Black Pepper (Piper Nigrum L.) and Hot Red Pepper (Capsicum Annum L.) in Broiler Chicken Nutrition

Antibiotics have been widely used in animal production for decades in past. Although some are used therapeutically to improve the health and well-being of animals, most were given for prophylactic purposes and to improve growth rate and feed conversion ratio efficiency. After the ban of nutritive antibiotic usage in animal nutrition in the European Union, many alternative substances have been investigated for growth promoter potential as their replacement. A large number of experiments have confirmed a wide range of activities of phytoadditives such as black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) and hot red pepper (Capsicum annum L.) in poultry nutrition for feed intake stimulation, antimicrobial, antioxidative, anticoccidiostatic effects. Besides these effects, black pepper and hot red pepper also have a strong influence on lowering the cholesterol level in edible tissuses as well as on reducing deposition of abdominal fat in carcass. The aim of this review is to present characteristics and effects of phytoadditives, especially black pepper and hot red pepper and their bioactive components in broiler chicken nutrition

EFFECT OF Artemisia absinthium ESSENTIAL OIL ON ANTIOXIDATIVE SYSTEMS OF BROILER'S LIVER

ABSTRACT: The effect of Artemisia absinthium essential oil (AAEO) on enzymatic activity of superoxide-dismutase (SOD), glutathione-peroxidase (GSHPx), glutathione-reductase (GR), peroxidase (POD), xantine-oxidase (XOD) and non-enzymatic (content of lipid peroxides (LPx) and gluthathione (GSH)) antioxidative status of broilers infected with mixture of oocysts of Eimeria tenella, Eimeria mitis and Eimeria necatrix in comparison to coccidiostat salinomycin was investigated. The in vivo investigation were carried out on 120 Arbor acres broilers of both sexes. Broilers were randomly distributed into four groups. Group A was uninfected and untreated; group B was infected and was kept untreated; group C preventively received coccidiostatic salinomycin in quantity of 60 mg/kg of feed and was inoculated with coccidia species at 21 st day-of-age and group D received in feed AAEO in quantity of 3 g/kg and was infected with Eimeria oocysts at 21 st day-of-age. Livers were collected for the subsequent evaluation of antioxidative status. It was concluded that AAEO added in feed for broilers prevented the development of coccidia oocysts and therefore it can be used as prophylactic feed additive

Mycotoxins and their impact on poultry production

Only two years after the great expansion of "AGROŽIV" company, it was evident that mycotoxins have great impact on all segments of poultry production. During that year we were for the first time faced up with problems in poultry fattening. It was not possible to explain the present problems only by bacterial and viral infections, so we assumed that there is another reason for the observed clinical picture. From that time we started to pay more attention on contamination of poultry feed with mycotoxins. In the four years' period, from 1988 to 2002, 57 samples were analyzed for the presence of mycotoxins. Mycotoxicological investigations revealed the presence of T-2 toxin in 19 samples at concentrations less than 0.3 mg/kg, in 18 samples at concentration of 0.5 mg/kg, and in 3 samples 1.0 mg/kg. Beside this, type A trichotecene DAS was found in 6 of tested samples, and ochratoxin A and in 1 sample. Clinical picture and damages varied depending on mycotoxins' concentrations and poultry age. To exceede this problem in animal production we tried to use the organic and anorganic mycotoxin adsorbents as additives of poultry feed, but the results were not satisfactory enough. So, we resumed that if we really want to resolve problem of mycotoxins we have to start from the field production of poultry feed components