W. 2017. Effect of dietary supplementation with arginine on haematological indices, serum chemistry, carcass yield, gut microflora, and lymphoid organs of growing turkeys. A 8-wk feeding experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation 25 with Arg on haematological indices, serum chemistry, carcass yield, gut microflora, and 26 lymphoid organ weights of growing turkeys. A total of one hundred and eighty 56-d-old male 27 grower turkeys were weighed individually and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 dietary treatments 28 with 6 replicate pens, and 10 turkeys per pen in a completely randomized design. Dietary 29 treatments consisted of basal diets supplemented with 0, 0.5, and 1.0 g Arg/kg. Haematological 30 indices and serum chemistry were measured at 84 and 112 d of study. Carcass yield, relative 31 weights of retail cuts, organ weights, and gut microflora were measured at d 112. Except 32 eosinophil, no effect of Arg supplementation was obtained on haematological indices at d 84. At 33 d 112, finisher turkeys fed the diet supplemented with 0.5 g Arg/kg had the greatest red blood 34 cell (quadratic, P < 0.001), lymphocyte (linear, P = 0.011; quadratic, P < 0.001), and basophil 35 counts (quadratic, P < 0.001). In grower turkeys at d 84, total serum protein (quadratic, P = 36 0.030), and serum globulin concentrations (quadratic, P = 0.043) increased initially as Arg 37 supplementation increased from 0 to 0.5 g/kg, but decreased with the 1.0 g Arg/kg. Uric acid 38 concentration and alanine aminotransferase activity reduced as Arg supplementation increased 39 from 0 to 0.5 g/kg, but increased with the 1.0 g Arg/kg (quadratic, P = 0.002). In finisher turkeys 40 at d 112, total serum protein (linear, P = 0.004; quadratic, P = 0.002), serum globulin (linear, P = 41 0.008; quadratic, P = 0.030), serum albumin (linear, P = 0.012; quadratic, P = 0.040), and 42 triodosterine concentrations (linear, P = 0.025; quadratic, P = 0.033) increased with increasing 43 Arg supplementation. At d 112, spleen weights increased linearly (P = 0.006), while thymus 44 weights increased quadratically (P = 0.003) with increasing dietary Arg supplementation. 45 Salmonella counts in the small intestinal content of turkeys at d 112 reduced quadratically as Arg 46 supplementation increased from 0 to 1.0 g/kg (P = 0.029). In conclusion, Arg supplementation 47 increased packed cell volume of finisher turkeys, improved serum chemistry of grower, and 48 finisher turkeys as indicated by increased total serum protein, and reduced serum enzymes with 49 appreciable improvement obtained when included at 0.5 g Arg/kg. Arginine supplementation 50 enhanced the relative weights of thymus, spleen, and reduced Salmonella counts in small 51 intestine of turkeys.52

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis of an improved growth, dietary nutrient availability and overall health of broiler chickens reared on recycled litter when fed a standardised combination of essential oils (EO; carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde and capsicum oleoresin). To assess the effect of dietary treatments, feed intake, weight gain, feed efficiency, availability of dietary nutrients and energy, villus morphometry, excreta sialic acid concentration, hepatic antioxidants and serum amyloid A (SAA) when fed to broiler chickens were evaluated. Counts of Eimeria spp. oocysts were also determined in excreta samples. Four experimental diets were offered, including two basal control diets based on either wheat or maize that contained 215 g CP/kg and 12.13 MJ/kg metabolisable energy and another two diets using the basal control diets supplemented with the EO combination at 100 mg/kg diet. Each diet was fed to eight floor pens, containing two birds each, following randomisation. Birds fed the EO-supplemented diets had an improved (P0.05) were observed in villus morphometry, sialic acid secretion, number of oocysts and SAA. Feeding the EO improved (P<0.05) the retention of dietary Ca and Na. Compared with maize, feeding wheat-based diets improved the retention coefficients for Ca, P and Na (P<0.05). Feeding dietary EO improved (P<0.05) the concentrations of the hepatic antioxidants, including carotene, coenzyme Q10 and total vitamin E. The hepatic concentration of carotene of the maize-fed birds was 55.6% greater (P<0.05) compared with the wheat-fed birds. These results demonstrated that the addition of a standardised combination of EO in wheat- and maize-based diets provided benefits in terms of feed efficiency, mineral retention and antioxidant status of the birds when reared on recycled litter.

