Effects of non-antibiotic feed additives on performance, immunity and intestinal morphology of broilers fed different levels of protein

The effects of organic acid, probiotic and a combination of the two on performance and gut morphology in broiler chickens were investigated. Two hundred and forty one-day-old Arbor Acre broiler chicks were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments with six replicates, each with eight birds. The treatments were basal diet (negative control, NC), basal diet + antibiotic (positive control (PC)), NC + 0.4% organic acid (OA), NC + 0.3% probiotic (PB) and NC + 0.4% OA and 0.3% PB. Reduced body weight gain (BWG) was recorded for birds on the NC diet at the starter phase and over the total period. The addition of OA significantly increased BWG compared to values obtained in birds on the NC and other diets. Diet had no effect on BWG at the grower phase or on feed intake, dry matter intake and feed conversion ratio in any growth phase. Gain : feed ratio was lowered in the NC diet, but improved significantly by OA and PB in the starter phase. Organic acid supplementation reduced the weight of the bursa of Fabricius. The weight of pancreas, height of villi and crypt depth were reduced in birds on the NC diet compared with those on OA, PB and a combination of these. Diet had no effects on the weights of the lungs, heart, spleen, kidneys, liver, villus width, villus height : crypt depth ratio, lactic acid bacteria, coliform bacteria and total bacterial count in any gut section. In conclusion, supplementation of broiler diets with OA and PB could improve their growth and gut morphology better than antibiotics would, with a greater positive effect in the starter phase. ______________________________________________________________________________________

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 82%

Effects of organic acid and probiotic on performance and gut morphology in broiler chickens

Agboola¹,

Omidiwura²,

Odu³

et al. 2016

“…Several studies have demonstrated the importance of organic acids such as humic acid in the immune response of birds. Abdel-Fattah et al (2008), Ghazala et al (2011), andHoushmand et al (2012) observed that birds fed an organic acid-supplemented diet had heavier immune organs (bursa of Fabricius and the thymus) and a higher level of globulin in their serum, which is an indicator of immune response. Although broiler chickens in the control had some reduction in thymic volume units and the follicles of the bursa of Fabricius, this was not a manifestation of lymphocytic depletion of the thymus and bursa of Fabricius.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Humic acid and enzymes in canola-based broiler diets: Effects on bone development, intestinal histomorphology and immune development

Disetlhe¹,

Marume²,

Mlambo³

et al. 2017

The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of dietary inclusion of humic acid and enzymes on bone development, histomorphology of internal organs and the incidence of rickets in broiler chickens fed canola-based diets. In the study, Cobb 500 broiler chicks were used and the following five dietary treatments were administered: control (commercial diet); CM (17.5% canola meal inclusion); CMEnz (17.5% CM inclusion + 0.3g/kg Axtra XAP); CMPh (17.5% CM inclusion + 1.5% potassium humate (PH)); and CMEnzPh (17.5% CM inclusion + 1.5% PH + 0.3g/kg Axtra XAP). These diets were formulated and randomly allocated to 20 pens (experimental units), each housing 11 birds. The birds were phase fed, with the starter diet being given to all birds from day 1 to day 14. During the grower (days 15-28) and finisher phases (days 29-42) birds were fed the experimental diets. Diet differed significantly across all treatments on latency-to-lie (LTL) test. Broilers fed CMEnz had the lowest standing persistence (2.88 ± 2.69 min) and those on CMEnzPh had the highest (11.19 ± 2.69 min), followed by those offered the control diet (9.05 ± 2.69 min). Gross lesion analysis displayed high prevalence of rickets in boilers fed CMEnz diet compared with all other dietary treatments. Intestinal morphometric parameters demonstrated some dietary differences in the height and width of the intestinal villi and intestinal crypts. In conclusion, inclusion of humic acid in canola-based diets appeared to positively influence digestion and assimilation dynamics that were consequential to the improvement in bone and immune development in broilers. ______________________________________________________________________________________

“…Lessard et al (1995) found that S. Typhimurium-infected birds had higher antibody titres in response to Newcastle disease vaccination compared with uninfected birds. Houshmand et al (2012) concluded that the dietary addition of organic acids significantly increased the antibody titres against Newcastle disease compared with the control group. The mean weight of organs as a percentage of carcass weight is documented in Table 6.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of organic acid supplementation on antioxidant capacity and immune responses of broilers challenged orally with <i>Salmonella enterica</i> subsp. <i>enterica Typhimurium</i>

Abudabos¹,

Al-Mufarrej²

2015

Four commercial organic acids and a reference antibiotic, Neoxyval, were administered to commercial broilers to evaluate the efficacy of these products during pre-and post-challenge with Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) on selected indicators of their antioxidant status and immune responses in serum. Two hundred and eight broilers received one of the following seven treatments: positive control group (CTL+); negative control (CTL−); antibiotic Neoxyval, (NEOX); Gallimix (GALI); FormaXOL (FORMA); Fysal (FYS); and Selko-pH in drinking water (SELK). The chicks in treatments T2 to T7 were challenged with (3 x10 9 cfu/mL) of S. Typhimurium on day 16. Each treatment consisted of 10 cage replicates with four birds per cage for a starter (0 -14 days of age) and a finisher (15 -42 days of age) period. The results revealed that the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) value was highest when birds were supplemented with organic acids, with the highest value for FORMA (0.70 mM), which was not different from those of the FYS (0.67 mM), SELK (0.66 mM) and GALI (0.64 mM) treatments. Birds receiving treatment, CTL−, produced the highest H 2 O 2 value (75.9 µM), while, FYS, FORMA and SELK lowered H 2 O 2 concentration significantly (51.1, 53.8 and 55.0 µM, respectively). Anti-Salmonella titre was significantly improved by dietary organic acid supplementation. The highest Salmonella titre was recorded for birds that received FORMA (1.54) as compared with all other treatments. Week of sampling showed a significant effect on Salmonella and Newcastle disease titres. In summary, the tested organic acids, especially FORMA, had a positive influence on TAC and Salmonella titres and reduced the H 2 O 2 concentration in serum.