Poultry Nutrition and Management

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Poultry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2025 | Viewed by 3379

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Guest Editor
College of Standardization, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Interests: animal science; antibiotic replacement; brain–gut axis; gastrointestinal health; multi-omics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Poultry production, including meat and eggs, has become one of the major animal protein sources for decades. Heat stress, overdosed medicine, and irregular management induce plenty of problems, including oxidative stress damage and immune and gut barrier dysfunction. Moreover, the low-carbon and eco-efficient production of livestock and poultry is the foundation of global ecological and environmental governance. This Special Issue will focus on describing the interactions between the nutrition and management of poultry on the change of intestinal microbiota, antioxidant capacity, immune responses, metabolome, and then the growth performance, meat, and egg quality of birds. For instance, heat is one critical stress for poultry production to induce pathophysiological alterations and the gut barriers’ disruption based on the gut–liver axis, leading to reduced growth performance and even increased mortality. Both precision nutrition and functional feed additives are the major methods to dismiss the bad influence of in vitro and in vivo stresses on birds. Then, a great deal of research approaches have been applied for a deeper understanding of nutrition and management, including omics, etc. How these interactive modulations can help in enhancing production efficiency, decreasing in vitro and in vivo stress hostile effects, and reducing the use of antibiotics. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: poultry nutrition and management, antibiotic replacements, multi-omics analysis for gastrointestinal health, and metabolism.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Guangtian Cao
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • poultry
  • nutrition and management
  • multi-omics
  • antibiotic replacements
  • metabolism

