Poultry Science Journal
Volume:12 Issue: 1, Winter-Spring 2024

As the broiler chicken industry continues to develop, antibiotic growth promoters in poultry feed are being phased out because of increasing country restrictions and consumer concerns about food safety. As a result of these bans and efforts to prevent antimicrobial resistance, research into antibiotic alternatives is accelerated to preserve or improve broilers’ production performance. Due to the presence of beneficial compounds like tannins, saponins, flavonoids, and various others found in grass and leaf meals, they possess the potential to substitute antibiotics. This is because secondary metabolites in plant-derived phytobiotics have useful pharmacological qualities that may benefit broilers’ overall production and health. Previous studies, including grass or leaf meals at a dosage of 0.025-20%, have shown several positive effects on gut histomorphology, gut microflora, and blood biochemistry. For instance, lipid profile and liver functions of broiler chickens improved through hypo-cholesterolaemic and hepatoprotective functions of phytocompounds. However, there are also contradictory data and a lack of information on the effect of these plant-based meals on broilers’ blood biomarkers, such as acute phase proteins and heat shock proteins. Therefore, this review provides insight into the potential of grass or leaf meals and their effects on gut health, blood biochemistry, and biomarkers of broiler chickens.

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of three levels of chromium (Cr) (0, 700, and 1400 µg/kg of diet) on growth performance, carcass characteristics, immunity, blood parameters, cecal microbial flora, meat taste, and fatty acid profile of Arbor Acres commercial broilers. 120 one-day-old male chicks with four replicates and 10 chicks per replicate were used in a completely randomized design for 42 days. The results of the experiment showed that the lowest cost per kg of live chicken and the best European production index, without statistically significant difference, was demonstrated in Cr700. The growth performance in the whole period (1-42d) was not affected by Cr (P > 0.05). The amount of antibody titer against Newcastle virus, influenza, and sheep red blood cells was affected by experimental treatments (P < 0.05). The data showed that the percentage of saturated fatty acids such as myristic acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid decreased and the amount of unsaturated fatty acids increased in Cr700 and Cr1400 compared to the control group. The fat content, juiciness, color, chewing ability, elasticity, oral sensation, and general acceptance were affected by using Cr (P < 0.05). Also, the data showed an improvement in cecal microbial flora in broilers fed Cr. In conclusion, it is recommended to feed 700 µg/kg Cr Arbor Acres farming.

An experiment was conducted to address the relationship between the types of cereal grain and ascites syndrome in broiler chickens raised in a high-altitude region. A number of 252 one-day-old broiler chicks (Cobb 500 strain) were randomly assigned to three dietary treatments including a corn-soybean diet (corn diet), a wheat-soybean diet (wheat diet), and a barley-soybean diet (barley diet). Chicks were kept on experimental diets for 42 days, during which growth performance and carcass traits were assessed, and blood samples collected. Results indicated that corn substitution with wheat and barley significantly suppressed feed intake, growth rate, and lipogenesis as reflected in lower serum cholesterol, triacylglycerols, and abdominal fat deposition (P = 0.0001). Feeding barley resulted in down-regulation of TLR2 and GLUT2 genes but caused an up-regulation of FABP2 gene in jejunum as compared to the corn control. Feeding wheat and barley did not significantly affect the relative weights of the heart, and the right to total ventricular weight ratio (RV/TV). Mortality from ascites was not significant among treatment groups. In conclusion, substituting corn for wheat or barley could impair broiler performance, but under the conditions of this experiment had no significant impact on susceptibility to ascites.

