• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제16권12호
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• pp.1770-1776
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• 2003

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of dietary glutamine (Gln) supplement on the performance and villus morphology of weaned pigs. In Exp. 1, 48 pigs were fed diets supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1.0, or 1.5% Gln for 28 days. Dietary Gln supplemented levels did not influence performance and plasma Gln concentration of weaned pigs. In Exp. 2, 48 weaned pigs were fed the same treatment diets of Exp. 1 for 7 or 14 days. Dietary Gln supplement reduced the ratio of small intestine weight to empty carcass weight at d 14 postweaning. However, the villus height and villus height/crypt depth ratio at the duodenum were increased. IgA and protein in the bile from d 7 and d 14 postweaning were higher in the pigs fed the diet supplemented with 0.5% Gln. Plasma IgA concentration was not influenced by dietary Gln levels. In conclusion, dietary Gln supplement might benefit the development of the small intestine and bile IgA production in weaned pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.567-573
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• 2008

This experiment examined the effect of dietary spray-dried bovine colostrum on intestinal histology and organ weights in early-weaned pigs. In a randomised complete block design, twelve 14-day-old weaner pigs were offered a diet containing either 5% spray-dried bovine colostrum or no colostrum (control). Diets were formulated to contain 14.8 MJ/kg DE, 1.26% available lysine and to meet or exceed requirements for other nutrients. Piglets were offered the diets for a period of 14 days. No effect of diet on growth rate or feed intake was observed (p>0.10). Small intestine weight was reduced by 12% in piglets consuming dietary bovine colostrum (p< 0.05). Villous height and crypt depth were increased and decreased, respectively, in the proximal jejunum, mid jejunum and distal ileum of pigs consuming dietary bovine colostrum (p<0.05). Mid-jejunal lamina propria $CD4^+$ and $CD8^+$ T lymphocyte density was increased by 28 and 37%, respectively, in piglets consuming dietary bovine colostrum (p<0.05). Diet did not affect thickness of tunica muscularis externa or tunica submucosa (p>0.10). Collectively, these results suggest a positive effect of dietary bovine colostrum on intestinal morphology and immune status in early-weaned pigs.

• Animal Bioscience
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• 제35권8호
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• pp.1109-1120
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• 2022

Antibiotics used to be supplemented to animal feeds as growth promoter and as an effective strategy to reduce the burden of pathogenic bacteria present in the gastro-intestinal tract. However, in-feed antibiotics also kill bacteria that may be beneficial to the animal. Secondly, unrestricted use of antibiotics enhanced the antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria. To overcome above problems, scientists are taking a great deal of measures to develop alternatives of antibiotics. There is convincing evidence that probiotics could replace in-feed antibiotics in poultry production. Because they have beneficial effects on growth performance, meat quality, bone health and eggshell quality in poultry. Better immune responses, healthier intestinal microflora and morphology which help the birds to resist against disease attack were also identified with the supplementation of probiotics. Probiotics establish cross-feeding between different bacterial strains of gut ecosystem and reduce the blood cholesterol level via bile salt hydrolase activity. The action mode of probiotics was also updated according to recently published literatures, i.e antimicrobial substances generation or toxin reduction. This comprehensive review of probiotics is aimed to highlight the beneficial effects of probiotics as a potential alternative strategy to replace the antibiotics in poultry.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제12권4호
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• pp.548-553
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• 1999

