POULTRY SCIENCE JOURNAL
Year:2018 | Volume:6 | Issue:2|Papers Count:10

There is a general agreement between researchers that particle size of poultry feed should be between the size ranges of 600-900 μ m. This study investigated the particle size of poultry feed produced in the Dormaa Municipality of Ghana. A survey was conducted on various feed mills which were made up of nine on-farm mills and five community-based commercial mills. Feed samples were collected from each mill and analyzed using the sieving method for the particle size. The results showed that 42% of mills produced feed coarser than the accepted particle size ranges of 600-900 μ m. The geometric mean diameter (GMD) of the samples ranged from 608-1791 μ m. A comparison of the on-farm and commercial feed mills showed that there was no significant difference (P = 0. 669) between GMDs of the feed produced by the commercial and on-farm mills. This study confirmed that particle size analysis should be carried out routinely at the feed mills, in order to control the quality of the feed being produced.

This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of different vegetable oil types on broiler energy expenditure, abdominal fat deposition and fatty acid profile of breast and thigh. A total number of 300 un-sexed day-old cobb 500 broiler chickens were used in a completely randomized design, consisted of five treatments (five different vegetable oil sources including soy, flaxseed, canola, corn, and sunflower oil), with five replicates and 10 chicks in each. Different vegetable oil sources had no significant effect on energy efficiency ratio and abdominal fat deposition. Flaxseed oil increased C18: 3 and C20: 5 in breast and C18: 3, C20: 3, C20: 4 and C20: 5 in thigh muscle (P < 0. 05). The highest content of n-3 fatty acids was observed in breast of broilers fed diets treated with flaxseed oil (P < 0. 05). The C18: 3 content of thigh of broilers fed flaxseed was significantly higher than those chicken received other oil sources (P < 0. 05). A significant increase in C20: 5 was seen in the thigh of chicken received flaxseed oil, too (P < 0. 05). The highest content of C18: 2 was observed in the breast of the chickens fed corn oil and the lowest was seen in broilers received canola oil (P < 0. 05). The results showed that dietary oil type could affect fatty acid profile of broiler breast and thigh despite lack of significant difference in broiler energy expenditure or abdominal fat deposition.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of barley malt extract and barley malt vinegar on growth performance, jejunal morphology and meat quality of broilers. A total of 600 day-old chicks were allocated to four dietary treatments to evaluate the effect of dietary inclusion of 0. 2% barley malt extract alone or along with 0. 4 or 0. 8% of malt vinegar as well as the control group. The results of the experiment have shown that dietary supplementation of 0. 2% malt extract along with 0. 4% malt vinegar resulted in a higher average daily gain (P = 0. 007) and European production efficiency factor (P = 0. 028) concomitantly lower feed conversion ratio (P = 0. 047) compared to the birds were fed the control diet or supplemented by 0. 2% malt extract along with 0. 8% malt vinegar. Dietary supplementation of 0. 2% malt extract increased the apparent absorption of surface area in the jejunum (P = 0. 024). Moreover, dietary supplementation of malt extracts and malt vinegar alleviated malondialdehyde formation in the breast and thigh muscles (P < 0. 05). Ceca microflora enumeration did not differ among the dietary treatments. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of 0. 2% malt extract along with 0. 4% malt vinegar may improve broiler growth performance and alleviate lipid oxidation.

To investigate the prevalence of fungal agents in local Egyptian broiler breeder chicken’ s premises, tracheal and cloacal swabs from chickens, feed, and water samples were collected. The targeted breed's dead-inshell eggs and newly hatched chick’ s samples were also tested. All fungal isolates were morphologically typed and the predominant fungal species were further subjected to molecular typing using PCRRFLP and gene sequence analysis of the β-tubulin gene. Results revealed a high prevalence of fungal isolates in tracheal and cloacal swabs (39. 3-48. 1%) and feed and water samples (37. 5% and 28. 6%, respectively). Fungal isolation rates in dead-in-shell eggs of all breeds were high except in Dahaby breed. Aspergillus species including A. niger, A. flavus, and A. terreus were the predominantly isolated fungi from all collected samples. The ß-Tubulin genes PCR-RFLP of selected Aspergillus isolates showed a characteristic restriction pattern for each species; however, the method was unable to distinguish between strains. The β-tubulin gene phylogenetic and sequence analysis of selected A. flavus, and A. terreus from breeder chickens and their hatching chicks indicated their relatedness to isolates from bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis in humans in the Middle East. In conclusion, the Aspergillus species remains the most prevalent fungi in breeder chickens, their incubated eggs and hatched chicks indicating their widespread in hatcheries. The PCR-RFLP is an easy tool to discriminate between Aspergilli species, however, the β-tubulin sequence analysis more descriptive of potential sources of fungal contamination. Further epidemiological studies are needed to monitor avian and human Aspergilli in poultry houses with a special focus on antifungal drug-resistant strains.

