This study was conducted to investigate the effects of probiotic and/or prebiotic supplementation on growth performance and serum IgG concentrations in broilers. One thousand two hundred one-day old Ross-308 broiler chicks of mixed sex were randomly divided into four treatment groups of 300 birds each. The treatments were: Starter diets: 1) Unsupplemented control diet; 2) Probiotic (Bio-Plus 2B ® 0.05%); 3) Prebiotic (Bio-Mos ® 0.2%); 4) Probiotic and Prebiotic mixture (Bio-Plus 2B ® 0.05% and Bio-Mos ® 0.2%). The grower diets were: 1) Control with no supplements; 2) Probiotic (Bio-Plus 2B ® 0.05%); 3) Prebiotic (Bio-Mos ® 0.1%); 4) Probiotic and Prebiotic mixture (Bio-Plus 2B ® 0.05% and Bio-Mos ® 0.1%). Each treatment group was further sub-divided into five replicates of 60 birds per replicate. The chicks were fed the broiler starter diet for the first 21 d and the broiler grower diet between days 22 and 42. Dietary probiotic and/or prebiotic supplementation did not significantly affect body weight, body weight gain, feed intake, carcass weight, carcass yield or concentration of immunoglobulin (IgG) in the serum. However, feed conversion ratio was improved significantly in the supplemented treatments compared to the unsupplemented control. Probiotic and/or prebiotic supplementation did not significantly affect any of the examined parameters except for an improved feed conversion ratio. ___________________________________________________________________________________

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The objective of the current study was to evaluate the effect of dietary fat type and level on broiler meat quality. A 2 × 3 factorial arrangement with 2 types of fat including neutralized sunflower soapstock (NSS) and soybean oil (SO) at 3 levels of fat inclusion (2, 4, and 6%) was used with 5 replicates per treatment using 750 one-day-old broiler chicks in a completely randomized design. At the end of the study (d 36), 10 broilers from each replication were processed at a commercial slaughtering facility. Six carcasses from each replicate were used for meat quality evaluation. With the exception of 3 responses [breast meat lightness (L*) at 1 and 2 d, and redness (a*) at 5 d], there were no interactions between fat source and level. Breast meat pH at 15 min was not significantly affected by the dietary treatments. However, breast meat pH at 24 h postmortem was decreased (P < 0.01) in broilers fed the NSS. Breast meat cooking loss, shear force, and color did not differ between fat sources. Breast meat cooking loss decreased (P < 0.05) when the dietary levels of fat increased. Thigh meat TBA reactive substances were not different due to dietary fat source and level. Breast meat and skin L* value significantly decreased when the dietary levels of fat increased. Breast meat a* value was highest for the 6% fat fed birds on d 2 (P < 0.05) and d 5 (P < 0.01). Higher dietary fat levels decreased the b* values of breast meat except d 5. Breast skin yellowness (b*) value was higher (P < 0.01) for the SO-fed birds compared with NSS-fed birds. Thigh meat of the birds fed the NSS was lighter (P < 0.05) than that of the birds fed SO diets except d 5. Overall, data suggest that NSS can be used as an alternative fat source to SO with little effect on meat quality.

No abstract

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of dietary inclusion of shelled acorn seed (Quercus cerris) on the growth performance and carcass yield of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica). Four hundred four-day old quail chicks were used in this study. Experimental diets contained 0, 5, 10, 15 or 20% shelled acorn seed. The experiment lasted 38 days. There were no differences between treatments in body weight, body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio. Furthermore, the mortality rate and carcass yield were not affected by the inclusion in the diet of different levels of shelled acorn seed. The inclusion of shelled acorn seed to the quail diets did not cause any harmful effect on the health of the birds. These results suggested that up to 20% shelled acorn seed could be included as an energy source in quail diets. _______________________________________________________________________________