOH group than in the control, indicating that monensin and NEOH are potent CH4 inhibitors that can reduce dietary energy loss. Dietary addition of monensin and NEOH decreased dry matter intake (p < 0.01); however, they increased the ADG of female lambs (p < 0.01). As a result, both monensin and NEOH increased feed conversion efficiency of the feedlotting lambs (p < 0.01), suggesting that feed energy saved from CH4 production promoted the feed efficiency and ADG in the present study. Except for the fact that NEOH addition increased the net muscle percentage to carcass weight (p = 0.03), neither monensin nor NEOH had a significant influence on carcass characteristics of female lambs (p > 0.05). From an economic point of view, NEOH and monensin caused a reduction in feed consumption costs, therefore resulting in a higher net revenue and economic efficiency than the control. In summary, dietary supplementation of NEOH in comparison with monensin presented a more promoting effect on energy utilization in female lambs by inhibiting rumen methanogenesis more efficiently, and NEOH improved the net revenue and economic efficiency more significantly than monensin.


2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hung Phuc Nguyen ◽  
Thinh Van Do ◽  
Hau Duc Tran

Abstract A 16-wk growth trial was conducted to examine the effects of dietary replacement of fish meal by defatted soybean meal (SBM) and fermented soybean meal (FSBM) with taurine supplementation on growth performance, nutrient apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC) and biological parameters of pompano fish. The FSBM was produced by fermenting SBM with Lactobacillus spp. Seven isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets were formulated to replace 35% or 50% of fish meal by SBM or FSBM with taurine supplementation. The diets are denoted as follows: FM, SBM35, SBM35T, FSBM35T, SBM50, SBM50T, and FSBM50T. The FM (the basal diet) contained fish meal as a main source of dietary protein. Taurine was supplemented to SBM35T, FSBM35T, SBM50T, and FSBM50T at the level of 15 g/kg diet. Pompano juveniles with an initial body weight (BW) of 80 g reared in floating net cages were fed the experimental diets twice daily for 16 wk. Results showed that the final BW, weight gain, and feed conversion ratio of fish fed SBM35 and SBM50 were significantly lower than those of fish fed FM (P &lt; 0.05), indicating that the replacement of fish meal by SBM at the rate of 35% in the diet is excessive for pompano. Supplementation of taurine to the SBM-included diets significantly increased growth performance and feed utilization (P &lt; 0.05); however, these diets did not restore the performance back to a level equivalent to that of fish offered the basal diet. Meanwhile, fish fed FSBM35T had comparable growth and feed performances to those fed FM. Hematocrit values, total biliary bile acid levels, whole body lipid contents, and tissue taurine concentrations of fish fed SBM35 and SBM50 were the lowest among the treatments, but these parameters were improved by taurine supplementation and FSBM inclusion in the diet. Taurine supplementation increased lipid ADC, and SBM fermentation slightly enhanced both lipid and protein ADCs of the fish. These findings suggest that the combination of FSBM and taurine supplementation is an effective way to improve growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and biological parameters, and that FSBM with taurine supplementation can replace 35% of fish meal in pompano diets without any negative effects on growth and feed performances in a long-term feeding period.


Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 624
Author(s):  
Xinfu Zeng ◽  
Qing Li ◽  
Caimei Yang ◽  
Yang Yu ◽  
Zixian Fu ◽  
...  