The study was conducted to know the rate of maternally derived antibodies (MDAs) transfer from parents to their offspring and declining the MDAs in their chicks at 0, 7, 14, and 21 days of age against four major poultry viruses like Newcastle disease virus (NDV), Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), Infectious bursal diseases virus (IBDV), and Avian Reo virus (ARV). The MDAs was studied on Grandparent (GP) to Parent stock (PS), and Parent stock (PS) to broiler at 30 weeks and 50 weeks of age in Cobb-500 broiler strain chicken. The MDAs was measured from serum antibody titer by indirect ELISA test. The MDAs transfer rate against NDV from GP to PS at 50 weeks of age was higher (68. 82%) than at 30 weeks of age but in case of PS to broiler it was higher (66. 01%) at 30 weeks of age and its persistent rate also higher (7. 96%) up to 21th days of age. Against IBV, MDAs transfer rates were higher in PS to broiler than GP to PS of both ages and highest rates were revealed in PS to broiler at 30 weeks of age as 70. 72%. On the other hand, among all lines MDAs transfer rates against IBDV was higher (86. 94%) in GP to PS at 30 weeks of age. For ARV, the MDAs transfer rates were highest in GP to PS in both ages than PS to broiler and within GP to PS at 50 weeks of age, it was highest (94. 87%) than 30 weeks of age. Accordingly, the poultry producer may help to develop an effective vaccination schedule by considering the MDAs from above experiment.

This study investigated the potential effects of egg quality indices at 95% confidence level in order to minimize quality loss during different storage conditions. The chicken and quail eggs’ quality indices including weight, albumen index, yolk index, Haugh index in fresh eggs as well as after storing in moist sawdust, oil, and refrigerator were measured for six weeks. The results revealed that storage conditions significantly influenced the eggs quality indices. Eggs’ weight, albumen index, yolk index, Haugh unit, pH, and total plate counts varied respectively from 59. 41 to 66. 12g, zero to 0. 12, zero to 0. 52, zero to 88. 19, 7. 31 to 8. 52, and zero to 2. 56×10 cfu/mL in chicken eggs while it was 9. 25 to 10. 39g, zero to 0. 16, zero to 0. 47, zero to 91. 86, 7. 28 to 9. 42, and zero to 2. 56×10 cfu/mL for quails. Based on the various eggs storage quality indices evaluated on eggs stored under different conditions, quail eggs stored in oil were able to retain their interior quality than in other storage conditions, while chicken eggs stored in the refrigerator had better retention of quality than in other storage conditions at the end of the six-week storage period.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 and Newcastle disease viral infections cause severe illness in chickens and vaccination is a strategic tool of controlling these diseases. Hence, this study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of using both recombinant herpesvirus of turkey (rHVT-H5 and rHVT-F) vector vaccines at day-old, in the hatchery, under field conditions. Vaccinated chickens were challenged at 33 days of age with 100 μ L containing 106 embryonated infective dose 50 of either highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 or very virulent (velogenic) Newcastle disease viral strains through the intranasal route and monitored for 7 days for clinico-pathological changes. Tracheal and cloacal swabs and blood samples were also collected for determination of viral shedding using RT-PCR and immune responses using hemagglutination inhibition test. Absolute (100%) protection was recorded in vaccinated group against challenge with H5N1. In all time points, the challenge virus shedding was either not detected or greatly reduced in the trachea and the cloaca of vaccinated chickens compared to non-vaccinated, challenged chickens. Excretion of H5N1 challenge virus was not detected in the trachea of vaccinated birds at 3 and 5 days post-challenge and results of hemagglutination inhibition test revealed an average of 3. 2 log2 titres at 5 days post-challenge. Protection achieved against challenge with very virulent Newcastle disease virus was 79%. There was 80-100% reduction in tracheal shedding at 3, 5, and 7 days post-challenge, and an average of 6. 2, 6. 0 and 6. 4 log2 hemagglutination inhibition titres were recorded, respectively. Cloacal shedding of challenge Newcastle virus was greatly reduced in vaccinated groups compared to non-vaccinated, challenged chickens. These data support the efficacy of the combined use of rHVT-H5 and rHVT-F vector vaccines against highly pathogenic avian influenza and Newcastle disease viral infections under field conditions.

