• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.79-89
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• 2003

A study was conducted to investigate the effect of supplementing earthworm meal on the growth performance and nutrient digestibility of feed in broiler chicks. A total of 120 broiler chicks at 7 days of age were fed the experimental diets containing 0％(Control), 0.2％ and 0.4％ of earthworm meal for 6 weeks. When fed on both starter and finisher diets, the body weight gain and amount of feed intake were significantly higher (P<0.05) in the chicks fed 0.4％ of earthworm meal than those fed 0％ and 0.2％ of earthworm meal. There were no significantly differences in feed. conversion ratio and mortality among the treatments. When fed on both starter and finisher diets, digestibility of dry matter of feed was not affected by the dietary treatment, but crude fat and crude ash digestibilities of feed were tend to increased in chicks fed earthworm meal Digestibility of crude protein of feed in chicks fed 0.4％ of earthworm meal was significantly(P<0.05) improved as compared with those in 0.2％ or control group. These results indicated that the dietary supplementations of 0.4％ earthworm meal were effective in improve digestibility of crude protein of diet resulted improved broiler performance if.. broiler chicks.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.185-194
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• 2007

This study was conducted to evaluate effects of feeding earthworm meal on the meat safety and performance of broiler chicks. A total of 60 broiler chicks at 7 days of age were fed the commercial diet and water until 47 days of age, earthworm meal divided into three treatments, 0% (control), 0.4% (treatment-1) and 0.6% (treatment-2) of dry earthworm meal. The body weight gain and feed/gain tend to be increase fed a 0.4 to 0.6% than 0% of earthworm meal. The effects tended to be higher in 0.4% than 0.6% of earthworm meal. As, Cd, Cr, Hg and Pb were detected at level of 4.41, 1.23, 1.18, 0.00 and 3.39ppm in earthworm meal, respectively, but those were not detected in the chicken meat (breast and thigh meat). It was assumed that supplementing 0.4% of earthworm meal in the broiler diet, improved the performance of broiler chicks and it still did not affect meat safety.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.1348-1354
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• 2008

Two inorganic (zinc sulfate and zinc oxide) and three organic (zinc acetate, zinc-methionine, and zinc-lysine) zinc sources were evaluated for their effects on the performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chicks. The birds were randomly assigned to one control (non-supplemented) and 15 treatment (supplemented) groups consisting of four replicates of 10 chicks each in a $5{\times}3$ factorial arrangement of treatments (five zinc sources and three supplemental zinc levels). Birds were kept in floor pens in a temperature-controlled room from 1 to 42 d of age and fed a non-supplemented basal diet (control) or the basal diet supplemented with 40, 80 or 120 mg/kg of Zn as mentioned sources. Dietary zinc source had considerable effect on feed intake in all experimental periods. Increasing Zn level from 80 to 120 mg/kg decreased the average feed intake in the growth stage (p<0.01) and also in the entire experimental period (p<0.001). Similarly, the average daily gain during the entire trial period was affected by the type of Zn source (p<0.001) and supplemental level (p<0.01). One degree of freedom contrast comparisons showed that the inclusion of organic zinc sources into the diets caused significant increases in feed intake and body gain when compared with inorganic counterparts. Except in wk 1, dietary supplementation with organic sources improved (p<0.05) feed conversion ratio; FCR values were not affected by dietary Zn source or supplementation level. Breast meat yield increased with supplemental levels of organic Zn sources; however, other carcass parameters were not affected by dietary Zn source. On the other hand, organic versus inorganic zinc supplementation caused a significant increase in liver, breast and carcass weight percentages. The present findings suggest that supplemental levels of organic Zn compounds had beneficial effects on broiler performance, and Zn requirements can be reduced using these feed supplements in poultry rations.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.396-403
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• 2009

Male broiler chicks were fed graded levels of organic zinc (zinc-methionine) supplementation to investigate the effects of partial or complete substitution of the organic zinc source for inorganic ones on the development of lymphoid organs and immunological responses. A total of 450 day-old male broilers were distributed into groups of 10 chicks and randomly assigned to nine experimental diets during a 42-day feeding trial. Dietary treatments consisted of two basal diets supplemented with 40 mg/kg added zinc as feed-grade Zn sulfate or Zn oxide in which, Zn was replaced with that provided from zinc-methionine (ZnMet) complex at the levels of 25, 50, 75 or 100%. Two randomly-selected birds from each pen replicate were bled and then slaughtered by cervical cutting on the final day of the trial to measure leukocyte subpopulations and relative weights of lymphoid organs. Among lymphoid organs, only thymus weight was affected (p<0.05) by dietary treatments. The sulfate-supplemented birds were heavier (p<0.01) in relative weight of thymus than oxide-supplemented birds. The 10 days of age-assessed cutaneous hypersensivity reaction was stronger in chicks fed ZnMet-containing diets. Dietary ZnMet supplementation caused (p<0.05) an increase in proportion of lymphocytes and consequently a decrease in heterophil to lymphocyte ratio. Diet fortification by zinc-methionine complex increased (p<0.01) Newcastle antibody titer at 19 days of age. Also, a similar response was observed in antibody titers at 6 and 12 d after infectious bronchitis vaccine administration. There was no significant effect of replacement of dietary zinc on antibody titer against infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) at the 6th d post-vaccine inoculation; however, at d 12 after vaccination, ZnMet-fortified diets improved antibody titer against IBDV. Although dietary inclusion of ZnMet had no marked effect on primary antibody titer against sheep erythrocytes, effective responses were observed during secondary reaction from the viewpoint of both total antibody and immunoglobulin Y (IgY) titers. From the present findings, it can be concluded that dietary supplementation with organic zinc improves both cellular and humoral immune responses. It is necessary to replace 75% of supplemental inorganic zinc with organic ZnMet complex to achieve the optimum immunological responses in broiler chicks.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.1811-1821
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• 2021

