Research Note: Evaluation of standardized ileal amino acid digestibility in feed ingredients for Pekin ducks.

The digestibility of crude protein (CP) and amino acids (AA) in feedstuffs including corn, soybean meal (SBM), and corn distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) was investigated in White Pekin ducks. The test ingredients were the sole source of AA and CP. A nitrogen-free diet was also formulated for determining endogenous losses of AA and nitrogen. Birds were fed a standard starter diet for the first 15 d posthatch. On d 16, 96 ducklings (860 ± 50 g BW) were selected and allocated into 1 of 4 dietary treatments containing the test ingredients with 6 replicates per treatment in a randomized complete block design. All the crumbled assay diets were offered ad-libitum for 5 d and contained chromic oxide as an indigestible marker at 0.05%. On d 21, ducks were euthanized to collect the ileal digesta for digestibility analysis. Basal endogenous losses were abundant in glutamine, aspartic acid, leucine, proline, and serine, consecutively. For apparent ileal digestibility (AID), lysine and methionine were the highest (P < 0.05) in SBM, followed by corn and DDGS. For threonine, the highest values (P < 0.05) were similarly noted for SBM, followed by DDGS and corn; the values were 80.44, 69.88, and 64.89%, consecutively. Considering standardized ileal digestibility (SID), higher values (P < 0.05) for SBM were similarly noted for all the amino acids including lysine, methionine, and threonine; the values were 89.40, 93.58, and 86.50%, respectively. Conclusively, improved AA and CP digestibility was noted with SBM. Dietary protein source affected the extent of digestibility at the distal ileum; and the utilization of digestible amino acid coefficients during ducks' feed formulation is emphasized.

Differences in bedding material could alter the growth performance of White Pekin ducks raised for 42 days.

The effect of different commercially available bedding materials on the growth performance and carcass characteristics of ducks for 42 days was investigated. 336 one-day-old White-Pekin ducklings (60.48 ± 0.16 g) were randomly allocated into 24-floor pens with one of the three beddings namely i) coco peat, ii) rice husks, or iii) sawdust. 14 ducklings per pen and 8 replicate pens per bedding material were used. Birds were fed a starter diet from days 1-21 and a grower diet from days 22-42. Weekly growth performance evaluation was conducted for the average body weight, weight gains, daily feed intake, and feed conversion efficiency. One bird per pen was sacrificed on day 42 for the evaluation of carcass characteristics including the carcass, breast, and leg muscle percentages. Breast and leg muscle samples were then collected and analyzed for their proximate and pH values. Higher body weights (p < 0.05) were noticed with rice husks on day 42 only. Improved daily gains (p < 0.05) were also noticed for birds raised with rice husks over the entire period (days 1-42). Concerning feed intake, higher values (p < 0.05) were similarly noted with rice husks for the grower phase (days 22-42), and the entire experimental period (days 1-42). Marginally improved feed intake values were also noted with the use of rice husks as the bedding materials on day 42 (p = 0.092). Improved feed efficiency (p < 0.05) was noticed with rice husks on day 35, the grower period, and the entire 42-day period. However, no significant differences were noticed for most of the carcass characteristics that were evaluated. Nevertheless, higher (p < 0.05) pH values for the breast muscle were noticed with the use of coco peat and sawdust as the bedding. Conclusively, the bedding type could have a significant impact on the growth performance of ducks without adverse effects on carcass characteristics. The use of rice husks as bedding might be advantageous and is therefore recommended.

Feeding a calcium-enriched fatty acid could ameliorate the growth performance of broilers under the chronic heat stress.

The current study was conducted to evaluate the effect of calcium-enriched fatty acid supplementation on the growth performance, blood metabolites, intestinal morphology, carcass traits, and nutrient digestibility of broilers subjected to chronic heat stress. A total of 210 one-day-old broiler chicks (40.12 ± 0.25 g) were randomly allocated to one of five dietary treatments, to obtain six replicates per treatment. Broilers were subjected to chronic heat stress from day 21 to day 35, post-hatching, at 34°C for 9 h per day. The body weight (BW) and feed intake of the experimental broilers were recorded weekly, and the average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated accordingly. Rectal temperature was measured to compare the basal body temperatures between individuals, and blood samples were collected on days 21 and 35 to evaluate basal body temperature, serum total cholesterol, and the triglyceride content of the broilers. On days 21 and 35, one broiler from each cage (n=6) was euthanized to measure carcass trait parameters, nutrient digestibility in digesta, and intestinal morphology. On days 14, 28, and 35, the broilers fed 2.0% calcium-enriched fatty acids had higher BW (p < 0.05) than those fed the other diets. However, no differences (p > 0.05) were found in the average daily feed intake (ADFI) between dietary treatments over the 35 experimental days. On the other hand, on day 21, post-hatching, the broilers fed the 2.0% calcium-enriched fatty acid diet had improved (p < 0.05) dietary feed efficiencies compared to the other treatments. On day 28, the broilers fed the 5.0% of calcium-enriched fatty acid diet also had higher (p < 0.05) dietary feed efficiencies than those fed with the other dietary treatments. No effects (p > 0.05) on carcass weight, nutrient digestibility, intestinal morphology, or blood parameters were found between broilers fed with dietary treatments. This study demonstrated that the inclusion of an additive, containing 2.0% calcium-enriched fatty acid, to broiler diet could ameliorate the negative growth performance of broilers; and no interaction (p > 0.05) was observed between the calcium-enriched fatty acid and nutrient digestibility, digestive anatomy, blood metabolism, and carcass traits of broilers subjected to chronic heat stress conditions for 35 days post-hatching.