Wheat distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) are being used increasingly 16 in the poultry feed industry but their nutritional value is variable. The aim of this experiment 17 was to examine the effect of batch to batch variation of wheat DDGS produced by the same 18 manufacturer on the growth performance, dietary N corrected apparent metabolizable energy 19 (AMEn), energy conversion ratio (ECR), total tract dry matter retention (DMR), nitrogen 20 retention (NR) and fat digestibility (FD) coefficients when fed to broilers in complete diets 21 with and without enzyme supplementation. Six UK wheat DDGS samples, produced by a 22 single manufacturer, were used in a broiler experiment. Six diets containing 150 g/kg of each 23 selected wheat DDGS sample were mixed. Each diet was then split into two batches and one 24 of them was supplemented with commercial enzyme preparation, providing 1220 units 25 xylanase and 152 units of β-glucanase /kg diet, resulting in 12 experimental diets. Each diet 26 was fed ad libitum to five pens of two male Ross 308 broilers from 7 to 21 d old. Enzyme 27 supplementation improved dietary AMEn, DMR, NR (P < 0.001) and FD (P < 0.05) 28 compared to non-supplemented diets. There was DDGS sample by enzyme interaction (P < 29 0.05) on daily weight gain and ECR. The results suggest that the variability in AMEn of 30 DDGS samples produced from a single manufacturer is greater than expected compared to 31 the variability of whole wheat samples but substantially lower than expected from wheat 32 DDGS samples from different EU manufacturers. This experiment has shown that the 33 variation in feeding value of wheat DDGS may be explained by the variability in 34 polysaccharide contents. 35

A 8-wk feeding experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary 26 supplementation with Arg on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, metabolizable 27 energy, and intestinal morphology of growing turkeys. A total of one hundred and eighty 56-28 d-old male grower turkeys were weighed individually and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 dietary 29 treatments with 6 replicate pens and 10 turkeys per pen in a completely randomized design. 30Dietary treatments consisted of basal diets supplemented with 0, 0.5, and 1.0 g Arg/kg. 31Growth response was measured during the grower (d 56 to 84) and finisher (d 84 to 112) 32 phases, while nutrient digestibility, metabolizable energy, and intestinal morphology were 33 measured at d 84 and 112. Arginine supplementation had no effect on growth response during 34 the grower phase. During the finisher phase, feed conversion ratio decreased initially as Arg 35 supplementation increased from 0 to 0.5 g/kg, but it increased with the 1.0 g Arg/kg 36 (quadratic, P = 0.028). At d 84, grower turkeys fed diets supplemented with 1.0 g Arg/kg had 37 greater (linear, P < 0.001) apparent dry matter, crude protein, and ether extract digestibility. 38 At d 84, greatest apparent metabolizable energy, nitrogen corrected apparent metabolizable 39 energy, and true metabolizable energy values were obtained with grower turkeys fed diet 40 supplemented with 0.5 g Arg/kg (quadratic, P < 0.001). At d 84, duodenum, and ileum villus 41 height in grower turkeys increased linearly, and quadratically (P < 0.001) with increasing Arg 42 supplementation. Dietary supplementation with Arg reduced the apical widths in duodenum 43 (linear, P = 0.003; quadratic, P < 0.001), jejunum (linear and quadratic, P < 0.001), and ileum 44 (linear, P = 0.010; quadratic, P = 0.004) of grower turkeys. At d 112, jejunum villus height 45 (quadratic, P = 0.042), and ileum villus height (linear, P = 0.022; quadratic, P = 0.042) of 46 finisher turkeys increased, while duodenum apical widths reduced (quadratic, P = 0.033) with 47 112. Furthermore, dietary supplementation with 0.5 g Arg/kg promoted a quadratic 51 improvement in feed conversion ratio of finisher turkeys, and metabolizable energy values of 52 grower turkeys at d 84.53

Sixty four (7-8 weeks old) crossbred male and female rabbits weighing between 700 and 800g were used to determine the effect of inclusion of Turmeric (Curcuma longa) powder on growth, economic benefits and reproductive performance of rabbits. The rabbits on sex basis were randomly allotted to diets containing four levels (0%, 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5%) of turmeric powder as a supplement in a 2x4 factorial arrangement. Data were collected on growth performance and economic benefits. Reproductive, At 20 weeks old, 24 rabbits comprising of 8 bucks and 16 does along dietary treatment were used for reproductive performance evaluation in mating ratio of 1:2 per treatment. Data were collected on gestation length, litter size, birth weight and weaning weight. Data collected were analyzed using ANOVA. Highest (p<0.05) weight gain (700.71g) was obtained with rabbits fed diet containing 1.0% turmeric supplement. Daily feed intake was (p<0.05) highest (113.76g) within rabbits on 1.5% turmeric supplement while the least (99.48g) was recorded with rabbits fed diets containing 0.5% inclusion. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) on feed conversion ratio of the rabbits.. Litter size was (p<0.05) highest (5.25) with rabbit fed 1.0% turmeric inclusion while least (3.00) was recorded with 1.5% turmeric inclusion. Litter weight at kindling was also significantly (p<0.05) highest (147.25g) with rabbits fed 1.0% turmeric inclusion. No significant (p>0.05) difference was recorded on gestation length, litter size at weaning and weaning weight. The study concluded that turmeric inclusion had no detrimental effect of growth performance of rabbits. However, 1.0% supplement appeared as economic inclusion level for weight gain, efficient feed utilization, optimum profit, economic benefit, litter size and litter weight at kindling in rabbit production enterprise.

