The Effectiveness of Biotin (Vitamin B7) Added to the Diet in Improving the Efficiency of Productivity, and Some Physiological Traits for Broiler Chickens (Ross-308) Exposed to Oxidative Stress.

Biotin (B7) acts as an antioxidant, as it inhibits the effect of many free radicals that are naturally formed within the organism's body. This study aimed to determine the effect of adding different concentrations of biotin to the diet of broilers exposed to oxidative stress in improving productive and physiological performance. 180 unsexed Ross-308 one-day age chicks of broiler chickens were used, and they were reared together until 7 days. Then the chicks were randomly distributed into 5 treatments; each treatment included 3 replicates, 12 chicks for each replicate. Oxidative stress was induced by adding 0.5% H2O2 to drinking water. The first treatment, T1 (control), was free from adding B7 or H2O2, and the second treatment (T2): was a positive control treatment free from adding vitamin B7 + water added to it H2O2 at an average of 0.5%. The third treatment (T3): adding 550 micrograms of B7/kg of feed + water added H2O2 at an average of 0.5%. Fourth treatment (T4): 650 micrograms/kg vitamin B7 + water with 0.5% H2O2 added on average. Fifth treatment (T5): 750 micrograms of vitamin B7/kg of feed + 0.5% H2O2 added to the water. The results of adding vitamin B7 to the diet of T4 and T5 birds exposed to oxidative stress showed a significant increase (P<0.05) in the average live body weight, total weight gain and cumulative feed consumption average, and the best cumulative feed conversion ratio for treated birds (T3, T4, T5). In comparison to the other therapies, all additional vitamin B7 treatments demonstrated a significant decrease (P<0.05) in the concentrations of glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, as well as Malondialdehyde (MDA), and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and a significant increase (P<0.05) in the concentrations of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and total protein. The concentration of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) was significantly elevated (P<0.05) in the serum of T5-treated birds compared to all other treatments. We conclude that adding vitamin B7 in different concentrations improved the productivity and some physiological traits of broilers exposed to the induced oxidative stress compared with the negative and positive control treatments.

Effects of Grape Seed Powder on Productive Performance, Lipid Profile and Total Bacteria in Duodenum and Ceca of Broiler Chickens.

Intensive broiler production exposed the birds to several stressors, such as environmental factors, crowding and vaccination. However, when free radical is higher than physiological tolerance cause oxidative stress. This study aimed to investigate the effect of supplementing different levels of grape seed powder to a broiler diet on productive performance, lipid profile and bacterial count of the duodenum and cecum. A total of 180 unsexed one-day-old broiler chicks (Ross 308). Birds were randomly distributed to four dietary treatments (three replicates/treatment, 15 chicks/pen). T1: (control) without addition, T2, T3, and T4, (1, 2, 3) % grape seed powder /kg diet, respectively. Results indicated that final body (42 days of age) and accumulative weight gain, and feed conversion ratio were significantly (P<0.05) better in T2 and T3 (2 and 3) % grape seed powder/kg diet. Blood glucose concentration, cholesterol, Triglyceride, LDL, and MDA were significantly (P<0.05) decreased in T3 and T4 compared with other groups. While there were significant (P<0.05) increases in HDL and Glutathione peroxidase in T3 and T4. There was a significant (P<0.05) decrease in total aerobic bacteria and clone bacteria and a significant increase (P<0.05) in lactobacillus of duodenum and ceca for T3 and T4, respectively. It could be concluded from this study that adding grape seed powder at levels of (2 and 3) % has beneficial effects on productive performance, lipid profile and microbial count of duodenum and ceca.