Background: There has been great interest in the use of seaweed as a functional feed ingredient for poultry in the last decade. This study aimed to assess the effects of dietary seaweed inclusion on growth performance of broiler chickens by using a systematic review and meta-analysis approach. Methods: A systematic search of published research articles related to seaweed, broiler chickens, and growth performance was conducted using three online databases (Scopus, PubMed, and SciELO). Mean values, standard deviation, and sample size were extracted from each eligible study. The estimated effect size was then quantified using Hedges’ g with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Data were pooled using a fixed-effect model due to the absence of heterogeneity after being pre-checked using the I2 statistic. Results: A total of six studies (nine comparisons) involving 2,257 broiler chickens were accommodated in this study. The seaweed type consisted of seaweed blend, Laminaria japonica, Undaria pinnatifida, Hizikia fusiformis, and Ulva lactuca. The inclusion dose ranged from 2 to 30 g/kg, while the intervention duration ranged from 21 to 42 days. No substantial heterogeneity among studies (I2 = 0.00%) was found for feed intake, body weight gain, and feed conversion ratio. Dietary seaweed had no significant effect on feed intake (Hedges’ g = 0.19; 95% CI = -0.22 to 0.60; P = 0.280). However, broiler chickens fed dietary seaweed had superior body weight gain (Hedges’ g = 0.64; 95% CI = 0.22 to 1.06; P = 0.000) and preferable feed conversion ratio (Hedges’ g = -0.53; 95% CI = -0.95 to -0.11; P = 0.004). Conclusions: The current investigation highlights that dietary seaweed had growth-promoting potency for broiler chickens. However, more research on this issue is still required to build more comprehensive evidence.
Background: Due to their antimicrobial properties and safety, essential oils are currently proposed as a sustainable option for antibiotic alternatives in the livestock sector. This current systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the effects of dietary essential oil supplements on dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of small ruminants. Methods: A total of 12 studies (338 small ruminants) were included in this meta-analysis. The overall effect size was quantified using Hedges’ g with 95% confidence interval (CI) using a fixed-effect model. Publication bias was inspected using Begg’s and Egger’s tests, followed by trim and fill method to detect the number of potential missing studies. Results: Insignificant heterogeneity among studies was detected both on DMI (P of Q = 0.810; I-square = 0.00%), ADG (P of Q = 0.286; I-square = 17.61%), and FCR (P of Q = 0.650; I-square = 0.00%). The overall effect size showed that essential oils supplementation had no significant impact on DMI (Hedges’ g = -0.12; 95% CI = -0.50 to 0.26; P = 0.429) and FCR (Hedges’ g = -0.17; 95% CI = -0.55 to 0.22; P = 0.284), but had a significant positive impact on ADG (Hedges’ g = 0.44; 95% CI = 0.12 to 0.76; P = 0.002). The result of publication bias analysis showed that DMI, ADG, and FCR did not present any significant biases ( P > 0.10), and no potential missing studies detected. Conclusions: Dietary essential oil could improve ADG of small ruminants, without any alteration on DMI and FCR. Further research in this topic is still required to provide stronger evidence of the potency of essential oil as a growth promoter for small ruminants.
Semen quality is a critical point to ensure the success of the artificial insemination program. One factor which highly determine the semen quality of bulls is climatic conditions. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the association between climatic factors and fresh semen quality parameters in Madura bulls. A total of 1583 ejaculates which were collected from 5 Madura bulls from January 2014 to December 2018 were included in this study. Semen quality parameters such as semen Volume (VOL), sperm Concentration (CONC), Total sperm (TOT), sperm Motility (MOT) and Straw production (STR) were directly evaluated upon collection and then correlated with climate factors such as mean and maximum ambient temperature (ATmean and ATmax, respectively), Relative Humidity (RH) and Temperature-Humidity Index (THI). The results demonstrated that the month of semen collection had no effect (P>0.05) on VOL, CONC and TOT. However, MOT and STR were differed (P<0.05) among semen collection time, with the peak value was observed in March. Among climatic variables studied here, AT max was the most sensitive factor associated with sperm quality parameters. ATmax value at the same month as semen collection had negative significant correlation (P<0.05) with TOT and STR, while at one and two months before semen collection was consistently had negative significant correlation (P<0.01) with CONC, TOT and STR. It could be concluded that the maximum ambient temperature is the most responsible climatic factor affecting loss of straw production in Madura bulls.
This study compared the semen quality traits between Etawah grade (EGB) and Senduro bucks (SB) raised in Singosari National Artificial Insemination Center, Indonesia. A total of 96 ejaculated semen were collected from three EGB and three SB with an average age of three years. The ejaculates were evaluated for semen volume (SV), spermatozoa concentration (SC), total spermatozoa (TS), spermatozoa motility (SM), post-thawing spermatozoa motility (PTSM), the recovery rate of spermatozoa motility (RRSM), and frozen semen production (FSP). Data of SV, SM, PTSM, and RRSM were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. While the data of SC, TS, and FSP were analyzed using an independent t-test. The results showed that SV, SM, PTSM, and RRSM were not significantly differed (P>0.05) between breeds. Whereas, SC, TS, and FSP of EGB were significantly higher (P<0.05) than SB. Therefore, it can be concluded that Etawah grade bucks can produce higher total spermatozoa and as a result higher frozen semen production for artificial insemination as compared to Senduro bucks.
This research aimed to examine the effects of fish oil and tomato powder supplementation on egg quality of Mojosari ducks. A total of one hundred and forty Mojosari ducks (consisted of 20 male and 120 female ducks), aged at 40 weeks old, were randomly allotted into 20 flocks (each flock consisted of 1 male and 6 female ducks). Method used was experiment in a Completely Randomized Design with 5 treatments and 4 replications. Dietary treatments used were T0: basal diet (control), T1: basal diet + 1% FO, T2: basal diet + 2% FO, T3: basal diet + 1% FO + 1% TP; T4: basal diet + 2% FO + 1% TP. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Result showed that supplementation of fish oil and tomato powder did not significantly affect (P>0.05) external egg quality (egg shape index, shell surface area, shell thickness and specific gravity). Dietary treatments also had no significant effect (P>0.05) on internal egg quality (albumen volume, yolk volume, albumen index, yolk index and Haugh unit). It is concluded that there was no detrimental effect of fish oil and tomato powder supplementation in Mojosari ducks diet on external and internal egg quality.
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