Effects of replacing Na selenite in laying hen feed with selenized glucose on production performance, egg quality, egg selenium content, microbial population, immunological response, antioxidant enzymes, and fatty acid composition.

This study aimed to explore the effects of selenized glucose (SeGlu) and Na selenite supplementation on various aspects of laying hens such as production performance, egg quality, egg Se concentration, microbial population, antioxidant enzymes activity, immunological response, and yolk fatty acid profile. Using a 2 × 2 factorial design, 168 laying hens at 27-wk of age were randomly divided into 4 treatment groups with 7 replications. Se source (Na selenite and SeGlu) and Se level (0.3 and 0.6 mg/kg) were used as treatments. When 0.3 mg SeGlu/kg was compared to 0.3 mg Na selenite/kg, the interaction findings revealed that 0.3 mg SeGlu/kg increased egg production percent and shell ash (P < 0.05). When compared to 0.3 mg Na selenite/kg, dietary supplementation with 0.3 and 0.6 mg SeGlu/kg resulted in an increase in albumen height, Haugh unit, and yolk color of fresh eggs (P < 0.05). SeGlu enhanced albumen height, Haugh unit, shell thickness (P < 0.01), albumen index, yolk share, specific gravity, shell ash (P < 0.05) of fresh eggs and shell thickness (P < 0.05) of stored eggs as compared to Na selenite. The interaction showed that 0.6 mg SeGlu/kg enhanced yolk Se concentration while decreasing malondialdehyde levels in fresh egg yolk (P < 0.05). SeGlu enhanced Se concentration in albumen and glutathione peroxidase activity in plasma (P < 0.05) as compared to Na selenite. 0.6 mg Se/kg increased lactic acid bacteria, antibody response to sheep red blood cells, and lowered ∑n-6 PUFA/ ∑n-3 PUFA ratio (P < 0.05). As a result, adding SeGlu to the feed of laying hens enhanced egg production, egg quality, egg Se concentration, fresh yolk lipid oxidation, and glutathione peroxidase enzyme activity.

The effect of replacing sodium selenite with selenium-chitosan in laying hens on production performance, egg quality, egg selenium concentration, microbial population, immunological response, antioxidant enzymes, and fatty acid composition.

The purpose of this study was to investigate into the effects of Se-chitosan and Na selenite supplementation on laying hen production performance, egg quality, egg Se concentration, microbial population, immunological response, antioxidant enzymes activity, and yolk fatty acid profile. Using a 2 × 2 factorial design, 168 27-wk-old laying hens were randomly divided into 4 treatment groups and 7 replications. Se source (Na selenite and Se-chitosan) and Se level (0.3 and 0.6 mg/kg) were used as treatments. Se-chitosan enhanced egg production percentage and egg mass (P < 0.05) when compared with Na selenite. There was an interaction, with 0.6 mg Se-chitosan/kg causing an increase in albumen height, Haugh unit, albumen index, and shell thickness of fresh eggs (P < 0.05). Se-chitosan increased yolk share, yolk color, and shape index of fresh eggs and shape index, albumen index, albumen height, Haugh unit, yolk color, shell thickness, and specific gravity of stored eggs (P < 0.05). The interaction showed that, 0.6 mg Se-chitosan/kg increased albumen Se concentration and decreased the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in fresh egg yolk compared with 0.3 and 0.6 mg Na selenite/kg (P < 0.05). When compared with Na selenite, Se-chitosan increased the Se concentration in the yolk and decreased level of MDA in stored egg yolk (P < 0.01). When compared with Na selenite, Se-chitosan reduced coliforms (P < 0.01), increased lactic acid bacteria, and the lactic acid bacteria/coliform ratio (P < 0.05). Se-chitosan supplementation increased antibody response to sheep red blood cells and IgM titers and the activities of glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase in plasma (P < 0.05). Furthermore, compared with Na selenite, supplementing diets with Se-chitosan decreased ∑ n-6 PUFA/∑ n-3 PUFA ratio (P < 0.01). In conclusion, Se-chitosan supplementation of laying hen feed improved production performance, egg quality, egg Se concentration, yolk lipid oxidation, microbial population, immune response, antioxidant enzymes activity, and yolk fatty acid profile, with 0.6 mg Se-chitosan/kg supplementation being optimal.

Replacing biochar with mineral premix and its interaction with vitamin C on laying hen production and egg quality factors.

