The Effects of In ovoInjection of Ascorbic Acid on Hatchability, Growth Performance, Intestinal Morphology, and Tibia Breaking Strength in 36h Post Hatch Fasted Broiler Chickens

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of intra-amnion administration of different doses of ascorbic acid (AA) on hatchability, growth performance, blood metabolites, jejunal morphology, and tibia breaking strength in 36h post hatch fasted broiler chickens. Two hundred eighty-eight Ross-308 fertile eggs at the 15thday of incubation were divided into four treatment groups, each containing four replicates of 18 eggs. The treatments included non-injected (control), injected into the amnion with 0.7 mL diluent (distilled water; sham treatment), and injected with 0.7 mL diluent containing 3 or 6 mg AA. The neonatal chicks were deprived of feed and water for 36 h. Hatched chicks were raised till 10 d of age. Hatch percentage was increased due to in ovo injection of 6 mg/egg AA.In ovo injection of different levels of AA had no significant effect on body weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio. In ovo injection of AA, especially at the 6 mg level, significantly increased villus height, villus width, and villus height: crypt depth ratio at 3 d of age. Tibia resistance and breaking strength were improved by in ovo injection of 6 mg AA when compared to the control at 10 d of age. In conclusion, it seems in ovo injection of 6 mg AA/egg on 15th d of incubation could have a positive impact on hatchability, intestinal morphology, and bone characteristics in broiler chickens

Effect of essential oils of thyme, oregano and their combination on quality of quail meat in comparison with virginiamycin

Due to its high concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids, poultry meat is prone to oxidative deterioration. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of essential oils of thyme, oregano and their combination in comparison with virginiamycin on quality of quail’s meat. The dietary treatments consisted of the basal control (without any added compounds or with 100 mg/kg of virginiamycin), 100 and 200 mg/kg of thyme and oregano essential oils, as well as an equal mixture of thyme and oregano essential oil (levels of 50 and 100 mg /kg).  At the end of 35 days of the experiment, two birds from each group were slaughtered for testing the meat quality (including malondialdehyde, pH, water holding capacity, dripping loss and cooking loss). Results showed that essential oils of thyme, oregano and their mixture reduced the thiobarbituric acid value, dripping loss and cooking loss; on the other hand pH value and water holding capacity was increased. Oregano and thyme essential oils contain compounds with high antioxidant properties. Therefore, the presence of these compounds in the bloodstream and their accumulation in the muscle tissue could results in an increase in the antioxidant capacity and consequently enhance the keeping quality of meat. It seems that the application of natural antioxidants such as thymol or carvacrol could be helpful to improve the quality of poultry meat

The effect of oregano leaves on meat quality in broiler chicks

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of oregano leaves on meat quality in broiler chicks. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with 4 treatment, 4 replicates of 10 chicks per replicate. The dietary treatments consisted of the 1) basal diet without additives, 2) basal diet containing 200 mg virginamycin/kg diet, 3,4) basal diet contain 0.1 and 0.2 percent oregano leaves, respectively. The quality parameters were measured included: Thiobarbituric acid (TBA), pH, water hold capacity, dripping loss and cooking loss. Data from the experiment were analyzed in a completely randomized design by SAS software and comparison means were performed with using of Duncan's multiple range tests at 5% level. The result showed that feeding with different levels oregano leaves caused reduction of TBA, dripping loss and cooking loss (

IDENTIFICATION OF ACTIVE AREAS OF EARTHQUAKE BY THERMAL REMOTE SENSING

The study investigates the ability of thermal remote sensing in identification of seismic active areas. The thermal characteristics of Land Surface Temperature (LST) represent changes before strong earthquakes. The objective of this research is to find the relationship between earthquake active areas and thermal properties of earth surface. Landsat ETM+ images and earthquake points from USGS have been used as the material of the study. LST have been calculated by the image data and magnitudes of earthquake activity have been interpolated by the seismic point data. The study has found that the areas with higher LST values in long period have more seismic activity on central Alborz Mountain Range in Iran and that the areas along the major faults also have higher LST values