Search Results (27)

This study tested the hypothesis that dietary L. acidophilus would improve nutrient utilization in yellow-feathered broilers mainly through intestinal changes rather than a consistent increase in growth performance. A total of 195 one-day-old broilers were assigned to a control group (basal diet), a T1 group (basal diet with 10 g/kg L. acidophilus), or a T2 group (basal diet with 15 g/kg L. acidophilus), with five replicates of 13 birds per treatment over 63 days. The biological responses followed a clear pattern. First, supplementation did not significantly affect average daily feed intake, average daily gain, or feed-to-gain ratio at any growth stage or across the entire trial (days 1–63; p > 0.05), indicating limited direct effects on growth. Second, the main nutritional response occurred during days 22–42, when T1 increased the apparent nutrient digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, ether extract, crude protein, and gross energy compared to the control (p < 0.05). Third, intestinal responses aligned with localized gut modulation: both supplemented groups had higher culture-based Lactobacillus counts and lower E. coli counts in the cecum and ileum (p < 0.05), and T1 increased duodenal villus height (p < 0.05). In contrast, serum biochemical, immune, and antioxidant indices showed only isolated, phase-dependent changes and were not considered the primary response. Overall, moderate dietary supplementation with L. acidophilus enhanced nutrient utilization during mid-growth and was linked to targeted intestinal bacterial and morphological changes, but it did not consistently improve growth performance in yellow-feathered broilers. Full article

This study aimed to investigate the effect of lipopolysaccharide challenge on growth performance and immune function in yellow-feathered broilers. A total of 140 yellow-feathered broilers (1-day-old) were randomly assigned to two treatments (control group and LPS group) with seven replicates of 10 chicks each. Broilers in the LPS group were injected intraperitoneally with LPS (1 mg/kg body weight) on days 21, 23, 25, and 27, while broilers in the control group were injected intraperitoneally at an equivalent volume of sterile saline on the corresponding days. After 24 h of each injection, one chicken from each replicate was randomly selected for slaughter and sampling. The results indicate that the first LPS challenge significantly elevated jejunal mucosal IL-6 levels compared with the control group (p < 0.05). After the second injection, average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily weight gain (ADG), and body weight gain (BWG) of broilers were decreased in the LPS group compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Additionally, IL-1β levels were increased in the liver and jejunal mucosa of broilers in the LPS group (p < 0.05). After the third injection, the ADFI, ADG, BWG and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were reduced in the LPS group compared to the control group. LPS also caused a decrease in the broiler thymus index and bursa index. In addition, the levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and IFN-γ in the jejunal mucosa of broilers in the LPS group were higher than those in the control group (p < 0.05). The levels of IL-1β and IFN-γ in the liver of the LPS group were significantly higher than those of the control group (p < 0.05). The mRNA expression of IL-1β, IL-6, and IFN-γ in the jejunum and liver of the LPS group was significantly higher than that of the control group (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the mRNA expression of TLR4 and MyD88 in both the liver and jejunal mucosa of broilers in the LPS group was significantly higher than that in the control group (p < 0.05). Following the fourth LPS injection, the ADFI, ADG, BWG, and spleen index of LPS group decreased significantly compared to the control group. Concurrently, a significant increase in the content of IFN-γ in the liver was observed. In conclusion, three times of LPS stimulation can cause significant immune damage and induce an immune stress model. Full article

In recent years, real-time monitoring of broiler chicken weight has become crucial for assessing growth and health status. Currently, obtaining weight data often relies on manual collection. However, this process is cumbersome, labor-intensive, and inefficient. This paper proposes a broiler carcass weight detection model based on deep learning image segmentation and regression to address these issues. The model first segments broiler carcasses and then uses the pixel area of the segmented region as a key feature for a regression model to predict weight. A custom dataset comprising 2709 images from 301 Taihu yellow chickens was established for this study. A novel segmentation network, AR2U-AtNet, derived from R2U-Net, is proposed. To mitigate the interference of background color and texture on target carcasses in slaughterhouse production lines, the Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) is introduced to enable the network to focus on areas containing carcasses. Furthermore, broilers exhibit significant variations in size, morphology, and posture, which impose high demands on the model’s scale adaptability. Selective Kernel Attention (SKAttention) is therefore integrated to flexibly handle broiler images with diverse body conditions. The model achieved an average Intersection over Union (mIoU) score of 90.45%, and Dice and F1 scores of 95.18%. The regression-based weight prediction achieved an $R^2$ value of 0.9324. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can quickly and accurately determine individual broiler carcass weights, thereby alleviating the burden of traditional weighing methods and ultimately improving the production efficiency of yellow-feather broilers. Full article