This researchers focused at how adding vitamin C (VC) to biochar and replacing it with a mineral supplement affected egg quality and laying hen performance. 50 experimental units were created from 400 laying hens using a 5 × 2 factorial treatment design (10 treatments, 5 repeats, and 8 laying hens per repetition). Biochar levels (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% replacement with mineral supplements of diet) and VC levels (0 and 100 mg/kg of diet) were some of the studied variables. The results showed that different experimental diets had no significant effect on performance parameters (feed intake, feed conversion ratio, daily weight gain, egg weight, egg production, and egg mass) of laying hens. In the whole of experiment (50-62 weeks of age), dietary treatments had no influence on egg albumen %, Haugh unit, albumen index, yolk %, yolk index, yolk color, egg shell thickness, or egg shell ash. The results revealed that biochar, due to its availability and easy production, can replace mineral supplements in laying hens' diet, with no adverse effects on productive performance and egg quality traits.

Effects of dietary nano-selenium supplementation on broiler chicken performance, meat selenium content, intestinal microflora, intestinal morphology, and immune response.

BACKGROUND: Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient that is important to both animals and humans. Furthermore, scientists are increasingly interested in boosting the Se content of food products for human consumption, such as Se-enriched meat, because it has been shown to have a positive effect on human health. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of green synthesized nano selenium (GNS) on broiler chicken growth performance, meat selenium content, intestinal microflora, intestinal morphology, and immune response to sodium selenite (SS) as inorganic Se. METHODS: A total of 360 one-day-old Ross 308 broiler chickens were randomly assigned to four experimental groups, each of six replicates of 15 birds. The experimental treatments were as follows: (1) based diet supplemented with 0.15 mg/kg of SS (control group), (2-4) basal diet supplemented with 0.075, 0.15 and 0.3 mg/kg of GNS respectively. RESULTS: The results showed that different experimental diets had no significant effect on growth performance. Meat Se content increased with dietary GNS supplementation (P < 0.05). The birds fed dietary supplements GNS compared to SS had higher lactic acid bacteria counts and lactic acid bacteria/coliform ratios in ileum on day 42 (P < 0.05). Furthermore, as compared to SS, dietary supplementation of 0.3 mg GNS/kg significantly reduced coliform numbers in the cecum on day 42 (P < 0.05). Supplementation of 0.3 mg GNS/kg in the diet vs. SS at 21 days, there was a significant increase in VH/CD in the ileum and jejunum, as well as villus height and villus surface area in the ileum, and a decrease in crypt depth and epithelial cell layer thickness in the jejunum. Furthermore, at 42 days, birds fed 0.3 mg GNS/kg had higher villus height, villus surface area, and goblet cell density in the ileum and jejunum than birds fed SS (P < 0.05). Compared to SS, broilers fed 0.3 mg GNS/kg dietary supplementation had higher IgG at 42 days (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In comparison to the use of SS, it could be concluded that the inclusion of GNS as a novel Se source can improve meat Se content, intestinal microflora, intestinal morphology, and immune response.

Effect of Dietary Bacillus coagulans and Different Forms of Zinc on Performance, Intestinal Microbiota, Carcass and Meat Quality of Broiler Chickens.

A total of 288-day-old male broilers were allocated to six dietary treatments to evaluate the effects of zinc source and Bacillus coagulans supplements and their interaction on growth, intestinal microbial population, carcass traits and meat quality in broiler chickens. Three levels of dietary supplemental Zn source (100 mg/kg of DM diet zinc oxide, 25 and 50 mg/kg of diet zinc oxide nanoparticles (Zn-nan)) and two levels of B. coagulans (0 and 100 mg/kg of diet) were combined as a completely randomised design with a 3 × 2 factorial arrangement. B. coagulans increased the body weight gain, body weight and feed conversion ratio. The lactic acid producing bactereia of ileal were increased by B. coagulans supplementation, and its coliform count was decreased by Zn-nan in a dose-dependent manner. The B. coagulans increased the relative weights of legs and proventriculus and reduced weights of livers, abdominal fat and meat thiobarbituric acid (TBA) value. Likewise, dietary B. coagulans increased pH, yellowness and lightness values of leg muscles. Birds fed Zn-nan50 had lower liver weight, TBA and cooking loss and higher yellowness values than chicks fed ZnO-100. In conclusion, the dietary supplementation with B. coagulans improved broiler performance, microbial population and meat quality. The Zn-nan in lower dose could be a good substitution in mineral premix instead of zinc oxide. In addition, the Zn-nan improved intestinal microbial population, carcass characteristics and oxidative stability of chicken meat; however, the combination of two levels of Zn-nan with B. coagulans did not vary the measured parameters.

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of thyme (Thymus vulgaris) essential oil as an alternative for antibiotic in quail diet1.

