This experiment was conducted to explore the efficacy of grape pomace (Vitis vinifera) on growth performance, apparent total tract digestibility of nutrients, blood profile, and meat quality in commercial broilers. Four hundred broiler chicks (3-d-old) were randomly allotted to 4 dietary treatments for 28 d. Each treatment had 5 replicates with 20 birds per replicate. The dietary treatments were 1) control, 2) 5 g/kg grape pomace (GP), 3) 7.5 g/kg GP, and 4) 10 g/kg GP supplemented in diets after drying. Supplementation of GP did not show linear effects (P > 0.05) on body weight (BW) gain, however, quadratic effects (P < 0.05) on BW gain were observed during d 0 to 7 and d 8 to 14. Body weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio remained unaffected during d 22 to 28 and overall period. The nutrient digestibility studies conducted at the end of the feeding trial did not show (P > 0.05) any effect due to GP supplementation, except a quadratic trend (P = 0.07) for digestibility of ash was observed. Serum levels of glucose, triglyceride, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were not affected (P > 0.05), however, total cholesterol and serum immunoglobulin G levels showed quadratic effects (P < 0.05) due to GP supplementation. The thio-barbituric acid reactive substances values in breast meat linearly decreased (P < 0.01) in supplemented groups at 0, 5, and 10 d of storage showing linear effects due to GP supplementation, and quadratic effects were also observed at 5 and 10 d of storage. The meat color value such as redness was also decreased (P < 0.05) in supplemented groups showing both linear and quadratic effects. Overall, it could be concluded that GP supplementation showed quadratic effects on BW gain during early growth stages and was effective in reducing serum cholesterol level and improving meat quality parameters in broilers.

This study intended to compare the productive performance of three different layer raising systems; conventional cage (CC), barn (BR) and aviary (AV). The AV is welfare bestowed housing that allows free locomotion for birds within the BR. The BR allows bird’s free locomotion inside BR but without multilevel structures. Both pullets and cockerels were housed together in both AV and BR, but only pullets in CC. Seventeen weeks old Lohmann Brown Lite (n = 800) pullets were housed in AV during this study. The same age layer pullets were simultaneously assigned to either at CC or BR to compare egg production performance with AV. The duration of experiment was 40 weeks (from 21st to 60th week). There were no remarkable differences in egg production, hen day egg production (HDEP) and average egg weight among three rearing systems. First 20 weeks (phase-1) average HDEP (%) of AV, CC, and BR were 85.9, 88.8, 87.1 and average egg weights (g) were 57.5, 59.9, and 56.9 respectively. Those of the remaining 20 weeks (phase-2) were 87.1, 87.9, 85.5 and 64.2, 63.0 62.1, respectively. Daily feed intakes (122 g, 110 g, 125 g); feed conversion ratio (2.4, 2.1, 2.5) and daily egg mass (53.9 g, 54.4 g, 52.8 g) data from AV, CC, and BR were not influenced significantly by the respective raising systems. Daily feed intake of layers in both AV (124 g) and BR (127 g) tended to be higher than that in CC (113 g) during phase-2. Overall, exterior egg quality (dirty and cracked eggs) in both phases was superior in BR compared with AV and CC, whereas CC generated intermediate results. This study indicated that the HDEP per se in AV and BR were not significantly different from that in CC. The study implied that the facility depreciation cost for AV and cost for increased feed intake in AV compared to CC are believed to be critical to evaluate the cost effectiveness of egg production in AV.

