The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of heat stress (HS) and methionine supplementation on the markers of stress and on the gene expression levels of uncoupling proteins (UCP), betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase (BHMT), cystathionine β-synthase (CBS), glutathione synthetase (GSS) and glutathione peroxidase 7 (GPx7). Broilers from 1 to 21 d and from 22 to 42 d of age were...

The present study aimed at evaluating the effect of the probiotic thepax and yogurt (as probiotic) on the growth response and intestinal microflora results of broiler chickens. Two hundred forty day-old Ross 308 broilers were equally distributed into 12 floor pens and reared for 42 day. The treatments consisted of yogurt (10, 5 and 2.5% during starter, grower and finisher periods in the drinkin...

1. The aim was to determine the prevalence of femoral head necrosis (FHN) as a cause of lameness in broilers, and to increase knowledge of its morphological features and aetiology. The studies were carried out in two farms (A and B) in Bulgaria, on 650,000 chickens from 38 flocks. 2. Lameness in broilers varied from 3-4% up to 15% for both farms. In affected flocks, mortality due to lameness ra...

Sound exposure effects have been investigated by broadcasting a group of broilers with sound of Quran verses (Group B) whereas the other group is the control broilers (Group C). The growth rate comparisons in terms of weight and raw meat texture measured by shear force have been investigated. Twenty-seven broilers were randomly selected from each group on Day 24 and weight measurement was carri...

s of papers 71 307 Broilers compared to Leghorns show an imbalance of the autonomic nervous system. W.J. Kuenzel*1 and R. Grossmann2, 1University of Maryland, College Park, MD/USA, 2Institute of Animal Science and Behavior, Celle,Germany. The following experiment tested the hypothesis that the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) of broilers dominates over the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) a...

A study was conducted to investigate the effects of thermostable phytase supplementation on the growth performance and nutrient digestibility of broilers for 42 d. 1-day-old Arbor Acres chicks with similar initial body weight were randomly divided into 3 treatments consisting 6 pens of 20 chicks per pen. The control group was given maize-soybean meal basal diet and the other two groups were fed...

Helicobacter pullorum infections are underestimated due to phenotypic similarities between the genera Helicobacter and Campylobacter. The aim of this work was to estimate the Helicobacter pullorum prevalence in 209 caecum contents collected from Italian broilers reared in 33 intensive and 9 extensive farms by using a Steele-McDermott membrane filter method modified. The isolate identifications ...

Two experiments (EXP) were conducted to evaluate the interactive effects of dietary AME and amino acid (AA) density (total basis) on broiler chickens from 42 to 56 d of age. In EXP 1, diets were formulated to contain low AME (3,140 kcal/kg) and moderate AME (3,240 kcal/kg) in combination with moderate AA (16.2% CP, 0.88% Lys, and 0.75% TSAA) and high AA (18.0% CP, 0.98% Lys, and 0.83% TSAA) and...

Broilers fed diets with reduced amino acid levels may be limiting in isoleucine. Because research addressing daily Ile needs for broiler immunity is sparse, Ile responses for immunity in female broilers were evaluated in 2 experiments in broilers from 30 to 42 d of age. Cellular and humoral immunity were evaluated in diets limiting in Ile and diets varying in Ile from deficient to adequate. Pen...

The effect of a dietary phytogenic feed additive (PFA) inclusion level in mucin monosaccharide composition, mucosal morphometry and mucus histochemistry along the broiler intestinal tract was studied. Cobb male broilers (n = 525) were allocated into five experimental treatments that, depending on the type of addition in the basal diet (BD), were labeled as follows: C (BD based on maize-soybean ...