Low nutritive value and suitability of barley as a feedstuff for broilers is mainly due to its non-starch polysaccharides. An experiment was carried out to evaluate if diets high in barley alter the mechanisms responsible for the absorption of nutrients across the intestinal epithelium of broilers, using D-xylose absorption test. Thirty, 14-d old male broiler chicks (Ross 308) with similar body...

Several strategies are being developed to minimize nitrogen (N) pollution from poultry waste in areas with high concentrations of commercial poultry operations. This study focus on the effect of feeding reduced protein (CP) diets on laying hens housed under commercial conditions. The experiment was carried out using 144 Hy-Line W-36 hens which were randomly assigned to one of four dietary treat...

OBJECTIVE The age-related effects of fasting on lipolysis, the production of ketone bodies, and plasma insulin levels were studied in male 3-, 8-, and 32-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats. METHODS The rats were divided into fasting and control groups. The 3-, 8- and 32-week-old rats tolerated fasting for 2, 5, and 12 days, respectively. RESULTS Fasting markedly reduced the weights of perirenal a...

The experiment was carried out in poultry experimental station belonging to NRC, Cairo, Egypt. A total of 120 Fayoumi layers, 45 weeks old, were randomly divided into four equal groups. Each group included three replicates (10 hens in each). The first group was fed the control diet containing 3.3% gram Ca, whereas, the other three received diets containing 2.8, 2.6 and 2.4% gram Ca, respectivel...

The aim of the present work was to compare the effect of organic production vs standard cage system on welfare and performance of a pure breed (Ancona) vs a commercial strain (Brown Hy-Line) of laying hens through a multifunctional approach (behaviour, tonic immobility, feathers score, antioxidant status of the body, blood parameters, innate immunity and mortality). The trial was carried out in...

This study was conducted to determine the effects of red light exposure on the productivity, fertility and hatching characteristics in Thai native hens (Gallus domesticus). A total of 120 birds aged 18 wk were housed in an open-sided shed and exposed to one of the following lighting treatments: 1) natural daylight supplemented with fl uorescent light (Control), 2) natural daylight supplemented ...

Both stocking rate and housing systems are main factors influencing the occurrence of feather pecking in laying hens raised in conventional cage system. This study examines the effects of different type of cage and stock density on feather pecking behaviour in hens. Total of 216 Hisex Brown hens at 16 weeks of age were randomly selected and put into 2 types of battery cages: conventional cages ...

Feed deprivation is used in the layer industry to induce molting and stimulate multiple egg-laying cycles in laying hens. Unfortunately, the stress involved increases susceptibility to Salmonella enteritidis (SE), the risk of SE-positive eggs, and incidence of SE in internal organs. Leghorn hens over 50 wk of age were divided into 4 treatment groups of 12 hens each in experiment 1 and 3 treatme...