Effects of rearing systems on production performance, antioxidant capacity and immune status of meat ducks at different ages

Mortality, growth, and egg production do not differ between nontransgenic and transgenic female chickens with ubiquitous expression of the 3D8 single chain variable fragment gene

“… Zhang et al (2018) and Guerrini et al (2022) reported serum parameters in laying hens at 28 and 17 wk of age, respectively. The serum levels of GLU, TP , and ALB in this study may be acceptable to avoid abnormalities, but the levels of ALT and ALP were different, which are likely due to the differences in the breed, age, diet, and health status of the experimental chickens ( Ognik and Krauze, 2016 ; Tang et al, 2017 ; Guo et al, 2021 ). The serum parameters ALT and ALP mainly exist in the liver, and high levels in blood indicate liver damage.…”

Effects of cage vs. net-floor mixed rearing system on goose spleen histomorphology and gene expression profiles

“…The tight relationships among the splenic histomorphological characteristics, immune-related genes expression profiles, and the body’s immune functions have been widely reported in several domestic animals ( 13 , 15 ). Similarly, our results showed that there appeared to be more pronounced positive associations between the splenic histological parameters (including the ALA, ALD, TLA, and TAD) and the mRNA expression levels of several key immune-related genes ( HSPA2 , MYD88 , NGF , SPI1 , and VEGFA ) in geese reared under MRS than under CRS.…”

“…For instance, the broiler chickens reared under FRS exhibited higher mRNA expression levels of interleukin-1β and interferon-γ in the ileum than those under CRS ( 12 ). Compared to FRS, the NRS increased the serum levels of interleukin-1β, interferon-γ, interleukin-4, and immunoglobulins in meat ducks, consequently enhancing the ducks’ immune functions ( 13 ). Compared with the indoor rearing system, the mRNA expression levels of toll like receptor 7 ( TLR7 ) were significantly higher in the bursa, lung, duodenum, ileum, and cecum of the free-range reared ducks ( 14 ).…”

GPNMB promotes abdominal fat deposition in chickens: genetic variation, expressional profile, biological function, and transcriptional regulation

“…Excessive abdominal fat deposition presents a great obstacle to chicken health, productivity and reproductive efficiency ( Moreira et al, 2018 ; Zhang et al, 2018 ; Guo et al, 2021 ). In the present study, we firstly analyzed the association between SNPs in GPNMB promoter and abdominal fat traits, and found that the SNP rs31126482 was significantly associated with AFW and AFP in Gushi-Anka F2 population and Gushi chicken population.…”

“…However, the native chickens often have excessive abdominal fat deposition properties, especially in late stage of growth. Excessive abdominal fat deposition generally accompanies with low immune response ( Guo et al, 2021 ), poor feed conversion rate ( Moreira et al, 2018 ), reduced carcass quality and reproductive performance ( Zhang et al, 2018 ), undesirable production efficiency, and leading to restricted development of native chicken industry. Therefore, controlling the excessive abdominal fat deposition is an important long-term goal of native chicken breeding.…”