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) affects chicken production not only during outbreaks but also afterward. Understanding its delayed effect is essential for facilitating timely production recovery. Employing a dynamic panel data model with annual Chinese provincial data obtained between 2004 and 2021, we quantified the impact of previous-year HPAI outbreaks on current-year chicken production through production costs. The results indicated that a 1% increase in provincial HPAI outbreaks raised production costs per 100 broilers by 0.372%, ultimately reducing annual chicken production by 0.038%. These findings remained robust after controlling for endogeneity and conducting extensive robustness checks. The impact was most pronounced in provinces characterized by high chicken production, a high proportion of scale broilers, and yellow-feathered broiler specialization, where both production costs and production losses were significantly greater. Additionally, previous-year HPAI outbreaks significantly increased production costs by increasing both epidemic prevention and broiler chick costs. Our findings offer robust empirical evidence and actionable insights for managing cost volatility risks along the chicken supply chain in post-epidemic contexts. Full article

This study comparatively analyzed the spatial heterogeneity of the gut microbiome across gastrointestinal segments in Changle geese versus yellow-feathered broilers to discover their links with growth and intestinal development. Twelve 63-day-old male yellow-feathered broilers and twelve 70-day-old male Changle geese were selected. Body weight (BW), slaughter weight (SW), absolute lengths of the small intestine (LSI) and cecum (LC), and their relative lengths normalized to body size (RLSI/RLC) were measured. Additionally, 16S rDNA sequencing of crop, proventriculus, gizzard, jejunum, cecum, and rectum microbiota was conducted to assess microbial diversity, composition, and its correlation with phenotypes. Results demonstrated higher BW, SW, LSI, LC and lower RLSI and RLC in geese versus broilers (p < 0.001). Alpha diversity analysis revealed lower microbial richness and diversity in broilers across most gastrointestinal segments (p < 0.05), while beta diversity analysis confirmed distinct community structures between two species (p = 0.001). Firmicutes dominated broiler gut microbiota (94.49%), whereas geese exhibited greater phylum-level diversity (p < 0.05). Random forestry analysis identified Top 15 core Amplicon Sequencing Variants in both the cecum and rectum, with ASV12260 (unclassified Lachnospiraceae) and ASV12412 (uncultured Faecalibacterium sp.) as key biomarkers. Correlation analyses found 21 phenotype-related ASVs (p < 0.05). Specially, two Lactobacillus ingluviei strains showed negatively correlated with LSI and RLSI in the chicken foregut (p < 0.05). And two Gallibacterium anatis strains were associated with RLSI, with one strain also showing an inverse correlation with LSI in the goose foregut (p < 0.05). Interestingly, one Peptococcus strain was negatively correlated with BW and SW, while the other was inversely associated with LC and RLC in the goose hindgut (p < 0.05). These findings provide insights into species-specific distribution patterns of gut microbiota across poultry species and their correlation with growth performance and intestinal development, developing a theoretical foundation for advancing avian digestive physiology research and optimizing feeding strategies. Full article

Carnosic acid (CA), a natural phenolic terpenoid compound, is widely distributed in plants such as sage and rosemary, and exhibits a strong antioxidant capacity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different levels of CA on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal health of yellow-feathered broilers, and then to determine the optimal dose of CA to promote sustainable broiler production. A total of 384 1-day-old yellow-feathered broilers were randomly allocated into six treatment groups with eight replicates per group and eight birds per replicate pen. The control group (CON) was fed a basal diet and the CA treated groups (CA5, CA10, CA20, CA40, and CA80) were fed diets given different doses of CA (5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 mg/kg), respectively, for 53 days (1~21 d and 22~53 d). The results showed that, in the later stages of the experiment, supplementation with 10, 20, and 40 mg/kg of CA increased (p < 0.05) the final body weight and average daily gain. Morphometric analyses of the jejunum showed that supplementation of CA increased (p < 0.05) the ratio of villus height to crypt depth (V/C). Antioxidant indices revealed that CA significantly reduced MDA levels in plasma, liver, and jejunum, while enhancing activities of GSH-Px, T-SOD, and T-AOC (p < 0.05). Moreover, CA upregulated hepatic Nrf2, HO-1, GSH-Px, and GSR expression via downregulated Keap1. The analysis of intestinal microbiota showed that CA increased (p < 0.05) microbial α diversity (Ace, Chao, and Sobs indices) and increased (p < 0.05) beneficial bacteria, such as Streptococcus, Enterococcus, and Phascolarctobacterium. In conclusion, CA improves growth performance, antioxidant capacity, intestinal health, and gut microbial diversity in broilers. Under the conditions of this experiment, quadratic regressions for different variables showed that the optimal range for supplemental CA in chicken’s diet was 19.11~76.85 mg/kg. Combined with experimental observation and regression analysis, the optimal level of supplementation was 40 mg/kg. Full article

