To evaluate the effects of butyric acid (BA) levels and wheat form (WF) on the performance of broiler chickens, 320 day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly distributed among 32 floor pens. A 4 × 2 factorial arrangement with four levels of BA (B 1 : 0 g BA/kg in both starter and grower feed; B 2 : 2.5 g BA/kg in both starter and grower feed; B 3 : 2.5 g BA/kg in starter and 1 g BA/kg in grower feed; and B 4 : 2.5 g BA/kg in starter and 0 g BA/kg in grower feed) and two forms of wheat (whole (WW) vs. ground (GW)) were used. Dietary supplementation with BA had no effect on average weight gain (AWG) or feed conversion ratio (FCR) in the starter, grower/finisher and over whole (0 -42 d) trial periods. However, birds consumed more when the diet was supplemented with butyrate (B 2 ) relative to the control and other experimental diets during 0 -42 d, but this increase was not associated with improved AWG or FCR as compared with that of the control. The BA had no significant effect on relative fat pad, gizzard or breast meat, but increased liver weight. The length of the entire gut was augmented by BA and WW feeding. Feeding WW increased the relative weight of the gizzard and liver, but decreased the relative weight of abdominal fat. Two-way interactions were not significant for any of the carcass traits or organ-size parameters except for breast meat, in which a significant interaction was observed between BA and WF.________________________________________________________________________________

The effect of the thyme extract and wheat form of the diet on performance, digestive organ weights and serum lipoproteins was studied in 320 male day old (ROSS 308) chicks. From 1 to 42 d of age, 8 diets arranged factorial with 4 thyme extract level (0.0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6%) and 2 wheat forms (ground vs whole) was used. Each treatment was replicated 4 times (10 birds per replicate). Thyme extract had no significant effect on body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio irrespective of wheat form used over whole trial period (1-42 d). From 1 to 21 d of age, broilers fed the whole wheat diet grew faster than the broilers fed ground wheat based diet (609.06 vs 573.34 g). Relative abdominal fat and gizzard weight was significantly higher (P<0.05) in birds fed the whole wheat diets. Two-way interaction between thyme extract and wheat form were observed for total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) in the experiment. The results showed that the extract had no effect on performance of broilers irrespective of wheat form used. Relative gizzard weight was higher (P<0.05) in birds fed the whole wheat diets, but an increase in abdominal fat should be taken into account for carcass quality and processing. The predominant effect of thyme extract on lowering lipid levels in broilers fed on wheat based diets was on triglyceride rather than on cholesterol concentrations.

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Concentrations of serum glucose (SG) and urea (SU), milk lactose (ML) and urea (MU) and their relationships to dietary gross energy (GE) and crude protein (CP) were studied in 16 lactating ewes in Urmia, Iran. Ewes were aged 3 to 5 years and were bred in a closed pen. They were fed alfalfa hay, pasture grass, concentrate and corn silage. Each lactating ewe was nursing a single lamb. Five ml of blood from v. jugularis, 50 ml milk and 200 g feed mixture were collected at 15 day intervals up to 135 days (9 samples). Serum glucose and urea concentrations were evaluated using a spectrophotometer, milk lactose in Polarimeter, gross energy by calculation method and crude protein by Kjeldahl methods. The mean values for dietary GE, CP, SG, SU, MU and ML were 2.39 Mcal/kg/DM, 14.1% food/DM, 2.69, 4.65, 3.67 mmol/l and 4.8 mg/dl milk, respectively. Significant differences (P < 0.01) were found for serum and milk indicators during the milking periods among the sampling times. Serum urea and milk urea irregularly increased while serum glucose and milk lactose irregularly decreased. Positive correlations were found (P < 0.05) between SU/MU (r = 0.45), MU/GE (r = 0.75), MU/CP (r = 0.70) and SU/CP (r = 0.97). Negative correlations (P < 0.05) were found between MU/SG (r = -0.17), SU/ML (r = -0.20) and MU/ML (r = -0.24). Based on results, it is concluded that urea, glucose and lactose would be appropriate variables in the prediction of crude protein and gross energy concentration of diet in lactating ewes.

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