An 84-day feeding trial was conducted in growing turkeys to measure the bioavailability of Cu, Zn and Mn from a commercial mineral chelate and corresponding inorganic salts in composite feeds containing supplemental riboflavin (B2) and/or pyridoxine (B6). A total of 320, 28-day-old British United Turkeys (BUT) were assigned to eight dietary treatments in a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement comprising two trace mineral sources: chelated trace mineral blend (CTMB) and its corresponding inorganic trace minerals blend (ITMB) fed solely or with supplements of vitamin B2 (8 ppm) or B6 (7 ppm) or 8 ppm B2 + 7 ppm B6. Each treatment was replicated four times with 10 turkeys each. It was observed that turkeys fed with diets supplemented solely with ITMB elicited higher (P < 0.05) Zn excretion than their counterparts fed with diets containing ITMB with supplements of vitamins B2 and/or B6. Manganese retention was lower (P < 0.05) in turkeys fed with diets supplemented solely with ITMB than those fed with diets containing vitamins B2 and/or B6 additives. Combination of CTMB or ITMB with B6 improved (P < 0.05) the concentration of Mn in the liver and Cu in the bone. It was concluded that the minerals in CTMB were more available to the animals than ITMB. Furthermore, vitamins B2 and/or B6 supplementation improved the bioavailability of the inorganic Cu, Zn and Mn in growing turkeys and tended to reduce the concentration of these trace elements in birds' excreta.

Finished feeds. Nutritive value. Storage conditions. Finisher diets. Broiler chickens. sUMMAry Storage of feed plays an important role in the economic and health aspect of livestock production. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of varying storage conditions (lit and dark room) on physical changes, occurrence of insects in stored feed, storage loss and nutrient composition of propietary selected broiler finisher feeds. Bags of 25 kg each of broiler finisher diets from four feed companies (A, B, C and D) were obtained on the day of production and were stored under two storage media (lit and dark room) for a period of 8 weeks. The experiment was arranged in a 4 x 2 factorial layout to form eight treatments with 5 replications. Feed colour, storage loss, occurrence of insects, and proximate analysis were carried out at 2 week intervals. Data generated were statistically analyzed by ANOVA technique in a 4 x 2 factorial design using PROC GLM procedure of SAS (2007). Storage temperature (27.27 ºC and 26.65 ºC for lit and dark room, respectively) and relative humidity (79.83% and 80.64% for lit and dark room, respectively) monitored were not significantly (p>0.05) different. Colour changes were observed in the feed from the 29 th day of storage. By the 42 nd day, presence of lesser grain borer (Rhyzopertha dominica F.) was observed in all the feeds. Appearance of frass, dusty particles and webbing were observed in feeds stored in lit room on 42nd day and those in dark room on 56th day. Storage loss (%) was reduced (p<0.05) by 28.10% in feeds stored in dark room compared to the lit room. Interactive effect of feed brands x storage conditions showed that feed C stored in dark room had relatively lower (p<0.05) weight loss. Nutrient profile of the feeds was influenced (p<0.05) by feed brands and length of storage. Feeds stored in dark room had higher crude fat and ashes at 42 nd day as well as crude fat at 56 th day. It was recommended that finished feeds should be stored with minimal exposure to light, so as to maintain their nutrient quality.inforMAtion Cronología del artículo.Recibido/

Thirty-two (7-8 weeks old) male rabbits that weighed between 700 and 800 g were used to determine the effect of inclusion of Turmeric powder on carcass yield and intestinal morphology of rabbits. The rabbits were randomly allotted to four diets containing varying levels of turmeric powder (0, 5, 10 and 15 g) in a complete randomized design. Data were collected on carcass yield, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, crypt depth, mucosal thickness and analyzed using ANOVA. Significant (p<0.05) differences were obtained on bled and eviscerated weights, forelimbs, hind limbs, neck, tail and loin. Highest (p<0.05) duodenum crypt depth (111.50 μm) was obtained with buck fed diet containing 15 g turmeric inclusion while buck fed with diet containing 0 g turmeric had the least value of (67.67 μm). This was similar (p>0.05) with values obtained for buck fed diets containing 5 g turmeric (73.83 μm) and those fed with 10 g turmeric inclusion (79.33 μm). There was significant difference (P<0.05) of rabbit fed with diets with turmeric on jejunum villi height. There was significant difference (P<0.05) in jejunum crypt depth and mucosal thickness. However, 10 g inclusion could be assumed as economic inclusion level for carcass yield and intestinal increase in rabbit production.