No abstract

Gut health plays an important role on production and performance of broilers. This trial was undertaken with an aim to evaluate the synergistic effect of probiotic, chicory root powder and coriander seed powder on the performance and gut health of broiler chicken. For this purpose, a total of 240 day-old broiler chicks were randomly allotted to six dietary treatments with 8 replicates of 5 birds in each. Treatment groups included T1 as control i.e., basal diet (BD) without any growth promoter and T2—BD + antibiotic (BMD 0.05%). In the remaining experimental diets, T3—probiotic (@ 0.01%) + chicory root powder (@ 1.0%), T4—probiotic (@ 0.01%) + coriander seed powder (@ 1.5%), T5—chicory root powder (@ 1.0%) + coriander seed powder (@ 1.5%) and T6—probiotic (@ 0.01%) + chicory root powder (@ 1.0%) + coriander seed powder (@ 1.5%). The results indicated that supplementation of probiotic + chicory (T3), probiotic + coriander (T4), chicory + coriander (T5) and probiotic + chicory + coriander (T6) in combination resulted in significantly (P<0.05) higher weight gain and better FCR compared to control and antibiotic groups at 42 d of age. Supplementation of different dietary groups did not show any significant (P>0.05) effect on feed intake of broilers. Supplementation of all the test diets (T3 to T6) significantly (P<0.05) increased the glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx), glutathione reductase (GSHRx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme activity when compared to control and antibiotic groups at 42 d of age. Supplementation of all the test diets (T3 to T6) significantly (P<0.05) lowered the pH in the gut, increased Lactobacillus counts, and reduced E. coli and Salmonella counts in the ileum compared to control and antibiotic groups. Supplementation of all the test diets (T3 to T6) significantly (P<0.05) increased the villus height (VH), crypt depth (CD), VH:CD ratio and villus width (VW) in the duodenum and only VH and CD in the ileum compared to control and antibiotic groups. Significantly (P<0.05) higher jejunal VH and VW and increased the goblet cell number in duodenum, jejunum and ileum was recorded in all test diets (T3 to T6) compared to control and antibiotic groups. Therefore, combinations of probiotic (0.01%), chicory root powder (1.0%) and coriander seed powder (1.5%) can be used as feed additive for improving performance and gut health of broiler chicken.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

To investigate the preservability of Deccani ram semen in three different extenders - SC (Sodium Citrate), T (Tris), C (Coconut milk) egg yolk extenders after dilution and chilling (5ºC) at 1, 24 and 48 hr. of storage. Eight Deccani adult rams (aged 2-4 years) were selected and ejaculate from each ram was divided into 3 aliquots and diluted with SC, T and C extenders (final concentration - 400 million spermatozoa/0.2 ml semen) and stored at 5ºC. Semen evaluation was done by computer assisted semen analyser (CASA). Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the significance difference between extenders. S: Sodium citrate (SC) and Tris (T) - Egg yolk extender was significantly (P less than 0.05) better as compared to Coconut milk extender (C). No significant difference (P>0.05) was observed between SC and T. Sperm kinematics assessment by CASA revealed Sodium citrate-based egg-yolk extender (SC) as better extender for preservation of Deccani Ram semen upto 48 hr. of storage as compared to T and C.

No abstract

The present experiment was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of different herbal preparations on the performance of broilers. For this, 250-day-old male broiler chicks were randomly divided into 5 treatment groups with 10 replicates of 5 birds each. The experimental design consisted of T1: control diet, T2: Herbal powder I, T3: Herbal powder II, T4: Herbal powder III, T5: vit E and Se. The results indicated that T4 and T5 had significantly higher body weight gain compared to other treatments at 42 d of age. However, among other test diets, cumulative body weight gain was comparable with vit E and Se. Feed intake was not influenced by different herbal supplementation, but significantly better feed conversion ratio was noticed in all the test diets. Lipid peroxidation, alkaline phosphatase, blood urea nitrogen, cholesterol, blood glucose levels and E. coli counts in small intestine were significantly low in treatment groups compared to control and at par with vit E and Se. All herbal preparations did not have any significant effect on various carcass parameters, total protein, albumin and HI antibody titer. From the results, it could be concluded that poly herbal preparations improved the overall performance of broilers.