The current study examined the influence of different levels of postbiotic and phytobiotic combinations on growth performance, gut morphology, and fecal bacteria in broiler chickens. 288 one-day old 308 Ross unsexual broiler chickens were allocated into 6 treatments. Each group had 4 replicates, and each replicate had 12 birds. The treatments included: basal diet without any additive (negative control,NC), basal diet + 0.01% Doxin 200 antibiotic (positive control,PC), basal diet + 0.05 thyme oil + 0.05 postbiotic (0.1% Pos+Phy), basal diet + 0.1 thyme oil + 0.1 postbiotic (0.2% Pos+Phy), basal diet + 0.15 thyme oil + 0.15 postbiotic (0.3% Pos+Phy), and basal diet + 0.2 thyme oil + 0.2 postbiotic (0.4% Pos+Phy). The results showed that broiler chickens fed 0.4% Pos+Phy significantly increased in live body weight and weight gain at 35 days compared to the NC and all other treatments. Also, feed intake increased at different levels compared to the NC and was similar to the PC. The feed conversion ratio was significantly enhanced in birds fed at 0.3% and 0.4% compared to the NC and was not significant within the PC. Generally, the gut morphology at different levels of Pos+Phy was significantly improved. The villi height and width were increased at 0.3% and 0.4% compared to the NC and PC. A higher VH: CD ratio and villus absorptive surface area were found in treatments fed at a level of 0.4%. The faecal lactic acid bacteria count increased at 0.2%, 0.3%, and 0.4% compared to the NC and PC. The Enterobacteriaceae count decreased at  level 0.4% compared to the NC, but no significant differences compared to the PC and all other treatments. The 0.4% Pos+Phy-thyme oil is recommended as a new feed additive and growth promoter as an alternative to antibiotics in broiler.

In order to evaluate the effect of feeding Supergel on the biological traits of turkey chicks, 200 Bronze turkey chicks (mixed sex) were used. This study was done by completely randomized design with five treatments, five replicates, and eight chicks per replicate for five weeks. The experimental treatments were as follows: early access to feed and water, deprived of feed and water for 48 hours, feeding Supergel formula-1 for 48 hours, feeding Supergel formula-2 for 48 hours, and feeding Supergel formula-3 for 48. The results showed that the chicks fasted for 48 hours had lower body weight gain than other groups (P < 0.05). Chicks fed formula 1 of the functional Supergel had a better feed conversion ratio than control and fasted groups (P < 0.05). Mortality of the fasted group was higher than other groups (P < 0.05). The feed cost per 1 kg gain was lower in turkey chicks fed with Supergel formula-1 than in control and fasted groups (P < 0.001). The production efficiency index was lower in chicks deprived of feed and water (P < 0.001). The gene expression of IGF-1 in the jejunum was the lowest in the fasted group on d 35 (P < 0.05). Early feeding with Supergel decreased the HSP70 gene expression. In general, the results of the present study showed that feeding functional Supergel immediately after the hatch of turkey chicks positively affected the performance, feed cost, jejunum morphology, and decreased HSP70 gene expression in turkey chicks.

Bangkok chicken, renowned for its exceptional characteristics, presents a valuable option for crossbreeding to enhance the local chicken varieties in Indonesia. Cryopreservation is widely considered a promising approach for protecting the genetic diversity of the Bangkok chicken. This research aims to investigate the biological characteristics of embryonic fibroblast cells from Bangkok chickens, with the goal of preserving the chicken strain's genetic diversity through cryopreservation methods. The fibroblast cells were derived from 8–10-day-old Bangkok chicken embryos and cultivated in DMEM media. Growth curves and Population Doubling Time were observed to assess the rate of fibroblast cell growth. Immunocytochemistry staining was employed to examine the protein expression associated with fibroblast cell adhesion. The results showed that fibroblast cells predominantly exhibited a fusiform morphology rather than an elongated cytoplasmic morphology. The cells proliferated continuously with an average population doubling time of 204 h and the maximum cell count was 7.83×104±1.7 cells/ml. The cells exhibited normal detection of protein expression, including integrin, cadherin, actin, and microtubules. It was also noted that after cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen, fibroblast cells took 4-6 days to grow and reach 80% confluency. The data collectively verifies the successful establishment of cell culture and cryopreservation for Bangkok chicken embryonic fibroblast cells.

