ABSTRACT:We investigated the effects of lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.) seed supplementation on egg production performance and egg quality in laying hens. A total of 120 Hy-Line Brown laying hens (29-week old) were used in a nine week trial. Laying hens were sorted into pens with six birds per pen and five pens per treatment. Treatments were (1) control, corn-soybean meal-based control diets, (2) 11% lupin (control + 11% lupin), (3) 16.5% lupin (control + 16.5% lupin), and (4) 22% lupin (control + 22% lupin). The average daily feed intake of laying hens fed with lupin diets was increased compared with control at Week 6 (P < 0.05). The egg production rate was higher in lupin diets than in the control diet at Week 3, 4, and 5 (P < 0.05). Supplementation with lupin improved the egg production rate linearly at Week 3, 4, 5, and 9, as dietary lupin increased from 11 to 22%. Laying hens fed with 11% and 16.5% lupin diets had higher rates of extra-large-sized egg production at Week 1 (quadratic, P = 0.04). Yolk colour was higher in hens fed lupin diets than in those fed with the control at Week 9 (P < 0.05). Supplementation of lupin in laying hen diets linearly improved the yolk colour (P < 0.05) at Week 5. In conclusion, supplementation of the diet with lupin can improve egg production and yolk colour with no apparent effect on average daily feed intake and eggshell quality in laying hens.

Caprylic acid (CA) and Yucca schidigera (YS) extract have many functional and nutritional properties that may have applications in animal nutrition. These beneficial effects include improvement of growth performance, immunity and anti-microbial activity. This study was conducted to assess the effects of dietary supplementation with CA and YS extract on growth performance, relative organ weight, meat quality, blood characteristics and caecal microbial shedding in broilers. In total, 672 one-day-old Ross 308 (BW of 34.05 ± 0.21 g) mixed-sex broiler chicks were allotted randomly into three dietary treatment groups with 14 replicate pens per treatment and 16 birds per pen. The experiment lasted for five weeks and dietary treatments were as follows: (1) PC, basal diet; (2) PC, basal diet + 44 mg/kg of avilamycin; and (3) CAY100 (basal diet + 100 mg/kg CA + 100 mg/kg YS extract). Chicks fed the CAY100 diet exhibited improved overall body weight gain (BWG) and feed intake (FI), and reduced feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared with those fed the NC diet (P < 0.05). Compared with the NC and PC treatments, mortality was decreased in chicks fed the CAY100 diet during the finisher phase and also overall. Broilers fed the CAY100 diet exhibited increased (P < 0.05) relative organ weight of bursa of Fabricius, compared with the PC diet and demonstrated decreased relative organ weight of the gizzard compared with those fed the NC diet. The relative organ weight of the liver, spleen, breast, and abdominal fat was unaffected by any of the dietary supplements tested. The breast meat redness (a*) was reduced (P < 0.05) in the CAY100 diet compared with the NC and PC diets. White blood cell (WBC) counts were increased in the CAY100 treatment compared with the NC treatment (P < 0.05). Moreover, the CAY100 diet resulted in improved lymphocyte counts compared with the PC and NC diets (P < 0.05). Broilers fed the CAY100 diet exhibited reduced caecal E. coli counts compared with those fed the NC diet (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the CAY extract-supplemented diet improved growth performance, relative weight of bursa of Fabricius and reduced mortality rate, breast muscle a* and caecal E. coli counts in broiler chickens.Keywords: broilers; caprylic acid; E. coli; lymphocyte; breast meat redness; Yucca schidigera List of abbreviations a* = breast meat redness; BW = body weight; BWG = body weight gain; CA = caprylic acid; FCR = feed conversion ratio; FI = feed intake; WBC = white blood cell; YS = Yucca schidigera

ABSTRACT:This study was conducted to determine the effect of supplementing diets with lactulose on growth performance, carcass characteristics, faecal microbiota, and blood constituents. A total of 324 one-day-old Ross 308 mixed-sex broiler chicks with an average initial body weight of 38 g were used in a 35-day growth assay. There were 18 birds/pen and six pens/treatment with food and water available ad libitum. Treatments consisted of a corn-soybean-meal-based diet with 0, 0.25 and 0.5% of lactulose. The results indicated that body weight gain (BWG) was improved (linear effect, P < 0.05) by increasing the concentration of lactulose in the diet from zero to 0.5% while the feed conversion ratio (FCR) decreased (linear effect, P < 0.05) for Days 8 to 21, 21 to 35, and overall (Day 0 to 35). Chickens fed the diet supplemented with 0.5% lactulose showed a higher relative weight of breast meat compared to other groups. Inclusion of lactulose decreased the count of Salmonella and E. coli in excreta of chickens fed diets containing 0.25 or 0.5% lactulose (P < 0.05), but the count of Lactobacillus was not affected. Drip loss percentage was decreased (P < 0.05) on Day 1 by addition of 0.5% lactulose, but there was no effect on meat colour. Blood characteristics were not influenced. Thus, it was concluded that inclusion of lactulose improves growth performance and alters excreta microbial populations with no adverse effect on broilers.

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