ABSTRACT:This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Bacillus subtilis, Clostridium butyricum and Lactobacillus acidophilus (tri-strain probiotics, TSP) endospores in broilers. TSP can benefit the host animal by increasing nutrient absorption from the gastrointestinal tract and altering the intestinal ecosystem in poultry. A total of 500 day-old ROSS 308 mixed sex broiler chickens with an average initial body weight (IBW) of 45 g ± 0.6 g were used in this 35-day feeding study. Broiler chickens were randomly allotted to one of five dietary treatments: (1) CON (antibiotic free diet), (2) ANT1 (CON + enramycin 5 ppm), (3) ANT2 (CON + avilamycin 5 ppm), (4) TSP1 (CON + 0.1% TSP), and (5) TSP2 (CON + 0.2% TSP) with five replicates per treatment and 20 chicks per pen. Broiler chickens fed on TSP diets exhibited linearly increasing body weight gain (BWG) and decreased feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared to those on the CON diet (P < 0.05; Day 21 to Day 35 and Day 1 to Day 35, respectively). Further, dry matter (DM) and nitrogen (N) digestibility were improved (P < 0.05) in the TSP treatment at the end of study. The inclusion of TSP reduced (linear, P = 0.02) meat lightness (L*) compared with CON and ANT treatments. Broiler chickens fed with TSP diets had relatively higher (linear, P < 0.05) bursa weight than those fed with ANT and CON diets. The supplementation of TSP increased (P < 0.05) the ileal and caecal Lactobacillus count compared with CON and ANT diets. The ileal and caecal Escherichia coli and caecal Clostridium perfringens counts were reduced (P < 0.05) in the TSP2 group compared with the CON group. Broiler chickens fed with TSP diets exhibited increased (P < 0.05) caecal Bifidobacteria counts compared with CON and ANT diets. Excreta ammonia (NH 3 ) gas emission was lower (P < 0.05) with the TSP treatment compared with the CON treatment. In conclusion, the supplementation of TSP improved growth performance, nutrient digestibility, meat quality, gut health and reduced noxious gas emission in broilers.Keywords: ammonia gas emission; body weight gain; bursa weight; Escherichia coli; Lactobacillus; meat lightness List of abbreviations BWG = body weight gain, FCR = feed conversion ratio, DM = dry matter, L* = meat lightness, N = nitrogen, NH 3 = ammonia, TSP = tri-strain probiotics

I. H. 2015. Dietary fenugreek seed extract improves performance and reduces fecal E. coli counts and fecal gas emission in lactating sows and suckling piglets. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 95: 561Á568. This study evaluated the efficacy of fenugreek seed extract (FSE) in sows and suckling piglets. The trial was conducted with 78 multiparous sows and their litters in a 28-d feeding trial, and one of three diets: CON (control, basal diet); FSE1 (basal diet'0.1% FSE), and FSE2 (basal diet'0.2% FSE). Piglets suckling sows fed the FSE1 and FSE2 diets had higher average daily gain compared with those suckling sows fed the CON from week 2 to weaning (linear, PB0.05). At weaning, sows fed the FSE1 and FSE2 diets had higher immunoglobulin G and lower low-density lipoproteinÁcholesterol concentrations compared with those fed the CON diet (linear, PB0.05). Sows fed the FSE2 diet linearly reduced total cholesterol concentrations at weaning (PB0.05). Piglets suckling sows fed the FSE2 diet had higher immunoglobulin G and red blood cell concentrations compared with those suckling sows fed the CON diet (linear, PB0.05). Sows fed the FSE2 diet had higher apparent total tract digestibility of N and gross energy and reduced fecal E. coli counts and ammonia gas emission compared with those fed the CON diet at weaning (linear, PB0.05). In conclusion, results indicate that feeding sows a diet supplemented with FSE in late gestation and lactation improved performance in sows and suckling piglets.

The design of this study was to investigate the impacts of dietary supplementation with aged garlic extract (AGE) by Leuconostoc mesenteroides KCCM35046 on egg production, egg quality, odour gas emissions from excreta, excreta microbiota, haematological characteristics and fatty acids composition of egg yolk in laying hens. A total of 384, 54-week (ISA-brown) laying hens were randomly assigned to one of four treatments with eight replications per treatment and 12 adjacent cages as a replication. The experimental treatments were: (1) CON; basal diet, (2) AGE.05; CON + .05% aged garlic extract, (3) AGE.1; CON + .1% aged garlic extract, (4) AGE.2; CON + .2% aged garlic extract. No significant differences were observed in feed intake (FI) and egg production among treatments (P > .05). Laying hens fed with the AGE linearly improved yolk height at Week 3 (P = .02). The inclusion of .1% AGE had increased Haughunit (HU) at Week 4 (quadratic, P = .01). At the end of the experiment, AGE diet linearly increased yolk height and egg shell thickness (P = .01 and .03, respectively). No significant differences were observed in excreta gas emission (P > .05). The supplementation of AGE linearly reduced excreta E. coli concentrations (P = .02). Inclusion of AGE led to a greater lymphocyte and IgG concentrations (linear, P = .04 and P = .03, respectively), whereas blood total cholesterol (TC) was reduced by the AGE supplementation (linear, P < .01). PUFA: SFA was increased in AGE treatment at the end of the experiment (P < .05). In conclusion, the administration of AGE at a level of .1 and/or .2% can improve egg quality, blood lymphocyte, IgG concentrations and reduced excreta E. coli and blood TC in the laying hens.ARTICLE HISTORY

