1. A 56-d experiment was conducted to study the comparative influence of organic and inorganic dietary copper (Cu) sources on growth, blood characteristics and copper accumulation in organs of broilers. 2. A total of 480 Arbor-Acre unsexed broilers were fed on diets containing copper sulphate (CuSO(4)) or copper proteinate (Cu Pro) at concentrations of 50, 100 or 150 mg/kg of Cu supplementation. The birds were given a broiler starter diet from 1-28 d and a broiler finisher diet from 29-56 d which contained 30·8 mg/kg and 41·1 mg/kg basal copper concentration respectively. Growth performance, blood characteristics and Cu accumulation in organs of the broilers were measured. 3. At 28 d, Cu Pro-fed birds had improved feed conversion ratio compared with CuSO(4). At 56 d, birds fed on Cu Pro diets had significantly greater body weight than CuSO(4)-fed birds. Birds fed on CuSO(4) supplemented diets had significantly better feed conversion efficiency. Feed consumptions for the two Cu sources were not significantly different. At no stage did the concentration of added Cu affect the productive traits measured. 4. Cu Pro supplementation increased haemoglobin concentration but reduced plasma triglyceride and plasma cholesterol. Plasma cholesterol decreased as Cu concentration increased. 5. There was a greater accumulation of Cu in the blood, heart, lung, liver and bone of broilers fed on Cu Pro than in those receiving CuSO(4). The liver Cu concentration increased as dietary Cu concentration increased. 6. Cu Pro was more effective in promoting growth and reducing blood cholesterol, and was more bio-available in the organs of broilers.

The effect of feeding cassava root meal on growth performance, hydrocyanide intake, haematological indices and serum thiocyanate concentration of broiler chicks was investigated using 300-day-old male broilers. There were five dietary treatments arranged in a 2 × 2 + 1 factorial arrangement of two processing methods of cassava root (peeled and unpeeled) included at two levels (100 and 200 g/kg) plus a control diet (maize-based diet, containing no cassava root). Each treatment was replicated six times with ten birds per replicate. The feeding trial lasted for 28 days. Control-fed birds had the highest overall (P < 0.01) final liveweight and weight gain, least (P < 0.05) hydrocyanide (HCN) intake and best (P < 0.05) feed-to-gain ratio. Chicks fed with control and diet containing 100 g/kg peeled cassava root meal (PCRM) had the least (P < 0.05) feed cost per weight gain. Chicks fed with diet containing 100 g/kg cassava root meal had higher (P < 0.05) final liveweight and weight gain and reduced (P < 0.05) HCN intake than chicks fed with diet containing 200 g/kg cassava root meal. Dietary inclusion of peeled cassava root meal (PCRM) for broiler chicks resulted in increased final liveweight (P < 0.05), weight gain (P < 0.01) and feed intake (P < 0.01) when compared with birds fed with diet containing unpeeled cassava root meal (UCRM). The least (P < 0.01) final liveweight and weight gain and worst (P < 0.05) feed-to-gain ratio were obtained with chicks fed with diet containing 200 g/kg UCRM. Increased dietary inclusion levels of cassava root resulted in significant increase (P < 0.05) in white blood cell (WBC) count, heterophil count and serum thiocyanate concentration. In comparison with chicks fed with diet containing UCRM, dietary inclusion of PCRM resulted in increased (P < 0.05) red blood cell (RBC) count and haemoglobin (Hb) concentration and reduced (P < 0.05) white blood cell (WBC) count and serum thiocyanate concentration. Although inclusion of 100 g/kg PCRM showed some economic sense, dietary inclusion of either peeled or unpeeled cassava root poses a threat on growth and health status of broiler chicks.

Six hundred and forty one-day-old layer chicks were used to investigate the effect of replacing soybean meal with undecorticated sunflower seed meal protein for protein at 0, 25, 50, and 75% levels. Diets were without enzyme supplementation or with enzyme supplementation with four replications of twenty birds. Growth performance and nutrient utilization were determined. Proximate composition of the undecorticated sunflower seed meal used revealed that undecorticated sunflower seed meal contained 925.9, 204.5, 336.2, 215.1, 52.0 and 192.2g/kg dry matter, crude protein, ether extract, crude fibre, ash and soluble carbohydrates, respectively. Results showed that the final weight of 484.4 g/bird was obtained for birds on 75% undecorticated sunflower seed meal diet, while the lowest value of 472.2g/bird was obtained for birds on 25% undecorticated sunflower seed meal diet. Weight gain per bird per day was not significantly (P > 0.05) affected as the level of undecorticated sunflower seed meal increased in the diets. Feed intake per bird per day increased (P < 0.05) across the treatment as a result of increased undecorticated sunflower seed meal inclusion in the diet. However, enzyme supplementation of the diets showed marked (P < 0.05) improvements in feed intake, weight gain, and final weight as well as the feed to gain ratio. Survivability was not affected by the treatments imposed. Dry matter digestibility were significantly (P < 0.05) reduced due to high undecorticated sunflower seed meal inclusion in the diet while crude protein digestibility progressively reduced (P < 0.05) as the level of undecorticated sunflower seed meal increased in the diet. Ash digestibility values were, however, increased (P < 0.05) as the level of undecorticated sunflower seed meal increased in the diets. Birds on enzyme-supplemented diets consistently showed superior (P < 0.05) digestibility values than those on diets without enzyme supplementation. However ether extract digestibility was not affected by enzyme supplementation. The results indicated that higher inclusion levels of undecorticated sunflower seed meal in the diets of layer chicks showed a similar body weight gain/bird/day with the control. Undecorticated sunflower seed meal used in this study is a good source of crude protein, ether extract, and amino acids and had the potential to serve as feeding stuffs as replacement for soybeans. The nutritive value of undecorticated sunflower seed meal was improved for layer chicks with exogenous enzyme supplementation.