This experiment aimed to investigate the effects of in-ovo injection of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on growth performance and β-defensin (AvBD1 and AvBD2) genes expression in broilers. A total of 400 fertile eggs (Cobb 500) were randomly assigned to 4 treatments, each having five replicates of 20 eggs. CLA was injected into the air sack on 18 d of incubation (150 and 300 mg/egg; CLA150 and CLA300). Two groups of diluent injected and non-injected were also included as controls. Hatchlings were further evaluated in a 42-d rearing period. Data were analyzed using a completely randomized design. Results showed that the hatchability was not significantly affected by the treatments. The growth performance in the CLA300 group was improved (P < 0.05) compared to both controls. CLA300 increased (P < 0.05) the jejunal villus length on 42 d, leading to a significant increase in villus absorptive surface area (P < 0.05) compared to CLA150 or controls. Abdominal fat weight in the CLA300 group was significantly decreased on 42 d (P < 0.05). The expression of β-defensins was detectable in all groups on 21 and 42 d, irrespective of treatment and age. Differences in AvBD1 gene expression in chicks from different treatments were not significant on 21 d, but the expression level in CLA received groups was more than controls at 42 d (P < 0.05). AvBD2 gene expression in CLA-treated birds was increased compared to controls on 21 d, but only the CLA300 group showed a significant increase compared to both controls on 42 d (P < 0.05). Research highlights: in ovo feeding 300 mg CLA per egg into the air sac decreased abdominal fat pad, improved growth performance and villous absorptive surface area of the jejunum and increased AvBD1 and AvBD2 gene expression in broilers.

Adding moderate levels of insoluble dietary fiber is a promising and economical method for enhancing broiler chickens' health status and performance. The current research aimed to determine the effect of corn bran (CB) as an insoluble fiber on performance parameters, digestive organs, intestinal morphology, and nutrient digestibility in broiler chickens. A total of 240 one-day-old Ross broilers were randomly divided into four treatments: a control (without CB inclusion) and three treatments with CB at 25, 50, and 75 g/kg. Dietary inclusion of 50 and 75 g/kg of CB significantly decreased daily feed intake and weight gain during the entire rearing period. However, the feed conversion ratio was not affected by the experimental treatments. Carcass yields significantly increased in birds fed control and 25 g/kg CB diets compared to those fed on 50 and 75 g/kg of CB. On the other hand, feeding 50 and 75 g/kg of CB caused a significant increase in the gastrointestinal tract and gizzard relative weights compared to the control. The groups fed 50 and 75 g/kg CB-containing diets had the heaviest ileal and cecal weights relative to the control group. The shortest compartments of the small intestine were observed in the group fed the control diet compared to the CB inclusion treatments (P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed in intestinal morphology and nutrient digestibility among treatments. In conclusion, supplementing CB as an insoluble fiber at 25 g/kg improved the health status of broiler chickens without impairing growth performance.

This study investigated the effects of in ovo injection of organic manganese on the hatchability of eggs of broiler breeder hens. It also evaluated the performance, carcass characteristics, blood biochemical parameters, liver enzymes, immune system response and intestinal microbiota in offspring broiler chickens. For the in ovo injection, 320 fertile eggs were selected from the Ross 308 breeder hens’ flock at 55 weeks with the same average weight (65±1 g). Treatment 1: negative control group (no injection), treatment 2: positive control (injection of 0.272 mL of normal saline solution), treatment 3 (Mn20): injection of 0.272 mL of a solution containing 73.52 μg of organic manganese (20 μg for each egg), and treatment 4 (Mn30): injection of 0.272 mL solution containing 110.28 μg of organic manganese (30 μg for each egg). Hatched chicks were raised based on a completely random design, including four treatments and four replications with commercial diets based on corn-soybean meal. The results showed that in ovo injection of organic manganese led to an improvement in the hatchability compared to the positive control treatment, but the highest percentage belonged to the treatment without injection (negative control) (P < 0.05). In the whole period, no negative effects were observed on production performance, carcass characteristics and gut morphometry after injection (P > 0.05). Total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, atherogenic index, protein, albumin, globulin uric acid, creatine kinase, erythrocytes and the average volume of red blood cells of chickens increased in the groups injected with organic manganese (P < 0.05) but alkaline phosphatase decreased (P < 0.05). Birds injected with organic manganese had the lowest leukocytes and heterophils and the highest lymphocytes (P < 0.05). In addition, a reduction of coliform and Escherichia coli populations and an increase of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and lactic acid bacteria after in ovo injection of organic manganese was found (P < 0.05). In conclusion, in ovo injection of organic manganese, without having a positive effect on the hatchability, had both positive and negative effects on the biochemical parameters of the blood and the immune system. Moreover, it was effective in improving the chicken’s cecal microbiota.

