Hoshang Lotfollahian; hossein manafi rasi; Abbas Najmabadi
Volume 25, Issue 4 , December 2023, , Pages 445-459
Abstract
To investigate the effects of using fennel root powder in the diet on the productive performance, immune responses, and meat quality of Arian broiler day-old chicks, an experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with six treatments, four replicates and 20 (male and female) in each, ...
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To investigate the effects of using fennel root powder in the diet on the productive performance, immune responses, and meat quality of Arian broiler day-old chicks, an experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with six treatments, four replicates and 20 (male and female) in each, for 42 days. The experimental groups include: 1- basic diet (control) 2- basic diet + 2 g/kg fennel root powder 3- basic diet + 4 g/kg fennel root powder 4- basic diet + 6 g/kg fennel root powder 5- basic diet + 250 mg/kg antibiotic and 6- basic diet + 200 mg/kg probiotic. The live weight , livability percentage , the production index and carcass characteristics were not affected by the experimental treatments during the whole period. In contrast, the average feed consumption in the whole period was affected by the treatments containing fennel and antibiotics (P<0.05). The antibodies against sheep red blood cells (SRBC) and immunoglobulin G were higher in the treatments using fennel root powder compared to the control treatment (P<0.05). The use of fennel root powder at all levels, reduced MDA after seven days of keeping meat in the refrigerator at 4 degrees Celsius (P<0.05). In conclution, regarding the positive effects of using fennel root powder on the immune responses and meat preservation of broilers, it is recommended to use it at the rate of 2 grams per kilogram of diets.
Mohammad hadi Khabbazan; Abdollah Rezagholivand Lahrud; Saeed mokhtarzadeh; Hojatollah Moosapour
Volume 24, Issue 4 , December 2022, , Pages 395-401
Abstract
The objective of this study was to compare growth performance, birth and weaning body weights, and survivability between purebred Balouchi (n=53) and crossbred Balouchi×Romanov (n=114) lambs. In addition, carcass characteristics (n=24) were determined. Balouchi ewes were inseminated with Romanov ...
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The objective of this study was to compare growth performance, birth and weaning body weights, and survivability between purebred Balouchi (n=53) and crossbred Balouchi×Romanov (n=114) lambs. In addition, carcass characteristics (n=24) were determined. Balouchi ewes were inseminated with Romanov semen to produce crossbred lambs. All experimental lambs were weaned at 77 d of age and slaughtered at 10 months of age. Birth body weight of the purebred Balouchi lambs was significantly greater than for the crossbred lambs (3.75 vs. 3.56 kg, P<0.01). However, weaning body weight and average daily gain from birth until weaning and slaughter were greater (P<0.05) for the crossbred lambs than for the purebred lambs. Slaughter body weight at 10-month age were not different brtween the tow groups (P=0.08). Litter size was also increased by crossbreeding and using hormone (1.13 vs. 1.00), but lamb survivability was not different between the two groups. The fat yield decreased with crossbreeding. Crossbreeding increased (P<0.05) the weights of testis, liver, heart, and lung. It is concluded that crossbreeding Balouchi ewes with Romanov semen resulted in improved litter size, weaning and slaughter body weights, average daily gains from birth until weaning and slaughter, and carcass characteristics without affecting lamb survivability. Therefore, crossbreeding can be a profitable strategy to increase lamb (meat) production in Balouchi sheep.
Yazdan Seyf; Farokh Kafilzadeh; Hassan khamisabadi; Massoumeh Rezaei; Leila Taherabadi
Volume 24, Issue 4 , December 2022, , Pages 453-462
Abstract
The effect of feeding essential oil of Pistacia Atlantica Kurdica gum during the suckling period on pre and post-weaning growth performance of Sanjabi male lambs using 30 male lambs from an estrus synchronized flock of ewes was carried out, in the form of a completely randomized design with 3 treatments ...
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The effect of feeding essential oil of Pistacia Atlantica Kurdica gum during the suckling period on pre and post-weaning growth performance of Sanjabi male lambs using 30 male lambs from an estrus synchronized flock of ewes was carried out, in the form of a completely randomized design with 3 treatments and 10 replications. The lambs were divided into three groups three days after birth. The first group received no essential oil, and the second and the third groups received a daily dose of 0.8 and 1.6 ml until weaning by a drenching syringe, respectively. Lambs were weaned at 100 days of age and were raised for 10 weeks with the other herd lambs until 170 days of age. Feeding the essential oil increased weaning weight and post-weaning daily weight gain. The blood glucose of lambs during the suckling or post-waning period did not change due to feeding the essential oil. Lambs received the essential oil and had lower blood cholesterol, triglyceride, total protein, and higher urea and albumin to globulin ratio. Feeding the essential oil reduced blood malondialdehyde levels but increasing the level of the essential oil did not further decrease this metabolite. The results showed that the essential oil as a new feed additive has a good potential to improve the pre and post-weaning performance of lambs when fed during the suckling period. Since, increasing the level of the essential oil resulted in no additional improvement in the performance of lambs therefore, a daily dose of 0.8 ml is recommended.