ObjectiveThis study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary onion (Allium cepa) extract (OE) supplementation on growth performance, apparent total tract retention (ATTR), blood profile, carcass characteristics and meat quality in broilers.MethodsFour hundred male broiler chicks (Ross 308, 3-d old) were randomly allocated to four dietary treatments for 28 d feeding trial. Each treatment has five replications with 20 birds each. Four dietary treatments were designated according to the OE supplementation levels (0 as control, 5, 7.5, and 10 g of OE per kg of basal diet respectively). On d 28, a total of 20 birds from each treatment were subjected for ATTR, serum biochemical assay, carcass characteristic and organ weight measurement.ResultsOverall weight gain of OE 7.5 g/kg group was higher (p = 0.04) than control group. The ATTRs of dietary energy (p<0.01) and ether extract (p = 0.04) linearly increased with increasing levels of dietary OE. However, no difference in ATTR of dry matter and crude protein was evident. Furthermore, serum IgG concentration increased linearly (p<0.01) and quadratically (p = 0.03) with increasing OE supplementation. No differences in carcass dressing weight and amount of abdominal fat by treatments were observed. Also, the weight of organ including immune organ was not different among the treatments. The TBARS values of 10 d stored breast meat decreased linearly (p<0.01) and quadratically (p<0.01) with increasing dietary OE levels. The meat color was also affected, with lower (p<0.01) redness score in meats from OE supplemented groups. This study showed that dietary OE improved broiler weight gain presumably by increasing feed intake and ATTR of both energy and ether extract. The dietary OE increased serum IgG level and meat anti-oxidation capacity.ConclusionThis study implies that the recommended level of dietary OE supplementation could be beneficial for improving broiler performance and meat quality.

The nutritional value of khesari (Lathyrus sativus), a grain legume, was determined for growing and laying pullets. Chemical analyses indicated khesari to be high in crude protein (,2-g/kg) and low in fat (+,.* g/kg) with estimated true metabolizable energy concentration of +,.* MJ/kg. Four hundred Shaver /13 brown pullets belonging to same source were randomly assigned to. dietary treatments with +** pullets each. Least-cost isocaloric and isonitrogenous diet containing raw khesari at *, +**, +/* or ,** g/kg were formulated and fed to grower and pullet developer birds separately during +,ῌ+2 weeks and +3ῌ,, weeks respectively. This was followed by feeding layer diets during ,-ῌ-. weeks of age. The performance of grower chicks during +,ῌ+2 wks of age showed no significant e#ect on body weight gain and FCR but feed intake increased linearly (Pῌ *.*/) and di#ered significantly when the dietary level of raw khesari was ,** g/kg. On the other hand, during +3ῌ,, weeks, the birds showed increased body weight gain and feed intake and improved FCR (Pῌ*.*+) when they consumed the highest level of khesari (,** g/kg). Layer performance in terms of egg production, egg mass and FCR were declined as the dietary levels of khesari was increased showing a clear-cut linear e#ect. It was concluded from the study that khesari supported growth performance in pullets either similar to or better than the control birds at the levels tested and that it is well tolerable for layers up to +/* g/kg dietary level without experiencing any remarkable deleterious e#ects. Khesari did not show any symptoms typical to lathyrism in both grower and layer birds at the levels tested.

With an increasing concern on laying hen welfare, barn system has appeared as one of the alternatives to replace the conventional cage. This study was conducted to compare the early laying performance and egg quality at the barn system with those at the conventional cage. A total of 288 shaver-579 brown layers were used for 9 weeks (21 st to 30 th weeks of age) feeding study. Feed consumption and egg weight were significantly (P<0.01) higher at barn than at cage.However, there were no significant differences between two housing systems on hen day egg production (HDEP), egg mass, body weight, feed efficiency and livability. In case of egg quality parameters, shell thickness, albumen height and Haugh unit were significantly (P<0.05) different between two systems. Haugh unit and albumen height were significantly higher in eggs produced at cage (88.97 and 8.16 mm) compared than those produced at barn (83.11 and 6.87 mm), whereas shell thickness was thicker in eggs produced at barn than those produced at cage. Shape index, breaking strength, blood spots and yolk index data were not influenced significantly by the types of housing system. To implement welfare bestowing production, this study showed that the barn system can replace the conventional cage without serious sacrifices on starting phase egg production. In addition, this study suggested that the barn system need to be optimized in view of daily feed consumption.