<b>Appraisal of purple coneflower (<i>Echinacea purpurea</i>) extract on production performance, internal organs, and gut microflora of japanese quail

Abstract

ABSTRACT. An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of Echinacea purpurea (EP) extract at 5 levels (0, 0.25, 0.5, 1 or 2 mL L -1 of drinking water) on performance, internal organs and gut microflora of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix Japonica). The results showed that EP extract decreased feed intake and body weight gain of quails. The feed conversion ratio of quails fed with EP extract at the level of 0.5 ml L -1 drinking water was significantly decreased compared to the control group. Adding EP extract at the levels of 0.25, 0.5 or 1 mL L -1 drinking water decreased carcass yield of the birds (p < 0.05). The relative weight of internal organs of the birds fed different levels of EP extract was not significantly different. Birds consumed EP extract at the levels of 1 or 2 mL L -1 drinking water had lower ileal aerobic bacteria population compared to the control group; however, the ileal Coliform population increased by EP extract supplementation (p < 0.05). Results of the present study indicated that using EP extract at the level of 0.5 mL L -1 drinking water could improve feed conversion ratio of quails; however, it decreased the carcass yield of the birds.Keywords: Echinacea purpurea, japanese quail, performance, gut microflora.Avaliação do extrato de equinácea (Echinacea purpurea) no desempenho de produção, órgãos internos e microflora intestinal de codornas japonesas de água potável melhora a taxa de conversão alimentar das codornas, no entanto, diminui o rendimento de carcaça dos animais.

Evaluation of yeast culture and direct-fed microbial on gut histology and serum components of broilers challenged with suboptimal diets under heat stress

“…Feed additives research on different poultry species has been dramatically intensified in recent decade (Hajati, Gilani, & S., 2019;Seifi, Khoshbakht, Hajati, & Gilani, 2018). Interestingly, it has been shown that antibiotic replacers such as prebiotic and probiotic are more fruitful under suboptimal conditions such as stress (Fowler, Kakani, Haq, Byrd, & Bailey, 2015;Seifi, Khoshbakht, Sayrafi, & Gilani, 2018).…”