Physiological responses of broiler chickens fed reduced-energy diets supplemented with emulsifiers.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the physiological effects of exogenous emulsifiers in broiler chickens that were fed tallow-incorporated reduced-energy diets over 35 days. METHODS: A total of 256 Ross 308 one-day-old broilers (42.28±0.16 g) were randomly allocated in a 2×2 factorial arrangement to 32 pens with eight chicks per cage. Birds were fed one of four dietary treatments as follows: i) positive control (PCN; energy sufficient diet); ii) negative control (NCN; energy-deficient diet, -100 ME kcal/kg); iii) PCL (PCN plus 0.05% emulsifier); and iv) NCL (NCN plus 0.05% emulsifier). Growth performance was evaluated weekly whereas assessments for the carcass traits, digestibility, some blood metabolites, ileal morphology, and meat quality were measured on d 21 and d 35. RESULTS: Birds fed the NCL diet had higher (p<0.05) body weights, daily gains, daily feed intake, and improved feed efficiency over the entire 35-day period. Improvements (p<0.05) for the ileal digestibility of crude fat, energy, and dry matter commensurate with longer (p<0.05) villus heights were also observed with emulsifiers in the NCL and PCL diets. For the carcass measurements, only the liver weights were increased (p<0.05) with emulsifiers in the supplemented groups. For blood metabolites, higher (p<0.05) lipase levels were noticed with emulsifiers in the NCL and PCL diets. In addition, marginal reductions (p = 0.076; p = 0.095, respectively) were also noted with emulsifiers for the total cholesterol and triglyceride contents on d 35. Regarding meat quality, breast muscle yellowness was increased (p<0.05) with emulsifier use in supplemented groups. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that emulsifier supplementation at 0.05% in diets could potentially improve the growth performance and nutrient digestibility of broilers over 35 days. This could compensate for the lower growth performance that could be recorded with fat-incorporated lower-energy diets.

Combinatorial Effect of Dietary Oregano Extracts and 3,4,5-Trihydroxy Benzoic Acid on Growth Performance and Elimination of Coccidiosis in Broiler Chickens.

We aimed to compare the combinatorial effect of 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid (THB) and oregano extracts (OE) with THB alone on the growth performance and elimination of deleterious effects in coccidiosis-infected broilers. A total of 210 one-day-old broilers were randomly assigned to one of five dietary treatments, with six replicates each, for 35 days. Dietary treatments were: 1) non-challenged, non-treated (NC); 2) challenged, non-treated (PC); 3) PC+ Salinomycin (0.05 g/kg; AB); 4) PC+THB (0.1 g/kg; THB); and 5) PC+THB+OE (0.1 g/kg; COM). On day 14, all groups except for NC were challenged with a 10-fold dose of Livacox® T anticoccidial vaccine to induce mild coccidiosis. All treatments significantly improved (P<0.05) body weight, average daily gain, and average daily feed intake, compared to PC, on days 21, 28, and 35. However, all treatments significantly reduced (P<0.05) the feed conversion ratio of PC by more than 14.60% on day 35, 11.76% during growing period, and 10.36% through the entire period. Broilers receiving anticoccidial treatments had 54.23% and 51.86% lower lesion scores (P<0.05) at 4 and 7 days post-infection, respectively, compared to PC. Additionally, the villus height of COM was significantly longer (P < 0.05) than that of THB. Although the molecular action of COM remains unclear, OE addition to THB reduced the shedding of oocysts better than THB alone (P<0.05, 9-11 days post-infection). Most importantly, COM effectively minimized the mortality of challenged birds from as high as 11.90% (PC) to 0%, a level similar to NC and AB, while THB maintained a mortality of 2.38%. In conclusion, the anticoccidial effect of THB can be enhanced by the addition of OE for better animal performance and the elimination of deleterious effects from coccidiosis-infected broilers for 35 days.

Broiler responses to dietary 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid and oregano extracts under Eimeria challenge conditions.

