The dietary administration of miswak leaf powder promotes performance, antioxidant, immune activity, and resistance against infectious diseases on Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

The feeding experiment's main purpose was to estimate the influence of fortification of tilapia diets with miswak leaf powder (MLP) on performance, digestive enzyme activity, chemical body composition, antioxidant status, immune response, and resistance against bacterial and fungal infections. O. niloticus fingerlings (15.22 ± 0.06 g) were fed four formulated diets fortified with MLP at 0, 2.5, 5, and 10 g kg−1 diet for 56 days. The fish were injected with Aeromonas hydrophila for 14 days at the end of the feeding trial, and then the mortality percentage was recorded daily in all treated groups. The obtained results showed that dietary administration of MLP at 2.5 g kg−1 recorded significantly higher values in all growth, feed utilization, and feed efficiency parameters. The digestive enzyme activity was significantly (P < 0.01) higher in fish fed a low level of MLP (2.5 or 5 g kg−1) when compared with the control group. Furthermore, the higher concentration of MLP (10 g kg−1) significantly reduced the mortality rate induced by Aeromonas hydrophila infection, increased crude protein percentage in fish body and represented highly in vitro antibacterial and antifungal efficiency. Based on the findings of the challenge tests against A. hydrophilia, higher survival was found in infected fish, explaining that MLP at high level of 10 g kg can be used to resist the outbreak of the A. hydophilia disease in tilapia. In conclusion, our obtained data showed that applied MLP in tilapia diets could promote performance, feed efficiency, antioxidant status, immune activity, and enhanced resistance of O. niloticus against infections

Feeding barley and corn hydroponic based rations improved digestibility and performance in Beetal goats

The current trial aimed to determine the impacts of fed goats with hydroponic fodder-based maize or barley rations on nutrient digestibility, growth and efficiency of consumed feed, and some blood constituents. Twenty-four post-weaned growing Beetal male kids (3 months of age with an initial body weight of 12.4 ± 0.03 kg) were randomly allocated into six equal groups (n = 4, each one). Each group was offered one of the following dietary treatments: T0, fed 100 % basal diet (BD; containing 80 % Lucerne hay and 20 % wheat straw); T1, fed 80 % BD + 20 % Hydroponic fodder Maize (HFM); T2, fed 80 % BD + 20 % Hydroponic fodder Barley (HFB); T3, fed 60 % BD + 40 % HFM; T4, 60 % BD + 40 % HFB; T5, 60 % BD + 20 % HFM + 20 % HFB for 90 days feeding trial period. Animals were kept under the same hygienic, rearing and environmental conditions. The dry matter and crude protein intake results revealed significant increases in all hydroponic-based rations, with T4 and T5 reporting higher values when compared to the control and other treated groups. Whereas, the T1 group had the maximum fiber intake compared to the other treated and non-treated groups. At the same trend, the T5 group recorded the highest final weight, weight gain, and total weight gain values and the lowest feed conversion ratio compared to the other experimental groups. In addition, goats fed a diet containing two types of hydroponic-based fodder (T5) exhibited a highly significant improvement in all nutrient digestibility and total nitrogen balance compared with other experimental groups. Furthermore, feeding goats hydroponic maize and barley-based rations had no significant influence on blood biochemical and hematological parameters, except that the lymphocyte percentage increased considerably in T2 and T3 groups compared to other experimental groups. In conclusion, in arid and semi-arid regions where most feeds are imported and resources of both land and water are scarce, feeding animal diets incorporating hydroponic fodder might improve growth and production while filling a feed supply gap