An experiment was conducted to study the effects of high dietary copper supplementation on the gastrointestinal tract morphology of broiler chickens. Eighty 3-week-old broiler chicks were divided randomly into eight groups of four dietary treatments and over three week were fed isoenergetic and isonitrogenous diets that contained 0, 100, 250, or 500 mg/kg of supplemental copper from cupric sulfate. The copper supplementation in the broiler diet up to 250 mg/kg did not significantly influence broilers' performance. A high dietary copper supplementation of 500 mg/kg did significantly depress growth and feed conversion in the broilers (p<0.05). Copper supplementation more than 250 mg/kg in the broiler diet significantly influenced the morphology of the GI tract, as shown by severe oral lesions and gizzard erosion. It also significantly depressed the villi height and significantly thickened the muscular layer in the duodenum (p<0.05). The severely damaged villi were observed by scanning electronic microscope from the duodenum samples of broilers fed a 500 mg/kg copper supplemented diet. The 500 mg/kg copper supplemented diet also significantly influenced the plasma constituents. Plasma glucose concentration was significantly depressed (p<0.05).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제20권11호
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• pp.1738-1745
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• 2007

A growth trial and a digestibility trial were conducted to examine the effect of feed particle size on the performance, nutrient digestibility, gastric ulceration and intestinal morphology in pigs fed barley-based diets. Barley was processed through a hammer mill to achieve four diets varying in particle size (average particle $size{\pm}standard $deviation): coarse ($1,100{\pm}2.19\;{\mu}m$), medium ($785{\pm}2.23\;{\mu}m$), fine ($434{\pm}1.70\;{\mu}m$) and mixed (1/3 of coarse, medium and fine) ($789{\pm}2.45\;{\mu}m$). Sixty-four entire male pigs were used in the growth trial and the diets were fed ad libitum between 31 kg and 87 kg live weight. Following slaughter, stomach and ileal tissues were scored for integrity (ulceration or damage) and histological measurements taken. Twenty-four entire male pigs were used in the digestibility trial, which involved total faecal collection. Over the entire growth phase, there were no differences (p>0.05) in average daily gain and feed conversion ratio between pigs fed diets of different particle size. Pigs fed the coarse and medium diets had lower (p<0.05) stomach ulceration scores (0.20 and 0.25, respectively, on a scale from 0 to 3) than those fed the mixed (0.69) or the fine diets (1.87). The stomachs of all animals fed the fine diet had lesions and stomach ulcerations were present only in this group. Pigs fed the fine diet had thicker (p<0.001) ileal epithelial cell layer with no differences (p>0.05) being observed for villous height or crypt depth. Faecal digestibility coefficients of neutral and acid detergent fibre were the highest (p<0.05) for the mixed diet, intermediate for the fine and coarse diets and the lowest for the medium diet. A similar numerical trend (p = 0.103) was observed for the apparent faecal energy digestibility coefficient. It is concluded that, with barley based diets, a variation in average particle size between $400{\mu}m$ and $1,100{\mu}m$ had no effect on pig performance but the fine dietary particle size affected the integrity of the stomach, as well as the structure of the small intestine, thus compromising overall gut health. Our data also demonstrate that changes in particle size distribution during the digestion process, rather than average particle size or particle size variation, are related to apparent faecal digestibility.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제28권2호
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• pp.239-246
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• 2015

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of the dietary supplementation of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens-based direct-fed microbial (DFM) on growth performance, nutrient utilization, intestinal morphology and cecal microflora in broiler chickens. A total of two hundred and eighty eight 1-d-old Arbor Acres male broilers were randomly allocated to one of four experimental treatments in a completely randomized design. Each treatment was fed to eight replicate cages, with nine birds per cage. Dietary treatments were composed of an antibiotic-free basal diet (control), and the basal diet supplemented with either 15 mg/kg of virginiamycin as antibiotic growth promoter (AGP), 30 mg/kg of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens-based DFM (DFM 30) or 60 mg/kg of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens-based DFM (DFM 60). Experimental diets were fed in two phases: starter (d 1 to 21) and finisher (d 22 to 42). Growth performance, nutrient utilization, morphological parameters of the small intestine and cecal microbial populations were measured at the end of the starter (d 21) and finisher (d 42) phases. During the starter phase, DFM and virginiamycin supplementation improved the feed conversion ratio (FCR; p<0.01) compared with the control group. For the finisher phase and the overall experiment (d 1 to 42) broilers fed diets with the DFM had better body weight gain (BWG) and FCR than that of control (p<0.05). Supplementation of virginiamycin and DFM significantly increased the total tract apparent digestibility of crude protein (CP), dry matter (DM) and gross energy during both starter and finisher phases (p<0.05) compared with the control group. On d 21, villus height, crypt depth and villus height to crypt depth ratio of duodenum, jejunum, and ileum were significantly increased for the birds fed with the DFM diets as compared with the control group (p<0.05). The DFM 30, DFM 60, and AGP groups decreased the Escherichia coli population in cecum at d 21 and d 42 compared with control group (p<0.01). In addition, the population of Lactobacillus was increased in DFM 30 and DFM 60 groups as compared with control and AGP groups (p<0.01). It can be concluded that Bacillus amyloliquefaciens-based DFM could be an alternative to the use of AGPs in broilers diets based on plant protein.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제31권11호
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• pp.1766-1772
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• 2018

