Protein source and dietary structure influence growth performance, gut morphology, and hindgut fermentation characteristics in broilers

Abstract

An experiment with 210 male (Ross 308) 1-d-old broilers was conducted to test the hypothesis that a coarse diet improves performance of broilers fed a poorly digestible protein source. A highly digestible diet based on soybean meal was gradually replaced by a low digestible diet based on rapeseed meal (RSM) in 5 steps (RSM-0%, RSM-25%, RSM-50%, RSM-75%, and RSM-100%). Two diet structures (fine and coarse) were used as an additional factor. These 2 factors and their interactions were tested at different ages in a factorial arrangement with 10 dietary treatments. An increase in indigestible dietary protein negatively affected feed intake (P = 0.003), BW gain (P = 0.008), and feed conversion ratio (P = 0.034). This increase in dietary indigestible protein contents resulted in a decrease (P = 0.001) in total cecal volatile fatty acid concentration from 209.1 to 125.9 mmol/kg of DM digesta in broilers with increasing RSM in diets. Increase in the indigestible protein level, from RSM-0% to RSM-100%, resulted in a decrease (P = 0.042) in villus heights (1,782 vs. 1,574 µm), whereas crypt depths increased (P = 0.021; 237 vs. 274 µm). A coarse diet improved feed intake (P = 0.006), BW gain (P = 0.014), and feed conversion ratio (P = 0.009). Broilers fed coarse diets had approximately 11, 24, and 10% lower relative empty weights of the crop, proventriculus, and jejunum, respectively, whereas a 15% heavier gizzard was found compared with those fed the fine diets. Dietary coarseness resulted in approximately 16% lower gizzard pH, 21% greater villus heights, 27% lower crypt depths, 24% reduced branched-chain fatty acids, and 12% lower biogenic amines in the cecal digesta compared with broilers fed fine diets. In conclusion, feeding coarse particles improved broiler performance irrespective of digestibility of the diet. Hindgut protein fermentation can be reduced by coarse grinding of the diet.

Effects of dietary Tenebrio molitor meal inclusion in free‐range chickens

“…Morphometric analyses (Image Pro‐Plus software) (Fig. a) were performed on 10 well‐oriented and intact villi and 10 crypts chosen from the duodenum, jejunum and ileum (Qaisrani et al., ). The evaluated morphometric indices were villus height (Vh: from the tip of the villus to the crypt), crypt depth (Cd: from the base of the villi to the submucosa) and their ratio (Vh/Cd) (Laudadio et al., ).…”

“…Intestinal morphology is the main indicator of gut health and functioning (Kuzmuk et al., ). Dietary protein level and digestibility have been reported to significantly affect the intestinal development and the mucosal architecture of the gastrointestinal tract of broilers (Laudadio et al., ; Qaisrani et al., ). Intestinal development can be assessed through morphometric measurements of the villus height (to determine the area available for digestion and absorption) and crypt depth (the region in which new intestinal cells are formed) (Franco et al., ).…”

Dietary supplementation with olive mill wastewaters induces modifications on chicken jejunum epithelial cell transcriptome and modulates jejunum morphology

“…Tissues were routinely embedded in paraffin wax blocks, sectioned at a thickness of 5 μm, mounted on glass slides and stained with H&E. The evaluated morphometric indexes included the villus height (Vh, from the tip of the villus to the crypt), the crypt depth (Cd, from the base of the villus to the submucosa) and the villus height to crypt depth (Vh/Cd) ratio [80]. Morphometric analyses were performed on 10, well-oriented, intact villi and 10 crypts, chosen from the intestinal segments collected [81]. The statistical analysis was performed using the GraphPad® Prism software (v. 6).…”

Effect of nutritional interventions with quercetin, oat hulls, β-glucans, lysozyme and fish oil on performance and health status related parameters of broilers chickens

“…This could result in the formation of toxic compounds, such as amines, ammonia, skatol or indoles that negatively influence the performance of broilers (Gabriel et al 2006). In previous studies, the effects of some dietary manipulations to ameliorate the detrimental effects of feeding RSM on performance and gut health of broiler have been tested (Qaisrani et al 2014(Qaisrani et al , 2015b. Feeding coarse RSM-rich diets to broilers increased feed intake, body weight (BW) gain (BWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared with broilers fed fine RSM-rich diets (Qaisrani et al 2014).…”

“…In previous studies, the effects of some dietary manipulations to ameliorate the detrimental effects of feeding RSM on performance and gut health of broiler have been tested (Qaisrani et al 2014(Qaisrani et al , 2015b. Feeding coarse RSM-rich diets to broilers increased feed intake, body weight (BW) gain (BWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared with broilers fed fine RSM-rich diets (Qaisrani et al 2014). Feeding RSM-rich diets to broilers could be partly counterbalanced by coarse grinding and dietary supplementation of butyric acid (Qaisrani et al 2015b).…”