Mohammad Reza Rezvani; mehdi Abbasi; Shahin Sabet
Volume 23, Issue 3 , September 2021, , Pages 471-479
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the effect of malt extract on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and cecum microbial population of broilers in grower, finisher, and whole periods. For this experiment, 256 pieces of mixed female and male day-old Cobb 500 broiler chicks were used in a completely ...
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This study aimed to investigate the effect of malt extract on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and cecum microbial population of broilers in grower, finisher, and whole periods. For this experiment, 256 pieces of mixed female and male day-old Cobb 500 broiler chicks were used in a completely randomized design with 4 treatments, 8 replications, and 8 birds per replicate from 14 to 49 days of age. Experimental treatments included a basal diet without additive (control) and a basal diet containing levels of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 percent malt extract. The effect of treatments on growth performance, intestinal length and weight, nutrient digestibility, and the number of Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus in cecum were measured. The results showed that in grower, finisher, and whole periods, the addition of malt extract at the level of 0.3 percent, without affecting feed intake, produced the highest daily weight gain and lowest feed conversion ratio compared to other treatments (P≤0.05). Also, the diet containing 0.3 percent of malt extract improved the digestibility of dry matter, protein, and fat and decreased the number of Escherichia coli in the cecum (P≤0.05). According to the results, 0.3 percent malt extract can be used in the diet of broilers to improve the performance and health of gastrointestinal tract.
hossein manafi rasi; Ali Bayat; hormoz mansouri
Volume 22, Issue 4 , December 2020, , Pages 549-558
Abstract
To determine the effect of mixed thyme and eucalyptus leaves aqueous’ extract on the performance and health of Holstein suckling calves, an experiment using 32 calves (16 females and 16 males) with 7±3 days old and an average weight of 40.4±3 kg was carried out in a completely randomized ...
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To determine the effect of mixed thyme and eucalyptus leaves aqueous’ extract on the performance and health of Holstein suckling calves, an experiment using 32 calves (16 females and 16 males) with 7±3 days old and an average weight of 40.4±3 kg was carried out in a completely randomized design with four treatments and 8 replicate for 70 days. The treatments were: diets with no extract (control); and diets containing10, 15, and 20 ml of extract (50 % thyme + 50% eucalyptus) in consumed milk. In order to evaluate changes in body weight, chest circumference and height, the data were measured and recorded on days 7, 28, 49, and 70 at 10 a.m. To determine the blood parameters, blood samples were taken from the jugular vein on the 70th days. It turned out that the extract can result in a higher mean body weight gain and larger body size (P <0.05). Moreover, thyme and eucalyptus extracts appeared not to have any effect on digestibility and feed intake, but feed efficiency improved with 20 ml (P <0.05). Fecal and eye secretion index in calves receiving diets containing 15 and 20 ml of extract improved compared to the control group (P <0.05). Also, adding 20 ml of the extract reduced the amount of glucose and increased the number of red blood cells and hematocrit in the blood of the receiving calves compared to other experimental groups. The findings indicated that adding 20 ml eucalyptus and thyme extracts in daily milk, can improve the performance and health of Holstein suckling calves
Seyed Nader Albooshoke; Mohammad Reza Bakhtiarizadeh
Volume 21, Issue 2 , July 2019, , Pages 165-180
Abstract
This experiment was carried out to identify lncRNAs associated with skeletal muscle of the Isfahan native chicken and the Ross 708 commercial broiler chicken. To do this, after extraction of RNA from the breast muscle samples at the age of 28 days, paired-end sequencing was performed using the Illume ...
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This experiment was carried out to identify lncRNAs associated with skeletal muscle of the Isfahan native chicken and the Ross 708 commercial broiler chicken. To do this, after extraction of RNA from the breast muscle samples at the age of 28 days, paired-end sequencing was performed using the Illume Hiseq 2000 platform. Hisat2 software was used to align the clean reads to the chicken reference genome and the Stringtie software was used to assemble the transcripts. A total of 1097 lncRNAs were identified as 925 of which were intergenic and 172 were intronic. Also, the number of novel LncRNAs in intergenic and intronic groups were 432 and 128, respectively. Differential gene expression analysis led to the identification of 19 genes and 20 transcripts differentially expressed lncRNAs between two groups. Syntenic analysis showed that differentially expressed lncRNAs are located near by 45 protein encoding genes. Of these, the expression of five gene coding proteins (SCD gene in commercial chickens and GALNT15, KLHDC4, USP7 and ASB1 genes in native chicken) - whose expression was consistent with the expression of their lncRNA - were significantly expressed between two breeds. Functional enrichment analysis of these genes showed that all of them are involved in the skeletal muscle growth. The results of this study showed that the identified lncRNAs probably have the potential to regulate the genes involved in skeletal muscle growth. In this regard, they possibly cause the differences in growth rates between the two chicken breeds.
