This study was performed to evaluate the effect of folic acid (FA) on performance, egg quality and yolk 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) content. A total of 384 Hy-line W36 strain hens from 52 to 58 weeks of age were randomly assigned to 4 groups, and each group received one of following dietary treatments: 0, 5, 10 and 15 mg FA/kg diet. A completely randomized design was used. Egg production percentage, egg mass and egg weight were increased significantly ( P < 0.05) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) was reduced significantly ( P < 0.05) by increasing FA content in diets. No significant differences were detected among treatments on egg quality except for shell thickness. The dietary supplementations of laying hens diets with FA significantly increased yolk 5-MTHF content ( P = 0.02). Overall, these data demonstrate that dietary supplementation with FA raised 5-MTHF content of yolk and productivity of egg production in laying hens.

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of dietary supplementation of bovine lactoferrin (bLF) on growth performance, carcass traits, histomorphology of jejunum, immune function and hepatic and splenic gene expression of interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) and interleukine‐2 (IL‐2) in broiler chickens. A total of 240 one‐day‐old Ross 308 male broiler chickens were randomly allotted into six dietary treatments with four replicate pens (10 chicks per pen) and fed experimental diet in 3 feeding phases (starter: d 0–10, grower: d 11–24 and finisher: d 25–42). The experimental treatments were (1) corn–soya bean meal‐based basal diet (control), (2–5) basal diet supplemented with 200, 400, 600, 800 mg/kg bLF, respectively, and (6) basal diet supplemented with 200 mg/kg oxytetracycline (OTC). The average body weight gain (ABWG) of broilers fed 800 mg/kg bLF was 8.48% higher than those fed a corn–soybean meal‐based diet during the starter period (d 0–10) (linear effect, p = 0.002; quadratic effect, p = 0.24). Average daily feed intake (ADFI) and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) were not affected (p>0.05) by bLF supplementation. At 42 days of age, the breast meat percentage and carcass yield of broilers fed 800 mg/kg bLF compared with the control group significantly increased by 9.51% and 6.03% respectively (p < 0.05). Compared with the chicks fed the control diet, the chicks fed diets supplemented with bLF had higher villus height, muscle thickness and villus surface area (p > 0.05). Dietary bLF inclusion increased the total immunoglobulin (IgT) titre against sheep red blood cells (SRBCs) antigen (linear effect, p = 0.031; quadratic effect, p = 0.035) and improved the phytohaemagglutinin‐P (PHA‐P)‐skin test of broilers. Compared with the control, bLF enhanced the gene expression of IFN‐γ in spleen (p = 0.048, linear effect, p = 0.009; quadratic effect, p = 0.093) and liver (p = 0.012, linear effect, p = 0.008; quadratic effect, p = 0.01) and IL‐2 expression in spleen (p = 0.021, linear effect, p = 0.026; quadratic effect, p = 0.103). The bLF supplementation had no effect on IL‐2 gene expression in liver (p > 0.05, linear effect, p = 0.213; quadratic effect, p = 0.159). In conclusion, we found that supplementation of broiler diets with 800 mg/kg bLF can improve the growth performance, carcass yield, cell‐mediated and antibody‐mediated immune responses and enhance the IL‐2 and IFN‐γ gene expression of broilers.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of two species of poultry (cockerel and Japanese quail), two levels of enzyme (0 and 0.5 g/kg), and 6 processing methods (control (C), gamma irradiation 25 (GI25), and 50 kGy (GI50), autoclaving (AU), fermentation without lactobacillus (F), and fermentation with lactobacillus (FL)) on the nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn) of barley. In this experiment, each processing method was tested at two levels of enzyme (0 and 0.5 g/kg) in six replications with two cockerels or four quails per replication. The results showed that the AMEn values by barley processing methods were: C-11.45 and 12.27; GI25-11.50 and 11.30; GI50-11.49 and 11.29; AU-11.70 and 11.46; F-12.90 and 12.30; FL-1295 and 12.51 MJ/kg in cockerels and quails, respectively. The AMEn (11.49 MJ/kg) of enzyme 0 was significantly lower than that of enzyme 0.5 (12.35 MJ/kg). There was a significant difference in the AMEn of processed barley between cockerels and quails. In conclusion, the most effective processing method of barley for AMEn is fermentation with lactobacillus and enzyme.

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of two species of poultry (cockerel and Japanese quail), two levels of enzyme (0 and 0.5 g/kg) and five processing methods (untreated control [UT], soaking for 12 h [SO12h], 24 h [SO24h] and 48 h [SO48h], and fermentation with Lactobacillus (FL)] on apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and nitrogen‐corrected AME (AMEn) of whole barley. In this experiment, each processing method was tested at two levels of enzyme (0 and 0.5 g/kg) in six replications, with two cockerel or four quails per replication. The results showed that the AMEn values by barley processing methods were as follows: UT – 2739 and 2695; SO12h – 2767 and 2701; SO24h – 2841 and 2728; SO48h – 2916 and 2811; FL – 3098 and 2,989 kcal/kg cockerels and quails, respectively. The AMEn of level of enzyme 0 (2,766 kcal/kg) was significantly lower than that of level of enzyme 0.5 (2,854 kcal/kg). The interaction among species, levels of enzyme and barley processing in AMEn was significant. There was a significant difference in the AMEn of processed barley between cockerels and quails. Practical Applications In the present study, the results suggested that the most effective processing method of barley to obtain high level of AMEn values is fermentation with Lactobacillus, and the use of both enzyme and processing methods can improve the AMEn values compared with processing method alone. We also need to consider species differences when AME and AMEn of feed ingredients are evaluated in poultry.

Two experiments were conducted to study the effect of autoclaving and heat processing (HP) and enzyme supplementation on wheat nutritive value for quails. In the first experiment, 72 male quails (13 weeks) were used to determine apparent metobalisable energy corrected for nitrogen (AMEn) of wheat samples. In the second experiment, 720 seven-day-old as-hatched Japanese quail were randomly assigned to a 3 )3 factorial design. Factors include three processing methods (untreated, autoclaving and HP) and three levels of enzyme (0, 0.25 and 0.5 g/kg). Each treatment group consisted of 4 replicates of 20 birds. According to the results, the total and insoluble none starch polysaccharides (NSP) and insoluble to soluble NSP ratio increased by processing (PB0.01) and also total and insoluble b-glucan increased by processing (PB0.01). The amount of AME, AMEn, gross energy efficiency and dry matter digestibility of wheat has significantly increased by autoclaving (P B0.05). Quails performance was increased by wheat autoclaving (PB0.05). However, wheat dry heat processing had no significant effect on performance. Adding enzyme to diet significantly improved quails performance. By autoclaving wheat, carcass and breast weight significantly increased (PB0.05). Adding enzyme to diet significantly increased breast and thigh weight (P B0.05). In conclusion, we can use autoclaving, in spite of enzyme supplementation, to improve growth rate and feed conversion ratio of growing quail fed diets based on wheat.