KeywordsSunflower meal, broilers, enzyme blend, and alternative feedstuffs.

The effects of the dietary inclusion of olive pulp (OP) and supplementation birds with a commercial enzyme blend (ENZ) on the performance of broilers were evaluated. Six hundred one-day-old male Ross 308 broilers were divided according to a completely randomized design into 10 treatments in a 2×2×2+2 factorial arrangement, consisting of two olive pulp levels (50 and 100 g/kg diet), two pulp categories (processed and non-processed), the inclusion or not of an enzyme blend supplement, and two control treatments without OP and the inclusion or not of the enzyme blend in the diet. Feed intake (FI), weight gain (WG), feed efficiency (FE), energy intake (EI), energy efficiency (EE), protein intake (PI), protein efficiency (PE), feed cost per kg live weight (FC/kg), and production index (IP) were determined. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) between broilers fed the OP diets and the control diets for all parameters. Processed OP improved FE (p≤0.019 from 1-21 days; p≤0.005 from 22-42 days; and p≤0.008 from 1-42 days of age) and EE (p≤0.012 from 1-21 days; p≤0.012 from 22-42 days; and p≤0.002 from 1-42 days of age). The enzyme blend supplementation did not influence (p>0.05) any of the studied variables. The inclusion of OP in the diets at levels up to 100g/ kg would does not have deleterious effects on broiler production performance.

The effects of the dietary inclusion of olive pulp (OP) and the supplementation of a commercial enzyme blend (ENZ) on the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) size, and immune and hematological parameters were evaluated. In total, 600 one-day-old Ross 308 male broiler chicks were divided into 6 treatments according to a completely randomized design, in a 2×2×2 factorial scheme, consisting of the dietary inclusion of two olive pulp levels (50 and 100 g/kg in diet), two pulp categories (processed and unprocessed), and the inclusion or not of an enzyme blend. On d 42, birds were euthanized and blood samples were collected, and lymphoid, hematologic, and GIT organs were measured. The inclusion of 100g/kg OP in the diets increased jejunum relative weight (J%) and jejunum length (p ≤ 0.05). Processed OP reduced jejunum weight and length, J%, and left cecum length, serum triglycerides and VLDL cholesterol levels (p ≤ 0.05). Enzyme supplementation did affect any of the studied parameters (p>0.05). The OP inclusion improved the GIT size, while processed OP reduced GIT measurements and serum lipid levels.

This study aimed at evaluating four dietary L-Glutamine (L-Gln) or L-Gln plus L-Glutamate (L-Glu) supplementation programs on the performance, breast yield, and uniformity of broilers. A total of 2,112 one-d-old male Cobb 500 ® broilers were distributed according to a randomized block design in a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement (L-Gln or L-Gln plus L-Glu × 4 supplementation programs), totaling eight treatments with 12 replicates of 22 broilers each. The supplementation programs consisted of the dietary inclusion or not of 0.4% of L-Gln or L-Gln plus L-Glu for four different periods: 0 days (negative control), 9d, 21d, and 42d. Feed intake (FI, g), body weight gain (BWG, g), feed conversion ratio (FCR, kg/kg), coefficient of variation of body weight (CV, %), body weight uniformity (UNIF, %), breast weight (BW, g), breast yield (BY, %), coefficient of variation of breast weight (CV B ), breast uniformity (UNIF B ), coefficient of variation of breast yield (CV BY ), and breast yield uniformity (UNIF BY ) were evaluated. Birds fed the diets treatments supplemented with L-Gln or L-Gln plus L-Glu for 9d presented 3% higher BWG (p<0.05) compared with the controls. The L-Gln or L-Gln plus L-Glu supplementation until broilers were 21 days old resulted in 14, 10, 16, and 12% improvements (p<0.05) in CV, UNIF, CV BY , UNIF BY , respectively. The supplementation of 0.4% L-Gln (L-Gln 99%) or L-Gln plus L-Glu (minimum 95%) to pre-starter and starter broiler diets is recommended to improve body weight gain and uniformity.

Alternative feedstuffs, eggs quality, feed costs, poultry. ABSTRACTThe objective of this experiment was to evaluate the performance of 64-to 79-wk-old laying hens fed diets supplemented with an enzyme complex (EC) and containing increasing sunflower meal (SFM) levels. A total of 384 Hy-Line Brown layers were distributed according to a randomized block design in a 4 × 2 factorial arrangement (four levels of SFM, and inclusion or not of EC), with eight replicates of six birds each unit. The levels of SFM inclusion were 0, 8, 16 and 24%, utilized in two distinct diets. Diets were calculated to meet all the nutritional requirements of birds, except for the nutrients that would be made available by the nutritional matrix of the enzyme complex, with or without utilization of EC. The parameters analyzed were feed intake (g/bird/day), egg production (%/bird/day), egg weight, egg mass (g/ bird/day), feed conversion ratio per egg mass, feed conversion ratio per dozen eggs, body weight gain, egg components (yolk, albumen and eggshell) and the economic efficiency index (EEI). There was no interaction between EC addition and the SFM levels in the diet. The addition of EC in the diets of laying hens did not affect egg productive or components parameters. The increase in the SFM levels in the diet presented quadratic effect on egg production and feed conversion ratio per dozen eggs, with calculated optimal sunflower meal inclusion levels of 6.72% and 5.83%, respectively, for each parameter. The best economic efficiency per dozen eggs was obtained with the diet with 16.0% SFM and EC inclusion, whereas per egg mass with the diet with of 24.0% SFM and no EC addition.