Objective: A trial was conducted to investigate the effects of supplemental levels of Mn provided by organic and inorganic trace mineral supplements on growth, tissue mineralization, mineral balance, and antioxidant status of growing broiler chicks. Methods: A total of 500 male chicks (8-d-old) were used in 10-day feeding trial, with 10 treatments and 10 replicates of 5 chicks per treatment. A 2×5 factorial design was used where supplemental Mn levels (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 mg Mn/kg diet) were provided as MnSO₄·H₂O or MnPro. When Mn was supplied as MnPro, supplements of zinc, copper, iron, and selenium were supplied as organic minerals, whereas in MnSO₄·H₂O supplemented diets, inorganic salts were used as sources of other trace minerals. Performance data were fitted to a linearbroken line regression model to estimate the optimal supplemental Mn levels. Results: Manganese supplementation improved body weight, average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared with chicks fed diets not supplemented with Mn. Manganese in liver, breast muscle, and tibia were greatest at 50, 75, and 100 mg supplemental Mn/kg diet, respectively. Higher activities of glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase (total-SOD) were found in both liver and breast muscle of chicks fed diets supplemented with inorganic minerals. In chicks fed MnSO₄·H₂O, ADG, FCR, Mn balance, and concentration in liver were optimized at 59.8, 74.3, 20.6, and 43.1 mg supplemental Mn/kg diet, respectively. In MnPro fed chicks, ADG, FCR, Mn balance, and concentration in liver and breast were optimized at 20.6, 38.0, 16.6, 33.5, and 62.3 mg supplemental Mn/kg, respectively. Conclusion: Lower levels of organic Mn were required by growing chicks for performance optimization compared to inorganic Mn. Based on the FCR, the ideal supplemental levels of organic and inorganic Mn in chick feeds were 38.0 and 74.3 mg Mn/kg diet, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.15-21
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• 2007

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary softwood by-products extract on growth performance, organ weight and intestinal microbes in organic broiler chicks. Five treatments were assigned to 200 broiler chicks with four replication, allocating 10 broiler chicks in each replication. Dietary treatments included control(Organic diet), +C(Organic diet + antibiotics), T1(Organic diet + softwood by-product powder 3.0%), T2(Organic diet + softwood by-product extract 0.05%) and T3(Organic diet + softwood by-product extract 0.1%). Body weight gain was higher in +C and T3 for overall period than control and T1. Feed efficiency of were slightly improved in +C and T3 groups compared with that of control and T1. The small intestine weight tended to be higher in control and +C, but it's length showed high in only T1 group. Gizzard weight was significantly higher in T2 compared with other treatments(P<0.05). In contrast, spleen weight was significantly lower in control group(P<0.05), whereas the weight of cecum and liver were not significantly different by dietary treatment. Intestinal microflora was significantly lower or/and seemed to be low in softwood by-products treatment groups than control. Digestibility of energy and protein were statistically lower in control and T1 than other treatments(P<0.05). The IgG concentration of birds fed antibiotics, softwood by-product extract was higher than control and T1, but was no significance. The results of this experiments indicated that softwood by-product extract would be possible to apply for the feed additive in organic broiler diets.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.143-146
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• 2010

Organic zinc was included in the diet of broiler chickens to examine its effect on the skin characteristics and the expression level of skin proteins. Broiler chicks (Ross$\times$Ross) were fed a corn-wheat-soybean meal basal diet, either as control or containing an additional 80 ppm of zinc proteinate for 4 weeks, and then five broilers from each treatment were selected randomly, slaughtered, and their skin characteristics were examined. There were significant increases (p<0.05) in thigh skin epidermis and dermis thickness in the chicks fed organic zinc. Collagen content in the skin of broilers was also increased by the addition of organic zinc to the diet. 2D-gel electrophoresis patterns indicated that expression levels of the three proteins, glyoxylase 1, hypothetical protein, and dispersin B were affected by zinc feeding. These results suggest that adding organic zinc to the chicken's feed may contribute to decreased skin tearing.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.1348-1353
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• 2010

