Diet structure, butyric acid, and fermentable carbohydrates influence growth performance, gut morphology, and cecal fermentation characteristics in broilers

Abstract

An experiment with 288 male (Ross 308) 1-d-old broilers was conducted to test the hypothesis that a coarse diet supplemented with butyric acid (BA) and fermentable carbohydrates (FC) improves performance of broilers with a poorly digestible protein source. The interaction effects of diet structure (fine or coarse), FC supplementation (with or without), and BA supplementation (with or without) in a poorly digestible diet based on rapeseed meal (RSM) were tested in a factorial arrangement of 8 (2 × 2 × 2) dietary treatments. The coarseness of the diet affected feed intake (FI) (P < 0.001), BW gain (P = 0.001), and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P = 0.001) positively. Broilers fed the coarse diets had, on average, 14% heavier gizzards and 11, 7, 5, and 6% lower relative empty weights of the crop, duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, respectively, compared with those fed the fine diets. Dietary coarseness resulted in, on average, 6% greater ileal protein digestibility, 20% lower gizzard pH, 19% greater villus height, 18% lower crypt depth, and 23% reduced cecal branched chain fatty acids (BCFA) compared with chickens fed the fine diets. Broilers fed BA-supplemented diets had an improved FCR (P = 0.004) and decreased crypt depth (P < 0.001) compared with those fed diets without BA. Fermentable carbohydrate supplementation did not influence growth performance, gut development, or contents of total BCFA and total biogenic amines in the cecal digesta (P > 0.05). Supplementation with FC, however, decreased the cecal concentration of spermine by approximately 31% compared with broilers fed diets without FC (P = 0.002). In conclusion, feeding a coarse diet supplemented with BA improved performance of broilers fed a diet containing a poorly digestible protein source. The negative effects of a poorly digestible protein source can thus be partly counterbalanced by coarse grinding and BA supplementation in the diet.

Wheat particle size, insoluble fibre sources and whole wheat feeding influence gizzard musculature and nutrient utilisation to different extents in broiler chickens

“…The current study also showed that different dietary textures had no effect on the histological structure of duodenum and jejunum (villus height, crypt depth, epithelial thickness and goblet cell number), a finding which is in accordance with those of Amerah et al (), Naderinejad et al () and Zang et al () who all reported a lack of gut morphology response to feed particle size. In contrast, Qaisrani et al () reported greater duodenal villus height and lower crypt depth in broilers fed coarse rapeseed meal diets compared to those fed the fine diets. Although an increased villus height has been suggested as an indicator of improved digestibility (Chiang et al, ), the improved digestibility of starch and Ca in the current study implies that the better digestion of nutrients was not necessarily achieved by increased villus height or decreased crypt depth.…”

“…Several recent studies have reported increased gizzard weight in chickens as a result of increase in feed particle size (Amerah, Ravindran, Lentle, & Thomas, ; Naderinejad et al, ; Qaisrani et al, ), and WW inclusion (Abdollahi et al, ; Jones & Taylor, ; Svihus, Juvik, Hetland, & Krogdahl, ; Taylor & Jones, ). A stimulating effect of insoluble fibre sources on gizzard development has also been reported (Hetland & Svihus, ; Jimenez‐Moreno et al, ; Jimenez‐Moreno, Gonzalez‐Alvarado, Gonzalez‐Serrano, et al, ; Jimenez‐Moreno, Gonzalez‐Alvarado, Lazaro, & Mateos, ; Yokhana, Parkinson, & Frankel, ), with effects varying with the fibre sources used.…”

“…Incorporation of structural components to poultry diets has been shown to restore the suboptimal gut health and functionality associated with feeding highly processed diets and to induce benefits on nutrient digestion. These benefits may occur as a result of increased mechanical stimulation of the proventriculus and gizzard, provision of more time for the secretion of hydrochloric acid (Duke, ; González‐Alvarado, Jiménez‐Moreno, Lázaro, & Mateos, ; González‐Alvarado, Jiménez‐Moreno, Valencia, Lázaro, & Mateos, ; Jimenez‐Moreno, Gonzalez‐Alvarado, Gonzalez‐Sanchez, Lazaro, & Mateos, ; Jimenez‐Moreno, Gonzalez‐Alvarado, Gonzalez‐Serrano, Lazaro, & Mateos, ; Qaisrani, Krimpen, Kwakkel, Verstegen, & Hendriks, ), elevated pepsin activity (Svihus, ), higher bile acid concentration (Hetland, Svihus, & Krogdahl, ) and increased digestive enzyme activities (Hetland et al, ; Husvéth et al, ). Moreover, a gizzard with well‐developed muscle layers generates vigorous reverse peristalsis contractions and increases digesta refluxes within the digestive tract, re‐exposing the digesta to hydrochloric acid and pepsin and facilitating the mixing of the digestive enzymes with digesta (Ferket, ; González‐Alvarado et al, ; Svihus, ).…”

Colonic luminal microbiota and bacterial metabolite composition in pregnant Huanjiang mini-pigs: effects of food composition at different times of pregnancy

“…The precursor of cadaverine and tyramine is lysine34, and tyramine is synthesised by the decarboxylation of tyrosine35. Spermine is produced by spermidine, which in turn is produced from histidine, ornithine, arginine, and methionine36.…”

Effect of Microencapsulated Butyric Acid supplementation on growth performance, ileal digestibility of protein, gut health and immunity in Broilers

“…Histomorphological evaluation included determination of the villus height (VH), crypt depth (CD) and villus height to crypt depth ratio (VH:CD). Duodenal samples from slaughtered birds were collected as described by Qaisrani et al (2015). Briefly, a duodenal sample, 2 cm in length was collected from the middle of the duodenum, washed with the normal saline solution (0.9% NaCl) and instantly stored in 10% formalin solution until further processing.…”