Majid Abbasi; Mohammad Reza Abedini; Seyed Naser Mousavi
Volume 21, Issue 1 , April 2019, , Pages 61-71
Abstract
Effects of stocking density and the type of material used as litter on production performance and economic parameters of broilers were investigated by using 2,016 day-old Ross-308 broiler chicks in a 3×2 factorial arrangement with three levels of birds placement density [PD; 10 (control), 14, and ...
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Effects of stocking density and the type of material used as litter on production performance and economic parameters of broilers were investigated by using 2,016 day-old Ross-308 broiler chicks in a 3×2 factorial arrangement with three levels of birds placement density [PD; 10 (control), 14, and 18 birds per square meter], and two types of bedding material [BM; wood shavings (control), and cardboard roll] based on a randomized complete block design with six treatments and four replications. The results showed that feed intake and weight gain of broilers with 10 birds density were significantly higher compared to 18, and 14 birds/m2 (P < 0.05). The feed conversion ratio of the birds that were raised on wood shavings was lower significantly in comparison with the birds grown on cardboard roll (P < 0.05). The highest values of economic indicators (benefit to cost ratio, and profit margin) were observed in PD 14 and then 18 birds/m2, both of which indicated a significant difference with the density of 10 birds/m2 (P < 0.01). Based on the results of current study, PD 14 birds/m2 in comparison with other PDs, by reducing the fixed costs of production, as well as numerical improvement in feed conversion can provide broiler farmers with more profit; moreover, cardboard roll with regard to its negative effect on feed efficiency cannot be used as an appropriate alternative for wood shavings.
Alireza Karampour; Farokh Kafilzadeh
Volume 18, Issue 3 , October 2016, , Pages 491-500
Abstract
This study was conducted to determine the effects of addition of the pomegranate seed oil (PSO) in the diet on growth performance, diet digestibility and rumen fermentation parameters of fattening lambs. Twenty one Sanjabi lambs, with average body weight of 27.5±2.6 kg and 3 months of age, were ...
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This study was conducted to determine the effects of addition of the pomegranate seed oil (PSO) in the diet on growth performance, diet digestibility and rumen fermentation parameters of fattening lambs. Twenty one Sanjabi lambs, with average body weight of 27.5±2.6 kg and 3 months of age, were used in a completely randomized design with 3 treatments and 7 replicates.The experimental treatments included diet free of PSO (control diet), and diets containing 2 and 4% of PSO. Daily feed intake, diet digestibility and rumen fermentation parameters were measured by standard methods. The lambs were weighed at the beginning and the end of the finishing period for estimation of average daily gain (ADG). The DMI in the lambs fed on the diets containing PSO was higher than that of control (P<0.05). There was no differences along treatments concerning ADG, although, in lambs receiving PSO thetrend was to be increased. Dry matter and organic matter digestibility in the lambs fed on 4% PSO were higher than those of the other groups (P<0.05). Concentrations of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) were not affected except valeric acid, however, incorporation of 4% PSO to the diet increased molar percentage of propionic acid and decreased acetate to propionate ratio, significantly. Ammonia nitrogen concentration was not affected by adding PSO to diet. The results of this experiment suggest that pomegranate seed oil has potential to improve the digestibility and ruminal fermentation efficiency of the diet of fattening lambs.
Mohammad Yazarloo; Seyed Davood Sharifi; Farid Shariatmadari; Abdolreza Salehi
Volume 15, Issue 1 , July 2014, , Pages 1-10
Abstract
In order to determine the optimal levels of energy and protein in grower diet of Japanese quail, 360 dayold Japanese quails were used in a 3×3 factorial arrangement of dietary treatments that comprised threelevels of metabolisable energy (2750, 2850, and 2950 Kcal/kg) and three levels of crude ...
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In order to determine the optimal levels of energy and protein in grower diet of Japanese quail, 360 dayold Japanese quails were used in a 3×3 factorial arrangement of dietary treatments that comprised threelevels of metabolisable energy (2750, 2850, and 2950 Kcal/kg) and three levels of crude protein (24, 26and 28 percent) with four replicates per treatment in a completely randomized design. Feed intake andbody weight were measured weekly and feed conversion ratio was calculated. At 35 d of age, four birds(from both sexes) from each replicate were randomly selected and killed following blood sampling toevaluate carcass traits. The blood samples were assayed for the sera concentrations of growth hormone.Results indicated that birds fed on diets containing 2850 kcal/kg metabolisable energy and 26 percentprotein had higher daily weight gain and better feed conversion ratio and carcass yield (P<0.05). The seraconcentration of growth hormone was higher in birds fed on diet containing 2750 kcal/kg metabolisableenergy (P<0.05). This study indicated that Japanese quails can grow faster and more efficiently on dietcontaining 2850 kcal/kg metabolisable energy and 26 percent protein. Therefore, the diet containing 2850kcal/kg metabolisable energy and 26 percent protein could be recommended as dietary metabolisableenergy and protein requirements for growing Japanese quails.