Objective: This experiment was to investigate the effect of increasing levels of apparent metabolizable energy ($AME_n$) on the laying performance, egg quality, blood parameters, blood biochemistry, intestinal morphology, and apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of energy and nutrients in diets fed to laying hens. Methods: A total of three-hundred twenty 33-week-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens (Gallus domesticus) were evenly assigned to four experimental diets of 2,750, 2,850, 2,950, and 3,050 kcal $AME_n/kg$ in pens with floors covered with deep litter of rice hulls. There were four replicates of each treatment, each consisting of 20 birds in a pen. Results: $AME_n$ intake was increased (linear, p<0.05) with inclusion level of $AME_n$ in diets increased. Feed intake and feed conversion ratio were improved (linear, p<0.01), but hen-day egg production tended to be increased with an increasing level of $AME_n$ in diets. During the experiment, leukocyte concentration and blood biochemistry (total cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose, total protein, calcium, asparate aminotransferase, and alanine transferase were not influenced by increasing level of $AME_n$ in diets. Gross energy and ether extract were increased (linear, p<0.01) as the inclusion level of $AME_n$ in diets increased. Conclusion: Laying hens fed high $AME_n$ diet (i.e., 3,050 kcal/kg in the current experiment) tended to overconsume energy with a positive effect on feed intake, feed conversion ratio, nutrient digestibility, and intestinal morphology but not on egg production and egg mass.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.605-614
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• 2020

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the effects of stale maize on growth performance, immunity, intestinal morphology, and antioxidant capacity in broilers. Methods: A total of 800 one-day-old male Arbor Acres broilers (45.4±0.5 g) were blocked based on body weight, and then allocated randomly to 2 treatments with 20 cages per treatment and 20 broilers per cage in this 6-week experiment. Dietary treatments included a basal diet and diets with 100% of control maize replaced by stale maize. Results: The content of fat acidity value was higher (p<0.05) while the starch, activities of catalase and peroxidase were lower (p<0.05) than the control maize. Feeding stale maize diets reduced (p<0.05) average daily feed intake (ADFI) throughout the experiment, feed conversion ratio (FCR) during d 0 to 21 and the whole experiment as well as relative weight of liver, spleen, bursa of Fabricius and thymus (p<0.05) on d 21. Feeding stale maize diets decreased jejunum villus height (VH) and VH/crypt depth (CD) (p<0.05) on d 21 and 42 as well as ileum VH/CD on d 42. The levels of immunoglobulin G, acid α-naphthylacetate esterase positive ratios and lymphocyte proliferation on d 21 and 42 as well as lysozyme activity and avian influenza antibody H₅N₁ titer on d 21 decreased (p<0.05) by the stale maize. Feeding stale maize diets reduced (p<0.05) serum interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-2 on d 21 and interleukin-6 on d 21 and 42. Broilers fed stale maize diets had lower levels of (p<0.05) total antioxidative capacity on d 42, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase on d 21 and 42, but higher (p<0.05) levels of malondialdehyde on d 21 and 42. Conclusion: Feeding 100% stale maize decreased ADFI and FCR, caused adverse effects on immunity and antioxidant function and altered intestinal morphology in broilers.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• 제64권1호
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• pp.84-96
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• 2022

