Dietary Replacement of Soybean Meal with Zanthoxylum bungeanum Seed Meal on Growth Performance, Blood Parameters, and Nutrient Utilization in Broiler Chickens.

Zanthoxylum bungeanum seed meal (ZBM), a novel plant protein raw material, has shown promising potential in enhancing the growth of broiler chickens as a substitute for soybean meal (SBM) in feed. In the artificial digestive experiment of vitro experiments, the digestibility of ZBM and SBM were assessed using the SDS-III Single Stomach Animal Biometric Digestion System. Subsequently, 180 1-day old AA chicks were divided into three groups for in vivo experiments: corn-soybean-meal-based diet (CON group); ZBM replacing 5% soybean meal in the basal diet (ZBM-1 group); ZBM replacing 10% soybean meal in the basal diet (ZBM-2 group). The experiment period lasted for 42 days. Compared to SBM, ZBM demonstrated higher crude protein content, dry matter digestibility, and extracorporeal digestible protein. Compared with the CON group, the broilers in the ZBM-2 group showed improved ADG and ADFI during the 1-21 d, 22-42 d, and 1-42 d periods (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the ZBM groups exhibited significant increases in slaughter performance compared with the CON group (p < 0.05). The substitution of ZBM for SBM also leads to a significant reduction in serum enzyme indicators (p < 0.05). Additionally, the lipoprotein and total cholesterol of the ZBM groups were significantly lower than those of the CON group (p < 0.05). Substituting SBM with ZBM significantly enhances the activity of superoxide dismutase and the content of immunoglobulin G in broiler serum, while reducing the content of malondildehyde (p < 0.05). The ZBM groups showed significantly higher utilization of dry matter, crude protein, and energy compared with the CON group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the study confirmed that the substitution of SBM with 5-10% ZBM in broiler diets has a significant positive effect on growth, development, antioxidant capacity, immune function, and nutrient utilization. This study not only provides a theoretical foundation for the utilization of ZBM in broiler diets but also offers an effective approach for reducing reliance on soybean meal.

Evaluation of the Application Value of Cottonseed Protein Concentrate as a Feed Protein Source in Broiler Chickens.

Cottonseed protein concentrate (CPC) has the function of replacing soybean meal to maintain normal animal growth and development. This study involved 180 Arbor Acres (AA) broilers, which were randomly assigned to three different treatments. Each treatment had six replicates, with each replicate consisting of 10 chicks. The control group was fed a basal diet, while the CPC-1 and CPC-2 groups used CPC to replace 25% and 50% of the soybean meal in the basal diet, respectively. The study showed that replacing soybean meal with 25% CPC in broilers' diets can maintain normal growth, while substituting 50% of soybean meal with CPC negatively affects the growth and development of broiler chickens. Furthermore, the CPC-1 group showed a significant increase in serum total antioxidant capacity, superoxide dismutase enzyme activity, and immunoglobulin content, along with a decrease in malondialdehyde content. Based on the research results mentioned above, it was speculated that CPC has the potential to replace around 25% of soybean meal in broiler feed without causing any negative impact on growth performance. This suggests that CPC could be a viable alternative to soybean meal in broiler diet.

Compound non-starch polysaccharide enzymes improve growth performance, slaughter performance, immune function, and apparent utilization rate of nutrients in broiler chickens fed a low-metabolizable energy diet.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of compound non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) enzymes on growth performance, slaughter performance, immune function, and apparent utilization of nutrients in broiler chickens fed a low-metabolizable energy diet. A total of 240 healthy 1-day-old AA broilers (Arbor Acres, 47.2 ± 0.31 g) were randomly divided into four treatment groups, each with six replicate groups and 10 broilers per replicate. The control group was fed a basal diet; the EL-H group was fed the basal diet supplemented with 200 mg/kg compound NSP enzyme, including ß-mannanase 5,000 IU/g, ß-glucanase 2000 IU/g, xylanase 10,000 IU/g, and cellulase 500 IU/g. The EL-M group was fed the basal diet with 50 kcal/kg metabolizable energy removed, supplemented with 200 mg/kg compound NSP enzyme. Finally, the EL-L group was fed the basal diet with 100 kcal/kg metabolizable energy removed, supplemented with 200 mg/kg compound NSP enzyme. The results showed that feeding with a low-metabolizable energy diet supplemented with compound NSP enzymes did not significantly affect the growth performance of broilers (p > 0.05). Compared with the control group, the abdominal fat rate of broilers in the EL-L group was significantly reduced, and that of broilers in the EL-M group was significantly increased (p < 0.05). Apparent utilization of dry matter, crude protein, and energy in the diet was lower in the control group than in the EL-L group, but significantly higher in the control group than in the EL-H group (p < 0.05). In addition, apparent utilization of crude fiber was significantly increased in the EL-H, EL-M, and EL-L groups compared with the control group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, this experiment showed that the addition of 200 mg/kg compound NSP enzyme enabled maintenance of the normal growth and development of broiler chickens fed a low-metabolizable energy diet (replacing 50-100 kcal/kg metabolizable energy). This study provides a theoretical basis for the application of the compound NSP enzyme in broiler chickens.