Hen egg weight is one of the most important traits in the egg production industry; however, the egg traits influencing it are poorly understood. Random forest (RF), multivariate adaptive regression spline (MARS), classification and regression trees (CART), bagging MARS, chi-square automatic interaction detector (CHAID), and exhaustive CHAID were used in egg weight (EW) prediction from selected egg quality characteristics in chicken. A total of 400 egg weight (EW), egg length (EL), egg width (EWD), shell weight (SW), yolk weight (YW), and albumen weight (AW) predictors were turned into account. The goodness-of-fit criteria were used to select the best model to estimate Lohman Brown hen egg weight. The data was separated into train and test datasets for validation using a 10-fold cross-validation. The most significant EW predictors were albumen weight, egg width, and egg length. The correlation coefficient (r) value ranged from 0.957 (CHAID) to 0.99999 (MARS and Bagging MARS). The lowest RMSE (0.001) was found for MARS and bagging MARS algorithms and the highest (2.154) was obtained for CHAID. In general, the implemented algorithms excellently predicted the EW of hens. The ascertainment of the egg quality characteristics associated with EW using data mining algorithms can be considered an indirect selection criterion for further chicken breeding programs.

A total of 224 69-week-old Nick Chick laying hens were allocated to eight treatments with eight replicate cages to investigate the effects of stocking density (SD) and dietary inclusion of different levels of grape waste (GW) on performance, some egg quality traits and yolk oxidative status of laying hens from 69 to 76 weeks of age. The experiment was conducted as a 2×4 factorial arrangement, with two levels of stocking density (3 and 4 hens/cage as normal (NSD) and high stocking density(HSD), respectively) and four dietary levels of GW (0, 1.5, 3 and 4.5 % of diet, as a corn replacement). The results indicated that rearing hens under HSD conditions resulted in a worse feed conversion ratio (FCR) and less egg production than NSD (P < 0.05). Dietary inclusion of GW had no detrimental effect on performance or egg quality traits. Increasing density had deleterious consequences on FCR, egg production, egg weight and egg mass (P < 0.05), while dietary addition of GW, particularly at the level of 4.5% alleviated those negative effects. Egg quality traits (shell weight, resistance and thickness, yolk weight, albumen height and Hague Unit) were significantly not influenced by GW, SD or their interaction. Stocking density did not affect malondialdehyde (a peroxidation indicator) level in egg yolk lipid, while all hens fed GW had lower levels of malondialdehyde than those fed diet without GW (P < 0.05). The interaction between SD and GW level significantly influenced egg albumen pH at 3 and 30 d room storage (P< 0.05). In conclusion, dietary inclusion of up to 4.5 % GW had no deleterious effect on laying hen’s egg quality and improved some performance traits and oxidative stability of egg yolk, particularly in hens reared under HSD. Thus, it could be used as a corn replacement in laying hens' diet.

Duck is an important genetic resource primarily used for egg and meat in Bangladesh. This study evaluated the growth performance and egg production potentials of Pekin (P) × Nageswari (N) crossbred ducks compared to its parental Pekin and Nageswari breeds. The growth performance data of 440 P×N crossbreds were collected from three generations (F1, F2, and F3), while the first two generations' data on productive and reproductive traits were considered. Besides, performances of parental Pekin and Nageswari ducks (100 from each breed) were included in the evaluation process. The growth performance significantly differed among the Pekin, Nageswari and P×N crossbreds from day old to the 12th week of age (P < 0.001). The average live weight of the Nageswari duck was 1367 ± 17.38 g at the 12th week of age and was 1703.02 ± 19.76, 1910.46 ± 18.81 and 1826.49 ± 20.63 g, respectively, in F1, F2 and F3 crossbreds that close to the parental Pekin duck (1908.26 ± 34.18 g). Growth performance was superior in all three crossbred generations up to the 12th week of age except day old. The positive heterosis varied from 3.86 to 15.64% at marketing age (12th week). The P×N crossbreds attained sexual maturity two weeks earlier than the Pekin duck. The hen day egg production (HDEP%) was significant (P < 0.01) among the genotypes up to the 40th week of age except the 28th week. The total number of eggs up to 280 days in Pekin, Nageswari and two P×N crossbred F1 and F2 generations were 90.54, 92.32, 86.61 and 94.08, respectively. The egg weight of parental pure breeds and P×N crossbreds differed significantly (P < 0.05) during the investigated periods from the 24th to the 40th week of age. This result reflects the significance of non-additive genetic effects on growth traits. In conclusion, the genetic evaluation involving three generations of data essentially helps to establish the performances of the developed P×N crossbred duck.