This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of a combination 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid (THB) and oregano extracts (i.e., Carvacrol and Thymol) at intake/dietary different levels on growth performance, intestinal health indicators, immune responses and fecal oocyst shedding in broiler chickens under Eimeria challenged condition. A total of 336 one-day-old broilers were randomly assigned to one of six dietary treatments with seven replications per treatment. Dietary treatments were: i) Non-challenged bird without any dietary treatment (NCNT), ii) Challenged bird without any dietary treatment (CNT), iii) Challenged birds fed a THB diet (0.1 g/kg, THB), iv) Challenged birds fed a combination of THB and oregano extracts diet (0.1 g/kg, COM 100), and a gradual increase of combination of THB and oregano extracts likely v) 0.15 g/kg (COM 150), and 0.2 g/kg (COM 200). On day 14, all groups except for NCNT have orally challenged with a 10-fold dose of Livacox® T anticoccidial vaccine to trigger coccidiosis. The results indicated that Eimeria-challenged broilers fed COM 100 and COM 200 diets increased (p < 0.05) body weight than CNT diet on day 35. Furthermore, birds fed COM 100 and COM 200 diets increased (p < 0.05) average daily gain compared to those fed CNT diets for the entire experimental period. There is no significant (p > 0.05) in average daily feed intake, feed efficiency between NCNT and birds fed with combined THB and oregano extracts for the entire experimental period. A combination of THB and oregano extract regardless of concentration levels or THB alone reduced (p < 0.05) lesion score in ileum compared to the CNT diet for 7 days post-infection (dpi). Birds fed COM 100 diet had lower (p < 0.05) intestinal lesion scores in jejunum and caeca on 7 dpi compared to those were in the CNT diet. No (p > 0.05) difference was observed in the oocysts per gram of feces count, intestinal morphology, carcass traits and blood cytokine concentration among the infected treatments. Collectively, we conclude that birds fed with a combination of THB and oregano extracts regardless of the ratios that were used demonstrated better recovery of health after the coccidial challenge than using only THB alone.

Responses in growth performance and nutrient digestibility to a multi-protease supplementation in amino acid-deficient broiler diets.

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of a multi-protease on production indicators of broiler chickens fed a crude protein and amino acid deficient-diets for 35 days immediately after hatch. A total of 448 one-day-old Ross 308 male broiler chicks were allocated in a completely randomized design into one of eight dietary treatments (positive control [PC], negative control [NC: minus 0.5% from PC, and minus 2% of lysine, methionine, threonine and methionine plus cysteine], extreme negative control [ENC: minus 1% from PC, minus 4% of lysine, methionine, threonine and methionine plus cysteine], and plus multi-protease 150 or 300 g per ton [e. g., PC-150]; PC, PC-150, NC, NC-150, NC-300, ENC, ENC-150, ENC-300) to give eight replicates with seven birds in a battery cage. Body weight, average daily gain, average daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio, and mortality were measured every week. Carcass traits, proximate analysis of breast meat, and ileum digestibility were analyzed on day 21 and 35. Feeding a multi-protease (i.e., more than 150 g/ton) for 35 days immediately after hatching improved feed efficiency and ileum digestibility (i.e., dry matter, crude protein, and energy) compared to their counterparts (i.e., diets without multi-protease: PC, NC, and ENC). In conclusion, our results indicated that broiler chickens fed nutrients deficient-diet (i.e., crude protein and amino acids) supplemented a multi-protease had an ability to compensate and (or) improve their growth performance commensurate with increased ileal digestibility for 35 days immediately after hatch.

Partial or complete replacement of fishmeal with fermented soybean meal on growth performance, fecal composition, and meat quality in broilers.

The current study was aimed to examine the effect of partial or complete replacement of fishmeal (FM) with fermented soybean meal (FSBM) on growth performance, fecal composition, and meat quality in broiler chickens. A total number of 240 one-day-old broiler chicks were randomly allotted into four dietary treatments with six replications and ten birds per one pen. Dietary treatments were followed as; 1) Diet incorporated with 4% FM without FSBM (Control), 2) Diet incorporated with 3% FM and 2% FSBM (FSBM2), 3) Diet incorporated with 2% FM and 3% FSBM (FSBM3) and 4) Diet incorporated with 4% FSBM without FM (FSBM4). Body weight and feed intake were recorded weekly for 35 days of the experimental period. Moreover, fecal samples were collected to evaluate moisture, ash, nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus content on day 21 post-hatch. On day 35, two birds were sacrificed from each pen to measure meat quality parameters and visceral organ weights. Results revealed that, no dietary treatment effect (p > 0.05) was observed either in both body weight or average daily gain of broilers within the entire experimental period while broilers fed FSBM2 increased (p < 0.05) average daily feed intake by 10.07% whereas FSBM4 improved (p < 0.05) feed efficiency ratio by 8.45% compared to birds fed other dietary treatments on day 7 post-hatch. Besides, birds fed FSBM3 obtained the improved (p < 0.05) feed conversion ratio over the birds fed control diet by 7.51% from hatch to day 35 post-hatch (1.60 vs. 1.73). Nevertheless, no difference (p > 0.05) was detected on visceral organ weight, proximate composition and physicochemical characteristics of meat while broilers offered FSBM4 obtained the lowest (p < 0.05) calcium and phosphorous in faces (2.27% and 1.21% respectively) over those offered control feed and other FSBM treatments. In conclusion, FSBM would be a better replacement for ousting FM partially or completely in broiler diet as it did not impair the growth performance and meat quality while reducing the calcium and phosphorous excretion in broilers for 35 days post-hatch.