The thyme (Thymus vulgaris) essential oil was assessed as antibiotic growth promoter replacement in quail chick diet and in vitro test. In total, 250-d-old Japanese quail chicks (mixed sex) were allocated into 5 dietary treatments of 5 replications (6 females and 4 males in each cage with the size of 40× 90× 25 cm) under a completely randomized design. The dietary treatments were included the control diet, control diet without any additive, control diet plus 100 ppm flavophospholipol as an antibiotic growth promoter, control diet plus 200 ppm TVE, control diet plus 300 ppm TVE, and control diet plus 400 ppm T. vulgaris essential (TVE) oil. Feed intake, BW gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR), organs weight, morphology of intestine, serum lipids, and microbial population were measured on day 35. Lipid oxidation of stored muscle tissue was measured by TBARS test. GC-MS assay, DPPH method, and well diffusion method were evaluated for determination of components, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties, respectively. FCR improved significantly in 400 ppm TVE compared with 200 and 300 ppm TVE (P < 0.05). The serum triglyceride decreased significantly in both sexes receiving 400 ppm TVE compared with control. Villi height increased significantly in duodenum accompanied by decreasing crypt dept at all TVE levels compared with control and antibiotic. The breast muscle tissue of quail fed on 300 and 400 ppm TVE reduced the rate of oxidation during refrigerated storage compared with control. Thymol was the main component (35.40%) of the thymus oil. The considerable antioxidant activity of TVE was identified by IC50 of 58.48 µg/mL. Moreover, zones of growth inhibition of Gram-positive bacteria and Escherichia coli were numerically greater in different doses of TVE than antibiotics. Therefore, The TVE is suitable alternative component for antibiotic growth promoters by dosing consideration. However, it is possible that antibiotic resistance would increase for these natural compounds along the time.

Effect of pennyroyal, savory and thyme essential oils on Japanese quail physiology.

An experiment was conducted to show the effects of different levels of pennyroyal, thyme and savory essential oils dietary supplementation on performance, organs weight, intestinal morphology, and serum lipids in quails. A total of 550 day-old Japanese quail chicks were allocated into 11 dietary treatments of 5 replications (10 birds in each cage) under a randomized experimental design. The treatments were a basal diet (Control), or 3 levels (200, 300, and 400 ppm) of thyme essential oil (TO), or 3 levels (200, 300, and 400 ppm) of savory essential oil (SO), or 3 levels (200, 300, and 400 ppm) of pennyroyal essential oil (PO) added separately to the basal diet, or also the basal diet supplemented with 100 ppm of flavophospholipol. Body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were measured weekly and calculated totally for 35 d. The organs weight and morphology of intestine parts of one bird from each cage were measured on 35 d. At the same day, blood samples were collected and cholesterol and triglyceride values were separately determined for male and female quails. Although the addition of different levels of essential oils in quail's diet did not affect BWG, a significant decline in FI was observed in the group supplemented with 400 ppm of TO. At the same time, FCR significantly improved (P < 0.05) in the same group as well as in the group supplemented with the antibiotic. However, the organs weight was not significantly affected by the experimental treatments. Nevertheless, villi height of duodenum, jejunum and ileum was significantly increased and crypt depth was significantly decreased in the quails fed diets supplemented with different levels of TO and SO. The values of serum triglycerides decreased in both sexes in the groups that received diets supplemented with different levels of essential oils whereas the values of cholesterol decreased only in males of the essential oils supplemented groups. From the present observations it can be concluded that thyme and savory essential oils can improve FCR by decreasing FI through boosting the absorption of nutrients in intestine. These plant essential oils can replace antibiotic growth parameters without having any adverse effect on quail's health with thyme essential oil exerting the most effective activity.

Effects of wet feeding and early feed restriction on blood parameters and growth performance of broiler chickens.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of early feed restriction (FR) with wet feeding on size of small intestine, blood lipids and performance parameters in broilers from d 1 to 42. A total of 160 one-day-old male broiler chickens were randomly allocated to 4 treatments with 4 pens per treatment and 10 chickens per pen, in a fully randomized 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, two feeding arrangement; providing feed ad libitum (Full Fed) or FR by 50% between days 6 to 12, and feed in either wet or dry form (wet form, 1.2 g water per 1 g dry feed). Body weight and feed intake of broiler chickens were determined at d 0, 21, and 42, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) was calculated. At d 42, two birds per replicate were euthanised for determination of carcass weight, organ weight and length, and also for blood parameters, which included high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), total cholesterol and triglycerides (TG). The broilers fed wet form irrespective of FR throughout had superior body weight gain and carcass weight compared with birds fed dry diets at d 22 and 42 (P < 0.05). The wet form with FR significantly showed lower FCR compared with the wet form and ad libitum at d 1 to 21 (P < 0.05). The broilers fed wet form had significantly increased HDL, LDL, and total cholesterol and decreased TG (P < 0.05). In conclusion, wet form can improve performance growth and blood parameters, and the FR birds were able to attain normal market body weight at d 42, which suggests that growth compensation occurred.