Performance, Immune Responses, and Blood Biochemistry of Broiler Chickens Fed with Plant Growth Compound

Today, medicinal plants and prebiotics are known as growth stimulants and can have beneficial effects on health and performance. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of plant growth promoters and a prebiotic (lactose) on growth performance, immune responses, and blood biochemical parameters in broiler chicks. Seven hundred and fifty Arian broiler chicks (mixed-sex) were allocated to six treatments and five replicates at one day of age. Three plant-based growth promoters (ASRI1, ASRI2, and commercial supplement (Optifeed)) and two dietary prebiotic levels (0 and 1 kg/ton) were evaluated in a completely randomized design with 3×2 factorial arrangements. The results showed that growth performance and humoral and cellular immunities did not differ among experimental treatments; therefore, the herbal compounds ASRI1 and ASRI2 can be used as growth promoters equivalent to the commercial products currently used in the broiler chicken industry. An interaction effect of growth promoter × prebiotic was detected for concentrations of calcium in the serum. Serum calcium concentrations of birds fed ASRI2 and 1 kg/ton prebiotic were greater than those of chickens receiving the commercial growth promoter. Serum triglycerides and VLDL-C concentrations were significantly lower in birds treated with ASRI1 growth promoter compared to those fed with a commercial growth promoter. In conclusion, there was no difference between ASRI1, ASRI2, and Optifeed growth promoters in their effectiveness as promoters of growth and immunity of broiler chicks

Apparent and true amino acid digestibility of artemia meal in broiler chicks (Short communication)

In order to determine the amino acid digestibility of artemia meal, five-week old male broiler chicks were given a semi-purified diet in which artemia meal was the sole source of protein. Apparent amino acid digestibility values of the assay diet, using ileal and excreta contents, were calculated using chromic oxide as indigestible marker. True digestibility values were calculated using endogenous output determined by feeding a nitrogen-free diet. The results showed that in determination of apparent amino acid digestibility of excreta, serine had the lowest (0.80) and methionine the highest (0.92) digestibility, while glycine had the lowest (0.88) and arginine and leucine the highest (0.95) apparent ileal digestibility. In measuring true excreta and ileal amino acid digestibility, alanine and glycine had the lowest (0.90 and 0.93) and methionine the highest (0.96 and 0.99) digestibility, respectively. In general, the site of measurement had no effect on apparent or true amino acid digestibility of artemia meal

Choosing a Commercial Broiler Strain Based on Multicriteria Decision Analysis

With the complexity and amount of information in a wide variety of comparative performance reports in poultry production, making a decision is difficult. This problem is overcomed only when all data can be put into a common unit. For this purpose, five different decision making analysis approaches including  Maximin, Equally likely, Weighted average, Ordered weighted averages and Technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution were used to choose the best broiler strain among three ones based on their comparative performance and carcass characteristics. Commercial broiler strains of 6000 designated as R, A, and C (each strain 2000) were randomly allocated into three treatments of five replicates. In this study, all methods showed similar results except Maximin approach. Comparing different methods indicated that strain C with the highest world share market has the best performance followed by strains R and A