We aimed to investigate the effects of Clostridium butyricum-, Bacillus subtilis-, and Bacillus licheniformis-based potential probiotics on the growth performance, intestinal morphology, immune responses, and caecal short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and microbial structure in broiler chickens. Three treatment groups containing a total of 1200 one-day-old AA broilers were included: birds fed with a basal diet only (Con), birds fed with added 1010 probiotics cfu/kg (ProL), and birds fed with added 1011 probiotics cfu/kg (ProH). The dietary probiotics significantly improved the final and average body weights and serum immunoglobulins A, M, and Y. The probiotics also enhanced the ileal morphology and improved the caecal acetate, butyrate, and propionate contents. Furthermore, 16S rRNA sequencing revealed that dietary compound probiotics modulated the caecal microflora composition as follows: (1) all birds shared 2794 observed taxonomic units; (2) treatment groups were well separated in the PCA and PCoA analysis; (3) the relative abundance of Parabacteroides, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014, Barnesiella, Odoribacter, [Eubacterium_coprostanoligenes_group], [Ruminococcus]_torques_group, and Butyricimonas significantly varied between treatments. The compound probiotics improved the growth performance, serum immune responses, the ratio of ileal villus height to crypt depth, and major caecal SCFAs in broiler chickens. The dietary C. butyricum-, B. subtilis-, and B. licheniformis-based probiotics improved overall broiler health and would benefit the poultry industry.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 375
Author(s):  
Sheena Kim ◽  
Jin Ho Cho ◽  
Younghoon Kim ◽  
Hyeun Bum Kim ◽  
Minho Song

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of replacing corn with brown rice on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, carcass characteristics, and gut microbiota of growing and finishing pigs. A total of 100 growing pigs (23.80 ± 2.96 kg BW; 10 weeks of age) were randomly allotted to 4 dietary treatments (5 pigs/pen; 5 replicates/treatment) in a randomized complete block design (block = BW) as follows: corn-soybean meal basal diet (CON) and replacing corn with 50% (GBR50), 75% (GBR75), and 100% (GBR100) of ground brown rice. Each trial phase was for 6 weeks. During the growing period, there were no differences on growth performance and nutrient digestibility among dietary treatments. Similarly, no differences were found on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and carcass characteristics of pigs during the finishing period among dietary treatments. As a result of the beta diversity analysis, microbial populations were not clustered between CON and GBR100 during the growing phase, but clustered into two distinct groups of CON and GBR100 during the finishing phase. In conclusion, brown rice can be added to the diets of growing-finishing pigs by replacing corn up to 100% without negatively affecting growth performance of the pigs; additionally, this may have an effect on changes in pig intestinal microbiota if continued for a long time.


2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 395-396
Author(s):  
Hansol Kim ◽  
Beob Gyun G Kim

Abstract The objectives were to determine the digestible energy, standardized ileal digestibility of AA, and growth performance of dietary spray-dried plasma protein (SDPP) in nursery pigs. In Exp. 1, twelve nursery barrows (9.8 ± 0.9 kg) were assigned to a quadruplicated 3 × 2 Latin square design with 3 diets and 2 periods. Each period consisted of 5 days of adaptation, 2 days of fecal sampling, and 2 days of ileal collection. A basal diet was composed of corn, soybean meal, dried whey, and sucrose as the sole energy and AA sources. Experimental diets were prepared by replacing 15% of the energy and AA sources in the basal diet with SDPP 1 (manufactured in the US; 78.2% CP and 4,862 kcal GE/kg as-is) or SDPP 2 (manufactured in Korea; 74.3% CP and 4,636 kcal GE/kg as-is). Spray-dried plasma protein 1 had greater digestible energy (4,799 vs. 4,469 kcal/kg as-is; P &lt; 0.05), but less (P &lt; 0.05) standardized ileal digestibility of lysine, methionine, tryptophan, and threonine compared with SDPP 2. In Exp. 2, eighty-four nursery pigs (7.9 ± 0.7 kg) were allotted to 3 dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design with 7 replicate pens and 4 pigs per pen. Three corn-soybean meal-whey-based diets contained fish meal (6% and 3.5% for d 0 to 14 and d 14 to 28, respectively), SDPP 1 (4.5% and 2.7%), or SDPP 2 (5% and 3%) to maintain same energy and nutrient concentrations. During d 0 to 14 and overall period, pigs fed the diets containing SDPP gained more weight (P &lt; 0.05) than those fed the fish meal diet with no difference between 2 sources of SDPP. Overall, 2 sources of SDPP have different energy concentrations and AA digestibility, but similar growth promoting effects in nursery pigs.


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