Effect of Feeding Benzoic acid on Performance of Broiler Chickens

The research was conducted to determine the influence of benzoic acid on growth performance, carcass traits, blood parameters and meat chemical composition of broiler birds. The research was carried out using 90 three weeks old broilers (Ross 308) divided into three groups, 30 per each. The levels of inclusion of the benzoic acid was based on treatment 1 (control) 0%, treatment 2 = 0.4% and treatment 3 = 0.8%. Results showed that, feeding benzoic acid to broilers had no significant on body weight, weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion at the two tested levels. Carcass traits did not show significant differences for the treatments, with the exception of bursa weight significantly increased. The serum total protein and globulin were significantly (P<0.05) increased in benzoic acid supplemented broilers. However, no significant differences were observed in serum albumin, triglyceride, cholesterol and uric acid between different experimental groups. No significant differences were observed for hematological parameters among all treated groups. There were no significant differences in chemical composition of broilers meat, including dry matter, protein and ash content. It could be concluded that, dietary inclusion of benzoic acid at both levels improved the immune response by increasing the weight of bursa of Fabricius and elevating blood globulin level but did not affect broiler chickens growth performance

Impact of supplementing duck diets with Moringa (Moringa Oleifera) leaves

The present work was carried out to study the effect of different levels of Moringa Oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) content as untraditional feedingstuff constituents on ducks performance, carcass traits, blood biochemical parameters and meat chemical composition. A total of 50 mulard ducklings (two weeks old) were randomly divided into 5 groups of 10 ducklings each. The first group was considered the control group (T1) and was fed ad-libitum on a grower-finisher diets. The remaining four groups (T2, T3, T4 and T5) were fed on diets containing MOLM at levels of 2%, 4%, 6% and 8%, respectively. All diets were formulated to be isocaloric (3000 kcal/kg ME) and isonitrogenous (16% CP) as recommended by NRC (1994) for growing ducks. The experiment was extended for 8 weeks. Growth performance parameters include body weight, weight gain, feed consumption, feed-to-gain ratio, relative growth rate, performance index, protein intake, protein efficiency ratio, energy intake and calorie efficiency ratio were all recorded. At the end of the experiment, three randomly selected ducks were slaughtered to evaluate carcass characteristics, meat chemical composition and blood biochemical parameters. The results showed that ducks fed diets containing 2 and 4% MOLM had higher in body weight and weight gain than ducks fed diets containing 6 and 8% MOLM. Feeding of different levels of MOLM to ducklings had no significant effect on feed consumption. The best feed conversion ratio was recorded in group T3 followed by group T2 compared to other tested groups and control T1. Ducks in group T3 fed on 4% MOLM showed improvements in their relative growth rate (RGR) and performance index (PI) compared to other tested and control groups. There were no significant (P>0.05) differences between the control group and the other tested groups in terms of protein intake and protein efficiency ratio, as well as energy intake and calorie efficiency ratio of ducks. Pre-slaughter weight, eviscerated weight and dressing weight were significantly higher in groups T2, T3, T4 fed (2%, 4%, 6%) MOLM compared to those fed on 8% MOLM and control diets. There were no significant differences in the relative weights of the internal organs (liver, heart, proventriculus, gizzard and spleen). Supplementation of duck diets with MOLM significantly (P<0.05) increased DM, CP, EE of the breast and thigh meat compared to the control group, while ash content was not affected. There were no significant (p<0.05) differences between different experimental groups in hematological pictures, except for WBCs, lymphocytic count, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), hematocrit (HCT) and platelets. Inclusion of MOLM in duck diets reduced the serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, while the serum total protein and its fractions (albumin and globulin) were not affected. It was concluded that supplementation of Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) in duck diets had beneficial effects on the growth performance parameters, meat composition and carcass characteristics, as well as improved the immunity by increasing the number of white blood cells and lymphocytes and reduced serum triglycerides and cholesterol concentrations. &nbsp

Behavior, Fear Response, Performance, Carcass Characteristics and Economic Efficiency of Fayoumi Chicks Fed Different Levels of Fennel Seeds

The study objective was to evaluate the effects of fennel seeds (Foeniculum vulgare) as a dietary additive on some behaviors, fear response, performance, carcass traits, serum metabolites and economic efficiency of male fayoumi chickens. For this purpose, 60 birds of 28 days of age were divided into control group and three treatment groups. Each group (5 birds x 3 replicates). The fennel seeds were added to the treatment diets at concentrations of 0.4, 0.8, and 1.2%, respectively. Result showed that, fennel seeds treated groups had significant difference (P<0.05), and showed higher feed intake, ingestive and comfort behavior, production efficiency index, body weight, weight gain, relative economic efficiency, serum total protein and globulin. While, had lower aggressive behavior and fear response than birds on fennel free diet. On the other hand, no changes in feed conversion, relative growth rate, dressing percentage and internal organ relative weight, serum calcium and phosphorus levels due to fennel addition. It could be concluded, that fennel seeds have a growth stimulatory effect, improving behavior, fear response, economic efficiency and general health status of male fayoumi chickens