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The effect of dietary inclusion of fermented pigeon pea meal (FPPM) on growth response, apparent nutrient digestibility, haematological indices and serum biochemistry of cockerel chicks was studied using 240-day-old cockerel chicks allotted to four dietary treatments consisting of 60 birds each. Four experimental diets were formulated to include FPPM at 0, 50, 100 and 150 g/kg inclusion levels, respectively. Each of the diets was fed to 60 birds replicated six times with ten birds per replicate. The feeding trial lasted for 56 days. Results indicated that final live weight (linear (L). quadratic (Q): P < 0.05), weight gain (L.Q: P < 0.01), feed intake (Q.: P < 0.05) and coefficient of total tract apparent crude protein digestibility (P < 0.05) were reduced with increasing dietary inclusion of FPPM. Similar improved feed-to-gain ratios were obtained for chicks fed the control and those fed a diet containing 50 g/kg FPPM. Coefficient of total tract apparent ether extract and ash digestibility were not affected (P > 0.05) by the inclusion of FPPM. Haemoglobin and serum uric acid concentrations were also reduced (P < 0.05) with increasing dietary inclusion of FPPM. Chicks fed with 150 g/kg FPPM had the least (P < 0.05) packed cell volume, red blood cell and neutrophil count. It was concluded that dietary inclusion of up to 50 g/kg FPPM could be used in the ration for cockerel chicks without imposing any threat on the growth response, nutrient digestibility and blood constituents.

The effect of dosage and application mode of L-carnitine on plasma lipid and egg-yolk cholesterol of breeder turkeys, hatchability of eggs and post-hatch growth response was investigated using 180 breeder hens. The hens were assigned to six dietary treatments in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangements of two application modes of L-carnitine (diet and drinking water) supplemented at 0, 50 and 100 ppm (mg/kg or mg/l) levels, respectively. Each treatment was replicated five times with six hens per replicate. Dietary inclusion of 50 ppm L-carnitine showed the lowest (p < 0.01) plasma total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein concentration (LDL). Breeder hens offered 50 ppm L-carnitine with no regard to application mode recorded the highest (p < 0.01) plasma high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Hens offered 50 and 100 ppm L-carnitine irrespective of application mode also showed reduced (p < 0.01) egg-yolk TC concentration at 32 weeks of age. Dietary supplementation of 50 ppm L-carnitine for breeder turkeys recorded the lowest (p < 0.01) egg-yolk triglyceride (TG) at 40 weeks of age. Hens offered 50 ppm L-carnitine irrespective of application mode recorded the highest (p < 0.05) hen-day egg production. Incidence of dead-in-shell also reduced (p < 0.05) with increasing dosage of L-carnitine. Dietary supplementation of 50 ppm and oral application in drinking water of 100 ppm L-carnitine for breeder turkeys resulted in highest (p < 0.05) egg fertility. Offsprings from breeder hens fed diets supplemented with L-carnitine recorded no post-hatch mortality. Highest (p < 0.05) post-hatch final live weight and weight gain was obtained with poults obtained from hens fed diet supplemented with 50 ppm L-carnitine. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of 50 ppm L-carnitine for turkey hens showed improved serum lipid profile, egg fertility, reduced dead-in-shell, egg-yolk cholesterol and resulted in improved post-hatch growth performance.

An 84-day feeding trial was conducted in growing turkeys to measure the bioavailability of Cu, Zn and Mn from a commercial mineral chelate and corresponding inorganic salts in composite feeds containing supplemental riboflavin (B2) and/or pyridoxine (B6). A total of 320, 28-day-old British United Turkeys (BUT) were assigned to eight dietary treatments in a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement comprising two trace mineral sources: chelated trace mineral blend (CTMB) and its corresponding inorganic trace minerals blend (ITMB) fed solely or with supplements of vitamin B2 (8 ppm) or B6 (7 ppm) or 8 ppm B2 + 7 ppm B6. Each treatment was replicated four times with 10 turkeys each. It was observed that turkeys fed with diets supplemented solely with ITMB elicited higher (P < 0.05) Zn excretion than their counterparts fed with diets containing ITMB with supplements of vitamins B2 and/or B6. Manganese retention was lower (P < 0.05) in turkeys fed with diets supplemented solely with ITMB than those fed with diets containing vitamins B2 and/or B6 additives. Combination of CTMB or ITMB with B6 improved (P < 0.05) the concentration of Mn in the liver and Cu in the bone. It was concluded that the minerals in CTMB were more available to the animals than ITMB. Furthermore, vitamins B2 and/or B6 supplementation improved the bioavailability of the inorganic Cu, Zn and Mn in growing turkeys and tended to reduce the concentration of these trace elements in birds' excreta.

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