Growth performance, economic efficiency, meat quality, and gene expression in two broiler breeds fed different levels of tomato pomace.

Male broiler chicks (135 Indian River chicks (IR) and 135 Cobb chicks; n = 270) were weighed, wing banded, and distributed randomly into three iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous diet groups for each breed (triplicate design, 45 bird/group, 15 bird/replicate). The chicks were fed the diets with levels of 0, 4, or 6% sun-dried tomato pomace (SDTP), respectively, for 42 consecutive days to determine the effect of consuming different levels of SDTP on growth performance, economic efficiency, meat quality, and gene expression in IR and Cobb broiler chickens. The inclusion of up to 6% SDTP in the diet of IR or Cobb chickens had no negative impact on growth performance parameters. Chickens from both the IR and Cobb breeds fed a diet containing 4% or 6% SDTP consumed more feed than those fed a diet containing 0% SDTP. Concomitantly, the groups fed a 6% SDTP diet of IR breed incurred a significantly higher feed cost, total variable cost (TVC), and total cost (TC). The inclusion of up to 6% SDTP in the feed of both breeds resulted in a non-significant increase in return parameters. The ultimate pH decreased as the SDTP concentration increased, with no significant differences in water holding capacity (WHC) or drip loss (48 h). No alteration in the mRNA expression of hepatic growth hormone receptor gene (GHR) or insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) was found among the treatments for either the IR or Cobb breeds. Thus, up to 6% SDTP can be added to the diet of IR and Cobb broiler chickens without any adverse effects on the examined parameters.

Ameliorative Effect of Neem Leaf and Pomegranate Peel Extracts in Coccidial Infections in New Zealand and V-Line Rabbits: Performance, Intestinal Health, Oocyst Shedding, Carcass Traits, and Effect on Economic Measures.

Healthy, weaned, coccidial-free male rabbits from two breeds (New Zealand white (NZ) and V-line (VL)) were divided into 10 equal groups (5 groups each for NZ and VL) (3 replicates/group, 6 rabbits/replicate, 18 rabbits/group). All rabbits were inoculated with 5 × 104 Eimeria spp. oocysts (E. intestinalis (67%), E. magna (22%), and E. media (11%)) except for the rabbits in the first group (G1), which were inoculated with a sterile solution and served as a negative control. The remaining four groups were treated as follows: G2, no treatment/positive control, G3, treated with neem leaf extract, G4, treated with pomegranate peel extract (PPE), and G5, treated with a combination of neem leaf extract and PPE. For both breeds, our results showed that the use of neem leaf and/or pomegranate peel extract resulted in improved growth performance, with a significant improvement in relative feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared to the positive control groups, which recorded the worst values, as well as a significant (p ≤ 0.05) reduction in mean oocyst count compared to the positive control groups. We also observed downregulation of mRNA levels of IL-1ßα, IL6, and TNF-α in the herbal treatment groups compared with the mRNA levels of these genes in the positive control groups. Herbal treatment with neem leaf and/or pomegranate peel extracts had positive effects on the NZ and VL rabbits experimentally infected with mixed Eimeria species, as evidenced by their healthy appearance, good appetite, no mortalities, an anticoccidial index > 120, and a significantly higher total return and net profit when compared to the positive control groups of both breeds. In NZ rabbits, the treatment with neem leaf extract alone (G3) or in combination with PPE (G5) recorded the most efficient economic anticoccidial activity.

Replacing fish meal with rapeseed meal: potential impact on the growth performance, profitability measures, serum biomarkers, antioxidant status, intestinal morphometric analysis, and water quality of Oreochromis niloticus and Sarotherodon galilaeus fingerlings.

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of using rapeseed meal as a partial replacement for fish meal in the diet of farmed tilapia. We evaluated the effect of this replacement on growth performance, profitability, serum biomarkers, antioxidant status, gut morphology, and water quality. A total of 960 apparently healthy Oreochromis niloticus (O. niloticus) and Sarotherodon galilaeus (S. galilaeus) fingerlings were randomly distributed into four dietary treatment groups for each tilapia species (triplicate design, 120 fish/group, and 40 fish/replicate). The diets consumed by these groups were formulated to replace fish meal (FM) with rapeseed meal (RM) at 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%, respectively, for 12 consecutive weeks. Results indicated that replacing RM in the diet of S. galilaeus (up to 20%) and O. niloticus (up to 10%) resulted in increased growth performance parameters, including final weight, weight gain, length, length gain, weight gain rate, and specific growth rate (SGR), and return parameters such as a total return and relative return compared to the control group. Moreover, an increase in RM up to 30% improved net profit and increased the mucosal length, intestinal villi length, and the number of goblet cells compared with results in its relative control groups. Additionally, we observed a significant increase in serum and liver AST and ALT with increased RM replacement. With respect to water parameters, we observed a significant difference in the ammonia levels, turbidity, and conductivity with the changes to the percentage of RM in the diets. As for the effect on each species, O. niloticus showed a more significant increase in all examined parameters compared to results in S. galilaeus. In summary, up to 10% RM can be used to replace FM without any adverse effects on the growth performance, profitability measures, intestinal morphometric analysis, or water quality.

Impacts of Microbial based Therapy on Growth Performance, Intestinal Health, Carcass Traits and Economic Efficiency of Clostridium perfringens-Infected Cobb and Arbor Acres Broilers.

The poultry farms need a safe and effective alternative for antibiotics that can counteract the negative impacts of necrotic enteritis (NE), which causes severe mortalities and economic losses. The current study was aimed to examine the influence of antibiotic (Flagymox) and the microbial-based administration on carcass traits in Clostridium (C.) perfringens-infected Cobb and Arbor Acres broilers. A total number of 360 Cobb and Arbor Acres broiler chicks (180 numbers per breed) were allocated to four groups; negative control group (without any treatments); positive control group (administration of C. perfringens at the rate of 1 × 109 cfu/bird via crop gavage twice daily from day 16 to 18 post-hatch); C. perfringens challenge plus antibiotic (Flagymox® ) group, and Clostridium perfringens challenge plus microbial-based treatment (Big-lactoα® ) group. The results indicated that the Flagymox and Big-lactoα treated Cobb breed group achieved a significant increase in their body weight (BW) than the positive control group at the third week post-infection. Also, the Arbor Acres breed gained significantly higher weight compared to the Cobb breed at the third week. Total weight gain (TWG) from 0 to the fifth week in the Cobb and Arbor Acres breeds were higher in the groups treated with Flagymox and Big-lactoα compared to the birds challenged with C. perfringens without any treatment, thus, increasing the total return (TR) in the treated groups. Economic efficiency showed no significant differences (p < .05) between the treatment groups of both the breeds. Although the treatment cost of Flagymox is higher than the microbial-based treatment (0.86 versus 0.35 LE), there were no mortalities reported in the microbial-based groups in both the breeds resulting in significantly low losses compared to the Flagymox treated groups. The groups treated with the microbial-based products in both breeds were superior in dressing percentage (75.16 and 77.06% for Cobb and Arbor Acres, respectively) compared to that of the other groups. In conclusion, microbial-based therapy improved the growth rate, carcass traits, survival rate, and economic efficiency in necrotic enteritis induced in Cobb and Arbor Acres broilers.