The current study was conducted to evaluate the effect of calcium-enriched fatty acid supplementation on the growth performance, blood metabolites, intestinal morphology, carcass traits, and nutrient digestibility of broilers subjected to chronic heat stress. A total of 210 one-day-old broiler chicks (40.12 ± 0.25 g) were randomly allocated to one of five dietary treatments, to obtain six replicates per treatment. Broilers were subjected to chronic heat stress from day 21 to day 35, post-hatching, at 34℃ for 9 h per day. The body weight (BW) and feed intake of the experimental broilers were recorded weekly, and the average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated accordingly. Rectal temperature was measured to compare the basal body temperatures between individuals, and blood samples were collected on days 21 and 35 to evaluate basal body temperature, serum total cholesterol, and the triglyceride content of the broilers. On days 21 and 35, one broiler from each cage (n=6) was euthanized to measure carcass trait parameters, nutrient digestibility in digesta, and intestinal morphology. On days 14, 28, and 35, the broilers fed 2.0% calcium-enriched fatty acids had higher BW (p < 0.05) than those fed the other diets. However, no differences (p > 0.05) were found in the average daily feed intake (ADFI) between dietary treatments over the 35 experimental days. On the other hand, on day 21, post-hatching, the broilers fed the 2.0% calcium-enriched fatty acid diet had improved (p < 0.05) dietary feed efficiencies compared to the other treatments. On day 28, the broilers fed the 5.0% of calcium-enriched fatty acid diet also had higher (p < 0.05) dietary feed efficiencies than those fed with the other dietary treatments. No effects (p > 0.05) on carcass weight, nutrient digestibility, intestinal morphology, or blood parameters were found between broilers fed with dietary treatments. This study demonstrated that the inclusion of an additive, containing 2.0% calcium-enriched fatty acid, to broiler diet could ameliorate the negative growth performance of broilers; and no interaction (p > 0.05) was observed between the calcium-enriched fatty acid and nutrient digestibility, digestive anatomy, blood metabolism, and carcass traits of broilers subjected to chronic heat stress conditions for 35 days post-hatching.

• Animal Bioscience
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• 제36권5호
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• pp.761-767
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• 2023

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether dietary supplementation with a functional fatty acid blend (FA) that contains 31.4% butyric acid and 4.99% medium-chain FA improve growth performance, antioxidant capacity, immunity status, and anti-inflammatory ability in weaned piglets. Methods: One hundred and forty-four healthy piglets (Duroc×Landrace×Yorkshire) with an average body weight (BW) of 7.98±3.43 kg were randomly divided into three groups with six replicate pens and eight piglets per pen: Normal control (NC): a corn-soybean basal diet; FA1: a basal diet supplemented with 1,000 mg/kg of a functional FA; FA2: a basal diet supplemented with 2,000 mg/kg of a functional FA. The experiment lasted for 28 d. On d 14 and 28, one piglet in each pen from NC and FA2 groups was randomly selected for antioxidative index and immunoglobulins. On d 28, one piglet in each pen from NC and FA2 groups was randomly selected for intestinal morphology and inflammatory factor. Results: We observed that FA supplementation linearly increased (p<0.05) average daily gain and the final BW. There was higher (p<0.05) catalase on d 14, and immunoglobulin (Ig) A and IgM on d 28 in piglets supplemented with FA2 than in the NC group. Moreover, dietary FA2 reduced (p<0.05) crypt depth of ileum in piglets. The concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-8, and IL-10 in jejunum were lower (p<0.05) in the FA2 group compared with the NC group. Conclusion: Therefore, the overall results suggests that the FA may help to improve gut health, antioxidant status, and immune parameters resulting in the improvement of growth performance.