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. ___________________________________________________________________________________

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of supplemental dietary L-carnitine, chromium picolinate (Cr-Pic) and their combination on growth performance and serum total protein, cholesterol, triglyceride and glucose of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). A total of 276 rainbow trout were randomly allocated to four groups. Fish (average initial body weight = 151 ± 1.69 g) were fed a basal diet without supplemental L-carnitine and chromium picolinate in the control group. The basal diet was supplemented with either 500 mg/kg L-carnitine, 1.6 mg/kg chromium picolinate or 500 mg/kg L-carnitine plus 1.6 mg/kg chromium picolinate for experimental groups 1 (C), 2 (Cr-Pic) and 3 (C ? Cr-Pic), respectively. Fish were fed twice a day to apparent satiation for 58 days. Weight gain, growth rate, feed consumption and feed conversion ratio (feed/ gain) were calculated for the whole period. At the end of the study, six fish were chosen randomly from each tank to represent the experiment and frozen at -20°C for subsequent dorsal muscle analysis. The results showed no significant differences in final body weight, weight gain or feed conversion ratio among groups. There were also no significant differences in serum total protein, cholesterol, triglyceride or glucose concentrations among groups. Significantly higher lipid concentration of dorsal muscle was observed in experimental groups 1 and 3. In conclusion, supplemental dietary L-carnitine, chromium picolinate and their combination have no beneficial effects on improving growth performance and feed conversion ratio in rainbow trout. However, dietary L-carnitine slightly increased lipid concentration in dorsal muscle of rainbow trout.

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. _______________________________________________________________________________

No abstract

SummaryThis study examined the effects of zinc (Zn) from different sources and microbial phytase on the broiler performance, biochemical parameters and digestibility of nutrients when they were added to broiler diets containing low available phosphorus. A total of 875, 1-day-old male broilers of the Ross 308 strain were randomly separated into two control groups (positive and negative) and five treatment groups each containing 125 birds; each group was divided into 5 replicates of 25 birds. The positive control (PC) group was fed a diet containing adequate concentration (0.45 %) of available phosphorus due to mineral premix (except zinc) and feeds. The negative control (NC) group was fed a basal diet including low concentration (0.30%) of available phosphorus due to mineral premix (except zinc) and feeds. The basal diet was supplemented with 0.30% phosphorus and 500 FTU phytase (PH); 0.30% phosphorus and organic zinc (OZ; 75 mg/kg of Zn from Zn-proteinate); 0.30% phosphorus and inorganic zinc (IZ; 75 mg/kg of Zn from ZnSO 4 ); 0.30% phosphorus, organic zinc and 500 FTU phytase (OZ + PH); and 0.30% phosphorus, inorganic zinc and 500 FTU phytase (IZ + PH) in the treatment groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively. The lowest value for mean body weight was in the negative control group on a diet containing low available phosphorus. The use of supplementation with organic and inorganic zinc alone or in combination with microbial phytase significantly (P<0.05) increased the digestibility of Zn in the male broilers. Supplementation of those diets with OZ + PH or IZ + PH was very effective for increasing the body weight, body weight gain and the feed conversion ratio. In conclusion, the effects on broilers of diets with low phosphorus levels may be overcome by the addition of inorganic or organic zinc compounds in combination with microbial phytase. Keywords: Broiler, Performance, Phytase, Phosphorus, Zinc Düşük Fosforlu Diyetlere Organik ve İnorganik Çinko İle Mikrobiyal Fitaz İlavesinin Broylerlerde Performans, Biyokimyasal Parametreler ve Besin Madde Kullanımı Üzerine Etkisi ÖzetBu araştırma, düşük fosforlu diyetlere organik ve inorganik çinko ile mikrobiyal fitaz ilavesinin broilerlerde performans, biyokimyasal parametreler ve besin madde kullanımı üzerine etkisini araştırmak amacıyla yapılmıştır. Araştırmada hayvan materyali olarak toplam 875 adet günlük civciv denemeye alınmıştır. Her grupta 125 adet hayvan olacak şekilde, iki kontrol (pozitif ve negatif ) ve beş deneme grubu oluşturulmuştur. Her grup 5 alt gruptan, her alt grupta ise 25 civcivden oluşturulmuştur. Pozitif kotrol grubu, çinko içermeyen mineral ön karması ve yeterli miktarda yararlanılabilir fosfor (%0.45) içeren rasyonla beslenmiştir. Negatif kontrol grubu ise, çinko içermeyen mineral ön karması ve düşük fosfor (%0.30) içeren temel bir rasyonla beslenmiştir. Temel rasyona %0.30 fosfor ve 500 FTU fitaz ilave edilmiştir (PH). Deneme grupları 1, 2, 3, 4 ve 5 ise sırasıyla %0.30 fosfor ve organik çinko (OZ; 75 mg/kg Zn-proteinat); 0.30% fosfor ve inorgani...