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 263 KiB  
Article
Effects of Dietary Protein Levels, Net Energy Levels, and Essential Amino Acid-to-True Protein Ratios on Broiler Performance
by Sosthene Musigwa, Pierre Cozannet, Collins A. Asiamah and Shu-Biao Wu
Animals 2024, 14(21), 3065; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14213065 - 24 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1004
Abstract
Supplementing essential amino acids (EAAs) without considering non-EAA (NEAA) and energy contents in reduced-crude protein (CP) diets may alter EAA-to-true protein (E:T) and energy-to-protein ratios, potentially compromising growth. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of CP, E:T, and net energy (NE) on [...] Read more.
Supplementing essential amino acids (EAAs) without considering non-EAA (NEAA) and energy contents in reduced-crude protein (CP) diets may alter EAA-to-true protein (E:T) and energy-to-protein ratios, potentially compromising growth. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of CP, E:T, and net energy (NE) on broiler performance. The treatments were as follows: T1—reduced CP (16%, RP), low NE (9.9 MJ/kg, LNE), low E:T (0.56, LE:T); T2—RP, LNE, high E:T (0.60, HE:T), with imbalanced EAA (excess Met and deficient Thr); T3—RP, high NE (10.4 MJ/kg, HNE), LE:T; T4—RP, HNE, HE:T; T5—normal CP (18%, NP), LNE, LE:T; T6—NP, LNE, HE:T; T7—NP, HNE, LE:T; and T8—NP, HNE, HE:T. The study employed as-hatched Cobb 500 broilers in two experiments. Exp.1 studied the broiler performance from d19 to 35, with eight replicates per treatment and 16 birds per replicate (n = 1024). Birds were randomly assigned to different treatments, and at the end of their lives, all were dissected to determine their sex and account for any gender-related effects. Exp.2 measured NE values in respiration chambers from d25 to 28, with six replicates per treatment, and two birds (a male and a female) per replicate (n = 96). The bird gender was determined through high-resolution melting curve analysis of feather DNA. The measured NE values were used to calculate NE intake (NEi) in Exp.1. The results showed that T4 improved (p < 0.001) weight gain (WG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), and NEi relative to T1, T2, and T3, and protein efficiency (WG/CP intake) relative to all treatments. The live performance (feed intake, WG, FCR) and NEi of birds fed T4 reached a level equal to those of birds fed NP diets (T5 to T8). These results suggest that a dietary E:T ratio of 0.60 is necessary to maximize nutrient utilization and to restore growth rate in broilers fed RP diets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Poultry Nutrition and Management)
10 pages, 265 KiB  
Article
Impact of High-Dose Supplemental Paprika Extract Feeding on Egg Storage and Biochemical Parameters in Laying Hens
by Sadao Kojima
Animals 2024, 14(19), 2856; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14192856 - 4 Oct 2024
Viewed by 667
Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the effects of paprika extract supplementation on egg storage and blood biochemical parameters in 63-week-old Rhode Island Red (RIR) and Silky Fowl (SF) hens. The hens were divided into three groups: a control group with a basal diet [...] Read more.
This study aimed to evaluate the effects of paprika extract supplementation on egg storage and blood biochemical parameters in 63-week-old Rhode Island Red (RIR) and Silky Fowl (SF) hens. The hens were divided into three groups: a control group with a basal diet and two groups receiving the basal diet with paprika extract. The trial lasted 28 days, with egg quality (yolk color and albumen pH) assessed after storing eggs at 25 °C for 21 days. A total of 144 eggs were used in 42 treatments (two breeds, three diets, and seven storage periods) with three eggs examined each (four eggs were used on day 0 and five eggs on day 21). Additionally, the yolk carotenoid content, yolk color, and pH of eggs stored at 4 °C and 25 °C were compared. Results showed that yolk color fan score (YCFS) decreased with storage, and SF had a higher albumen pH than RIR, with both breeds exhibiting an increase in pH over time. HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and the HDL-C to total cholesterol ratio were significantly influenced by breed, diet, and their interaction. The HDL-C level in SF was affected linearly and quadratically by diet, while no such trend was observed in RIR. The study concluded that paprika extract affects egg quality and blood lipid profiles differently in different breeds, highlighting breed-specific responses to dietary supplementation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Poultry Nutrition and Management)
17 pages, 8241 KiB  
Article
Assessing the Influence of Guanidinoacetic Acid on Growth Performance, Body Temperature, Blood Metabolites, and Intestinal Morphometry in Broilers: A Comparative Sex-Based Experiment
by Abdulaziz A. Al-Abdullatif, Mahmoud M. Azzam, Emad M. Samara, Mohammed A. Al-Badwi, Xinyang Dong and Abdel-Moneim Eid Abdel-Moneim
Animals 2024, 14(13), 1853; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14131853 - 22 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1217
Abstract
It is well known that female and male broilers showcase variations in their growth performance, influenced by various physiological factors. This experiment aims to explore potential differences between female and male broilers concerning growth performance, body temperature, blood metabolites, carcass traits, and intestinal [...] Read more.
It is well known that female and male broilers showcase variations in their growth performance, influenced by various physiological factors. This experiment aims to explore potential differences between female and male broilers concerning growth performance, body temperature, blood metabolites, carcass traits, and intestinal architecture in response to guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) supplementation. A total of 240 Ross 308 broiler chickens were arranged in a 3 × 2 factorial design and randomly allocated into 48 boxes, each containing 5 birds. The experiment comprised six treatments, with eight replicates per treatment. The main factors investigated were dietary GAA levels (0%, 0.06%, and 0.12%) and sex (male and female). Male broilers demonstrated superior body weight gain (BWG) and feed intake (FI) compared to females (p< 0.05). GAA supplementation at 0.12% concentration notably improved BWG and reduced FI and feed conversion ratio (FCR) across experimental phases (p < 0.05). However, interactions between sex and GAA were minimal except for reduced FI and FCR (p < 0.05) in both sexes during early growth stages. Regardless of GAA treatment, the male birds exhibited more elevated shank and head temperatures than the females. Carcass traits were largely unaffected by GAA supplementation or sex, except for higher heart yield in the males. Serum metabolite levels were not different between treatment groups at 10 and 24 days of age, except for a higher level of serum creatinine at 10 days in the female birds with 0.06% GA supplementation (p < 0.05). Intestinal morphology was significantly affected by GAA and sex, depending on the segment of intestine, in which GAA supplementation significantly increased villus height, crypt depth, villus width, surface area, and goblet cell count, while the males consistently exhibited higher values of these parameters than the females, and differences were observed between intestinal segments, especially in the ileum and duodenum, at different ages. In conclusion, the interactions between GAA and sex had minimal influences on growth performance indices. However, male broilers demonstrated a more pronounced response to GAA concerning ileal architecture. This study highlights the importance of supplementing broiler chicken diets with GAA for optimizing male broiler performance and intestinal function. The inclusion of GAA into broiler diets needs further study to reveal the underlying mechanisms driving these sex-specific responses and assess the long-term impacts of GAA supplementation on broiler health and productivity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Poultry Nutrition and Management)
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