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary fenugreek seed extract (FSE) on growth performance, apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD), diarrhoea scores, blood profiles, faecal microflora and faecal gas emission in weanling pigs. A total of 135 weanling pigs [(Yorkshire × Landrace)  × Duroc] with an average BW of (7.96 ± 1.03 kg; 28 days of age) were used in a 42-day study. Piglets were randomly allotted to three experimental diets with nine replicate pens and five pigs per pen. Dietary treatments were as follows: CON, basal diet; FSE1, basal diet + 0.1% FSE; FSE2, basal diet + 0.2% FSE. Pigs were fed with phase 1 (0-14 days) and phase 2 (14-42 days) diets in the form of mash. Average daily gain (ADG) was linearly increased (p = 0.031) by FSE supplementation compared with CON diet during days 0-14. From days 14-42, FSE2 diet had increased ADG and growth efficiency (G/F) compared with the CON diet (p = 0.014 and 0.026 respectively). Moreover, ADG and G/F were increased by FSE supplementation during days 0-42 (linear, p = 0.037 and 0.014 respectively). Energy digestibility was higher (linear, p = 0.030) by FSE supplementation at 6 weeks. On day 42, dietary supplementation of FSE linearly increased red blood cells (RBC) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration (p = 0.042 and 0.038 respectively). Piglets fed FSE2 diet had higher (linear, p = 0.025) serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentration compared with those fed CON diet. However, piglets fed FSE2 diet had linearly reduced faecal ammonia (NH ) and hydrogen sulphide (H S) gas emission compared with those fed the CON diet (p = 0.018 and 0.010 respectively). In conclusion, FSE supplementation increased the performance and reduced faecal gas emission in weanling pigs.

This study was aimed at evaluating the effects of different concentrations of the dietary plant extract supplement YGF251 (young growth factor) on growth performance, blood profiles, relative organ weight, nutrient digestibility and meat quality in broiler chickens. A total of 640 one-day-old male Arbor Acres broiler chickens with an average initial body weight of 40.25 ± 0.5 g were randomly allotted to one of four treatments lasting four weeks with 10 replicates per treatment and 16 chicks per replicate pen. Dietary treatments consisted of: CON (basal diet); YGF0.05 (CON + 0.05% YGF251); YGF0.1 (CON + 0.10% YGF251); YGF0.15 (CON + 0.15% YGF251). There were no statistical differences in body weight (BW), feed intake (FI) and feed conversion rate (FCR) throughout the whole experiment. However, broiler chickens fed with YGF0.1 diets had greater body weight gains (BWG) than chickens fed CON diets during eight to 28 days and zero to 28 days although the means of pH value, breast meat colour, WHC, drip loss, the relative organ weights of liver, spleen, bursa of Fabricius and breast muscle were not affected by any dietary supplementation (P > 0.05). The relative weight of abdominal fat in the CON treatment group was significantly higher than the YGF0.05 and YGF0.1 treatments, although relative gizzard weight was lower with CON treatment compared to YGF0.1 treatment (P < 0.05). Femur length and weight were significantly higher in the YGF251-supplemented chicks than in chicks fed the control diet (P < 0.05). Broiler chickens fed the YGF0.1 diet had significantly higher blood IgG counts compared to chicks fed the CON and YGF0.05 diets (P < 0.05). Moreover, YGF251-supplemented chicks exhibited increased IGF-I concentrations compared to the CON to YGF0.1 treatment (P < 0.05). The results of this study indicate that supplementation with 0.1% YGF251 can increase body weight, IgG and energy digestibility and reduce relative abdominal fat and gizzard weight in broiler chickens, while at all concentrations tested YGF251-supplemented chicks showed higher results for femur length and weight and serum IGF-I concentrations compared to the control treatment in broiler chickens. Keywords: broiler chickens; blood profile; growth performance; meat quality; plant extract List of abbreviations BW = body weight, BWG = body weight gain, FCR = feed conversion rate, FI = feed intake, YGF251 = young growth factor