Forty-eight 40-wk-old Hi-sex laying hens were individually caged in an environmentally controlled house to evaluate the effect of garlic (Allium Sativum) juice administration on egg production, egg quality, and yolk cholesterol. Garlic juice was prepared by blending pealed garlic cloves with distilled water (1:1, w/w). Hens were randomly divided into four equal groups; one served as a control and the other three groups were individually gavaged, 3.75 ml, 7.5 ml, or 15 ml garlic juice, three times a week, which respectively represented 0.25, 0.50 and 1% of body weight. Egg production was recorded on a daily basis; egg weight, albumen height, albumen and yolk pH, Haugh unit, and bacterial count of E. coli-challenged eggs were recorded at day of oviposition (day-1) and after 5 and 10 days of storage at room temperature. Yolk cholesterol content was analyzed for five successive weeks. Garlic juice increased (p<0.05) egg weight and mass with no change in egg production intensity. Garlic juice administration recorded higher (p<0.05) albumen height and improvement in Haugh unit. Also, eggs from garlic-treated hens recorded lower (p<0.05) albumen and yolk pH when compared to eggs collected from control hens. Garlic reduced (p<0.05) the log 10 of bacterial count in egg contents linearly when challenged with E. coli. Egg-yolk cholesterol content was not influenced by garlic juice administration. It is concluded that garlic juice improved performance characteristics and may increase egg shelf life as indicated by egg quality improvement and lower bacterial count of E. coli-challenged eggs. The levels of garlic juice used in this study were insufficient to influence egg yolk cholesterol.

This work aimed to investigate the effects on performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens of 2 levels of guanidino acetic acid (GAA) in a commercial form (CreAMINO ® ) and 4 levels of metabolisable energy. The eight dietary regimens were tested for starter (0-10 d), grower (11-22 d) and finisher (23-35 d) periods on a total of 200 male ROSS 308 broiler chickens in a factorial arrangements of treatments (2 4), with experimental diet fed to 5 replicate pens with 4 birds each. The results revealed a positive effect for CreAMINO ® supplementation on feed conversion ratio (FCR) for the starter, grower, finisher and cumulative periods (P<0.05, 0.05, 0.01 and 0.001, respectively); feed conversion was significantly improved in the treatment with CreAMINO ® supplementation vs unsupplemented group. During the grower period, a significant difference in FCR was observed for metabolisable energy (ME) level (P<0.01). When examining the cumulative period of the trial (0 to 35 days of age), two-way interaction was significant for feed intake and body weight gain. Birds receiving the control level of energy, 75 or 50 kcal/kg lower ME than the control, consumed less feed when supplemented with CreAMINO ® . Birds receiving 25 kcal/kg lower ME or the control energy levels gained more weight when supplemented with CreAMINO ® . In summary, GAA (as CreAMINO) improved FCR of broilers in each period as well as cumulatively, while ME level also affected FCR. CreAMINO ® supplementation to reduced-energy diets showed FCR improvements, while the best performance was detected for the diet with 50 kcal/kg lower ME.

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We examined 50 Escherichia coli (E. coli) strains isolated from broiler chickens between January 2013 to March 2014 in order to evaluate the epidemiological prevalence of avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) in Jordan by multiplex PCR and random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) tests. The multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which was used as tentative criteria of APEC targets 8 virulence associated genes; enteroaggregative toxin (astA), Type 1 fimbria adhesion (fimH), iron-repressible protein (irp2), P fimbriae (papC), aerobactin (iucD), temperature-sensitive hemagglutinin (tsh), vacuolating autotransporter toxin (vat), and colicin V plasmid operon (cva/cvi) genes. The number of detected genes could be used as a reliable index of their virulence. E. coli strains already typed as an APEC always harbor 5 to 8 genes, but non-APEC strains harbor less than 4 genes. Assuming the criteria of an APEC is possession of 5 or more virulence associated genes; we found that all 50 E. coli strains were classified as APEC strains. The RAPD analysis showed that the E. coli strains could be grouped into 35 of RAPD types by using these two different RAPD primer sets, RAPD analysis primer 4 5'AAGAGCCCGT5', and RAPD analysis primer 6 5'CCCGTCAGCA3'. The current study confirmed the endemic nature of APEC in broiler flocks in Jordan. It is essential that the biosecurity on poultry farms should be improved to prevent the introduction and dissemination of APEC and other agents. Furthermore, farmers need to be educated about the signs, lesions, and the importance of this agent.