A grower broiler experiment (from 14 to 35 days of age) was conducted to study the effect of using two commercial mixtures of organic acids (Galliacid$^{(R)}$ and Biacid$^{(R)}$) to substitute antibiotic growth promoter (Eneramycin$^{(R)}$) on performance, carcass characteristics and intestinal microflora. 400 (Ross 308) broiler chicks were used. A basal corn-soybean meal diet were formulated and served as a control treatment. The control diet was supplemented with either 0.06% Galliacid, 0.1% Biacid or 0.02% Eneramycin. Birds fed the Galliacid-supplemented diet had 16% (p<0.001) more gain than the control, while those fed the Biacid- or Enramycinsupplemented diets recorded 3 and 5.5% more gain, respectively. Organic acids mixtures and Enramycin supplementation significantly (p<0.001) improved feed conversion ratio. These results indicated that birds fed either organic acid mixtures or Enramycinsupplemented diets utilized feed more efficiently than those fed the control diet. Galliacid significantly (p<0.01) increased dressing percentage and bursa weight (% body weight). No significant differences were detected on liver, spleen and thymus (% body weight) among treatments. Galliacid or Biacid significantly (p<0.001) decreased intestinal Escherichia coli and Salmonella compared to the control and Enramycin-supplemented diets. Dietary Enramycin significantly (p<0.001) decreased Escherichia coli, but had no effect on Salmonella counts. In conclusion, organic acid mixtures are more efficient than antibiotic growth promoter (Enramycin) in improving broiler performance and decreasing intestinal Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp., and could be successfully used to substitute antibiotic growth promoters in broiler diets. However, not all of the organic acid mixtures gave the same effect either on performance or intestinal bacterial counts.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.207-216
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• 2009

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of organic acid mixture on growth performance, cecal microflora, blood characteristics and immune response in broiler chicks and to prove the possibility of organic acid mixture as an alternative to antibiotics growth promotor. A total of four hundred eighty, 1-day-old male broiler chicks (Ross$\times$Ross 308) were randomly divided into 4 groups with 4 replicates of 30 birds each. The treatments were NC (free antibiotics), PC (basal diet with virginiamycin 10 ppm and salinomycin 60 ppm), 0.3% organic acid, and 0.5% organic acid. The final body weight and body weight gain were significantly higher in organic acid 0.5% than NC (P<0.05). The feed conversion ratio in all treated groups were significantly improved as compared to that of NC (P<0.05). The carcass rate and relative organs weight were not significantly difference among the groups. The relative weight and length of small intestine in PC were significantly decreased than the other groups. The numbers of cecal coliform bacteria and Salmonella in all treated groups were significantly lower than NC (P<0.05). The number of cecal lactic acid bacteria was not different among the groups. No significant differences among the groups were observed in the contents of total cholesterol, triglyceride, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), albumin, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in blood serum. The contents of total protein and globulin in blood serum of PC and organic acid treated groups were significantly increased as compared to those of NC (P<0.05). Therefore, albumin:globulin ratio of PC and organic acid treated groups was significantly lower than NC (P<0.05). The total white blood cell (WBC), heterophil, lymphocyte, and stress indicator (heterophil:lymphocyte ratio) were not significantly different among the groups. No significant difference was observed on the expression rate of splenic cytokines mRNA in organic acid treated groups compared to the control. Consequently, supplemental organic acid mixture improved the growth performance, and influenced positive effects on the intestinal microflora by inhibiting the growth of harmful bacteria without any adverse effects on relative weights of organs and blood biochemical parameters in broiler chicks.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1628-1633
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• 2005

Three hundred and twenty four one day old mixed sex broiler chicks were assigned at random into 9 treatment groups. The experimental design was a 3${\times}$3 factorial arrangement. During the starter period (week 1-3), chicks were fed ad libitum. A cornsoybean meal based diet contained 23% crude protein, 3,200 kcal/kg metabolizable energy (NRC, 1994), and supplemented with organic or inorganic forms of chromium. Two organic chromium products, chromium yeast (Cr-Yeast from Alltech Biotechnology Corporation Limited) and chromium picolinate (Cr-Pic) were supplemented at the rate of 200, 400 and 800 ppb. One inorganic product, chromium chloride, was supplemented at the rate of 200, 400 and 800 ppb. During the finishing period (week 4-7), the corn-soybean meal based diet contained 20% crude protein, 3,200 kcal/kg metabolizable energy (NRC, 1994), and the same levels of chromium as in the starter period were added. No significant difference was observed among treatment groups in average daily gain, feed intake, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio and mortality. The carcass percentage of broilers receiving 200 and 400 ppb organic chromium (Cr-Yeast or Cr-Pic) was significantly increased (p<0.01). In addition, the supplementation of organic chromium reduced (p<0.05) breast meat fat content but increased breast meat protein content. The addition of chromium in the diet had no effect on boneless breast, skinless boneless breast, boneless leg, skinless boneless leg but reduced percentage of sirloin muscle. Total cholesterol and triglycerides were reduced by organic Cr supplementation. Supplementation with 200 and 400 ppb of both Cr-Yeast and Cr-Pic showed the lowest total cholesterol. The effects of type of Cr on HDL and LDL were variable, however, LDL increased with increasing level of Cr supplementation. This trial indicates that organic chromium tended to improve growth performances and carcass composition, reduced total cholesterol and triglycerides. The optimum level of organic chromium supplementation was at 200 ppb.