A study was conducted to compare the testicular morphology and semen quality of three strains (FUNAAB-Alpha, ISA brown and Bantam) of chickens. A total of 45, thirty four week old cocks were used for the six months study. Semen samples were collected weekly by abdominal massage technique and semen volume, colour, pH, motility, percentage live, normal and sperm concentration were evaluated. Testes and Vas deferens were collected from all the cocks at the end of the experimental period and their gross morphological data recorded. Strain influenced (P < 0. 05) gross testicular morphology. Weights of paired testes were 23. 98, 23. 23, and 11. 80 g for the FUNAAB-alpha, Isa brown and Bantam, respectively. Testicular weight (paired, left, and right) and lengths were consistently lower (P < 0. 05) for the Bantam. Testicular width was similar among the three strains. Gross motility was similar for the FUNAAB-alpha (79. 82%) and ISA brown (81. 18%) while the Bantam (54. 63%) had the lowest (P < 0. 05) mean. Sperm concentration was highest (P < 0. 001) for the Bantam while the other two had similar values. It was concluded that the FUNAAB-alpha compared favourably with the ISA brown but was superior to the Bantam in semen quality and testicular morphology.

The study was conducted in five selected districts in Bale zone South East, Ethiopia to evaluate the morphometric difference among indigenous chicken populations. Simple random sampling method was used to select 400 households who owned indigenous chicken population. From these households, a total of 840 adult (more than 6 months of age) indigenous chickens (225 males and 615 females) were used for morphometric traits measurements. Linear measurements were taken to the nearest of 0. 5 cm and body weight was recorded at a precision scale of 100 g. Multivariate variance analysis was used to determine major traits that differentiate chicken population. Canonical discriminant multivariate statistical analysis was conducted for more powerful traits comparisons. Stepwise discriminant analysis was conducted to check the discriminating power of the traits. Pairwise Mahalanobis analysis was carried out to see the distance between indigenous chicken in the study districts. The study revealed that there were significant variations in morphometric traits across the study districts except shank circumference and wing span in hens and shank length, comb height, comb length, beak length and wattle length in cocks. There were significant variations in linear body measurements between sexes. Pairwise Mahalanobis distances between indigenous chicken between most of study districts were significant. Generally, there were morphological traits variations observed among the indigenous chicken populations across the study districts and between sexes, which suggest that there is an opportunity for genetic improvement through selection. Thus, farmers should get technical supports how to select best indigenous chicken for breeding purpose and formulation of breeding plan should be implemented to conserve indigenous chicken genetic resources for genetic improvement strategies.

The effects of organic and inorganic sources and concentration (0 and 0. 3 mg per kg of diet) of Selenium (Se) on growth performance, blood biochemical and immune system were evaluated in broiler chickens. Chickens were fed corn-soy-based diets formulated to 8 dietary treatments containing no added Se (negative control), negative control plus yeast (positive control), and 6 diets had 0. 3 mg/kg of diet supplemented with Se from Availa Se, Sel-plex, SeleMax, Se enriched yeast, sodium selenite and sodium selenate. Four hundred Ross 308 male chickens were randomly divided into 8 treatments and 5 replicates of 10 birds each. Feed intake, body weight gain, and feed conversion ratio were measured at starter (0-10 d), grower (11-24 d), and finisher (25-42 d) periods. On d 24 and 42, one bird from each replicate was killed by cervical dislocation and blood samples were collected to determine blood chemicals, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity and heterophile to lymphocyte ratio. Results showed that Se supplementation had no effect on feed intake, body weight gain, and feed conversion ratio of the chickens (P < 0. 05). However, blood triglycerides, GPx activity and heterophile to lymphocyte ratio were significantly affected by organic and inorganic Se sources (P < 0. 05). Results showed that selenium in organic and inorganic forms didn't have any effect on growth performance and blood parameters but they could improve immune system through increase in GPx activity.