Growth performance and intestinal morphology in broiler chickens produced from hyperthyroid breeder hens

2013 ◽  
Vol 53 (10) ◽  
pp. 1046 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Akhlaghi ◽  
M. J. Zamiri ◽  
Y. Jafari Ahangari ◽  
M. R. Mollasalehi ◽  
H. Shojaie ◽  
...  

An association between induced maternal hyperthyroidism and a decreased incidence of cold-induced ascites in broiler chickens has been reported recently. There are also reports suggesting that thyroid hormones have an effect on intestine, a high oxygen-demanding organ. The present study aimed to determine whether the ascites-attenuating effect of maternal hyperthyroidism is associated with morphological changes in intestine and with probable adverse effects on growth performance in progeny chicks. Eighty-eight broiler breeder hens were allotted to control or hyperthyroid [HYPER; thyroxine-treated] groups, and artificially inseminated. Hatching eggs (n = 924) were incubated and day-old male chicks (n = 288) were reared for 42 days under standard or low ambient temperature. Plasma thyroxine was higher in the HYPER hens and their embryos at internal pipping. Maternal hyperthyroidism did not adversely affect the feed : gain ratio and carcass weight, whereas cold stress impaired them. A higher relative weight was found at 42 days of age for all intestinal regions at low ambient temperature. The duodenal and jejunal crypt depths (CD) were lower in HYPER group at 7 days of age. Cold exposure decreased the duodenal and jejunal villus height and CD, and increased the ileal goblet cell number at 21 days. On Day 42, higher values were recorded for CD, goblet cell number, and epithelial thickness of different intestinal regions in cold-exposed birds. In conclusion, growth performance was not adversely influenced by maternal hyperthyroidism and its minimal early effect on intestinal morphology does not appear to be the underlying mechanism for decreased incidence of ascites in broilers.

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (12) ◽  
pp. 1557
Author(s):  
Samira Zangeneh ◽  
Mehran Torki ◽  
Alireza Abdolmohammadi ◽  
Aliasghar Saki

Context Evaluating performance of broilers fed diet included feed additives in stress conditions. Aims This study was conducted to investigate the effects of adding lysophospholipids (LPLs) and vitamin C (VC) to diet on growth performance, blood metabolites, antioxidant capacity and carcass traits in broiler chickens reared under low ambient temperature Methods A total of 288 male chicks (Ross 308) were allotted to four treatments with six replicates (n = 12) when they were 1-day-old. Based on a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, four diets including dietary LPLs (0 or 1000 mg/kg) and VC (0 or 500 mg/kg) were formulated. According to the catalogue of LPL product, 100000 kcal/Kg metabolisable energy was considered for LPLs. The house temperature was 32°C during the first week and 30°C for a second week. To induce cold stress, house temperature was decreased to 14°C by the step-down temperature program during the third week and maintained between 12 and 14°C for the rest of the study. Key results Increased feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were observed in chickens fed the LPL-supplemented diet during the first 2 weeks, but there was no significant difference in growth performance between the birds fed LPL-supplemented diet with control during cold stress condition. Decreased feed intake and bodyweight gain were observed in chickens fed VC-supplemented diet compared with control in cold stress condition. Dietary VC decreased blood concentration of triglyceride (TG) and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL). Decreased activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in breast muscle was observed in chickens fed VC-supplemented diet. A significant interaction between dietary LPLs and VC on relative weight and length of jejunum and ileum were detected. Comparable effects of LPLs and VC on inhibiting lipid peroxidation were observed. The free radical scavenging assay showed higher antioxidant activity of VC compared with LPLs. Conclusions Overall, dietary LPL supplementation did not improve broiler performance in cold stress condition, while the utilisation of 500 mg/kg VC in the ration reduced performance of broilers in low ambient temperature. Implications In low ambient temperature, adding 500 mg/kg VC to diet of broilers can be an effective to reduce blood concentration of TG and VLDL, with no adverse effect on FCR.


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.


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.


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