Present experiment was performed to study the effects of Echinacea purpurea (EP) and Nigella sativa (NS) on broiler performance, carcass and meat quality. Four treatment combinations were prepared: C -control group without any feed or water additive; E -drinking water intermittently supplemented with fermented juice of EP; N -feed supplemented with grounded seeds of NS, and EN -drinking water intermittently supplemented with EP and feed supplemented with NS. No significant treatment effect was observed on weight gain, average daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio and abdominal fat percentage. Carcass yield in C and N groups was significantly (P<0.05) higher than in E. Significantly (P<0.05) higher breast percentage in group N was observed. Crude protein contents were significantly (P<0.05) higher in meat samples of C and EN groups. Grill losses were significantly (P<0.05) lower in E and cooking losses were significantly (PO.05) higher in N treated birds. No significant treatment effect was observed on meat colour, electrical conductivity and shear force value.

The ability of birds to modify dietary phosphorus utilisation when fed with low-phosphorus and calcium (Ca) diets was studied using different sequences of dietary phosphorus and Ca restriction (depletion) and recovery (repletion) during the grower and the finisher phases. A total of 3600 Ross 708 broilers were randomly divided into 10 replicate pens per treatment (60 per pen, six pens per block). Chicks were fed a common starter diet from days 0 to 10, then a grower control diet (C: 0.90% Ca, 0.39% non-phytate phosphorus, nPP), mid-level diet (M: 0.71% Ca, 0.35% nPP) or low Ca and nPP diet (L: 0.60% Ca, 0.30% nPP) from days 11 to 21, followed by a finisher diet C, M or L containing, respectively, 0.85%, 0.57% or 0.48% Ca and 0.35%, 0.29% or 0.24% nPP from days 22 to 37. Six treatment sequences were tested: CC, MM, LL, ML, LC and LM. Bone mineral content by dual-energy X-ray, tibia ash, toe ash weight and tibia breaking strength were measured on days 21 and 37. No significant effect was observed on growth performance throughout the experiment. Diet L reduced bone mineral content, breaking strength, tibia and toe ash by 9%, 13%, 11% and 10%, respectively, on day 21 (compared with diet C, for linear effect, P<0.05). On day 37, bone mineral content, breaking strength, tibia and toe ash remained lower compared with control values (CC v. MM v. LL, P<0.05 for linear and quadratic effects). Mineral depletion duration (ML v. LL) did not affect bone mineral status. Replenishing with the C diet during the finisher phase (LC) restored bone mineral content, tibia ash and toe ash weight better than the M diet did, but not to control levels (CC v. LC v. LM, for linear effect, P<0.05). These results confirm that dietary Ca and nPP may be reduced in the grower phase without affecting final growth performance or breaking strength as long as the finisher diet contains sufficient Ca and nPP. The practical applications of this strategy require further study in order to optimise the depletion and repletion steps.

The embryonic period represents approximately 33 percent of the total productive life of modern broilers and is very important for attaining quality broiler performance at marketing. In this symposium, recent developments in pre-hatch broiler development were discussed with special focus on maternal nutrition, in ovo nutrition, and the regulation and monitoring of the incubational environment. The symposium was concluded with discussion about the implementation of future innovations in incubation technology.

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