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) promotes growth performance and intestinal development in yellow-feathered broilers, but whether the virome and metabolites contribute to its growth-promoting effect remains unclear. This study removed the microbiota from FMT filtrate using a 0.45 μm filter membrane, retaining the virome and metabolites to perform fecal virome transplantation (FVT), aiming to investigate its regulatory role in broiler growth. Healthy yellow-feathered broilers with high body weights (top 10% of the population) were used as FVT donors. Ninety-six 8-day-old healthy male yellow-feathered broilers (95.67 ± 3.31 g) served as FVT recipients. Recipient chickens were randomly assigned to a control group and an FVT group. The control group was gavaged with 0.5 mL of normal saline daily, while the FVT group was gavaged with 0.5 mL of FVT solution daily. Growth performance, immune and antioxidant capacity, intestinal development and related gene expression, and microbial diversity were measured. The results showed that FVT improved the feed utilization rate of broilers (the feed conversion ratio decreased by 3%; p < 0.05), significantly increased jejunal length (21%), villus height (69%), and crypt depth (84%) (p < 0.05), and regulated the jejunal barrier: insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) (2.5 times) and Mucin 2 (MUC2) (63 times) were significantly upregulated (p < 0.05). FVT increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria Lactobacillales. However, negative effects were also observed: Immunoglobulin A (IgA), Immunoglobulin G (IgG), Immunoglobulin M (IgM), Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-α), and Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) in broilers were significantly upregulated (p < 0.05), indicating immune system overactivation. Duodenal barrier-related genes Mucin 2 (MUC2), Occludin (OCLN), Claudin (CLDN1), and metabolism-related genes solute carrier family 5 member 1 (SLC5A1) and solute carrier family 7 member 9 (SLC7A9) were significantly downregulated (p < 0.05). The results of this trial demonstrate that, besides the microbiota, the gut virome and metabolites are also functional components contributing to the growth-promoting effect of FMT. The differential responses in the duodenum and jejunum reveal spatial heterogeneity and dual effects of FVT on the intestine. The negative effects limit the application of FMT/FVT. Identifying the primary functional components of FMT/FVT to develop safe and targeted microbial preparations is one potential solution. Full article

The behavior of floor-raised chickens is closely linked to their health status and environmental comfort. As a type of broiler chicken with special behaviors, understanding the daily actions of yellow-feathered chickens is crucial for accurately checking their health and improving breeding practices. Addressing the challenges of high computational complexity and insufficient detection accuracy in existing floor-raised chicken behavior recognition models, a lightweight behavior recognition model was proposed for floor-raised yellow-feathered chickens, based on a Dual-Backbone Heterogeneous YOLO Network. Firstly, DualHet-YOLO enhances the feature extraction capability of floor-raised chicken images through a dual-path feature map extraction architecture and optimizes the localization and classification of multi-scale targets using a TriAxis Unified Detection Head. Secondly, a Proportional Scale IoU loss function is introduced that improves regression accuracy. Finally, a lightweight structure Eff-HetKConv was designed, significantly reducing model parameters and computational complexity. Experiments on a private floor-raised chicken behavior dataset show that, compared with the baseline YOLOv11 model, the DualHet-YOLO model increases the mAP for recognizing five behaviors—pecking, resting, walking, dead, and inactive—from 77.5% to 84.1%. Meanwhile, it reduces model parameters by 14.6% and computational complexity by 29.2%, achieving a synergistic optimization of accuracy and efficiency. This approach provides an effective solution for lightweight object detection in poultry behavior recognition. Full article

This investigation evaluates the impact of the EOB on chicken growth performance, meat quality, and lipid metabolism. Two hundred and fifty-six one-day-old, white-feathered broilers were randomly allocated to four groups. Each group was subdivided into eight replicates, each with eight unsexed chicks, including the control group (CON), EOB₁₅₀, EOB₂₅₀, and EOB₃₅₀, with 0, 150, 250, and 350 mg/L of the EOB added to the drinking water, respectively. The expression levels of genes associated with antioxidants and lipid metabolism were analyzed using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Additionally, the FA profile of the breast muscle was determined using gas chromatography. The data displayed that those birds in the EOB₂₅₀ group had a higher breast muscle index compared to the CON group. The breast meat in the EOB groups showed that there is increased yellowness, water holding capacity (WHC), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), while cooking losses, drip losses, and saturated fatty acids (SFAs) were reduced compared to the CON. The application of supplements for the EOB₂₅₀ and EOB₃₅₀ groups increased antioxidant indices as well as the expression of antioxidant-related genes in the liver and muscles. However, these groups decreased the concentrations of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) in serum and liver compared to the EOB₁₅₀ and CON groups. These EOB groups downregulated expression of some genes linked to liver FA synthesis and elevated the expressions of lipid β-oxidation-related genes compared to the CON. It can be concluded that the supplementation with 250 mg/L of the EOB has the potential as an alternative water additive in the broiler industry. Full article

This experiment investigated the effects of L-Methionine (L-Met) on growth performance, Met-metabolizing enzyme activity, feather traits, and small intestinal morphological characteristics, and compared these with DL-Methionine (DL-Met) for medium-growing, yellow-feathered broilers during the starter phase. Furthermore, the aim was to provide recommendations for the appropriate dietary Met levels in feed. A total of 1584 1-d broilers were randomly divided into 11 treatment groups with six replicates of 24 birds each: basal diet (CON, Met 0.28%), basal diet + L-Met (0.04%, 0.08%, 0.12%, 0.16%, 0.20%), and basal diet + DL-Met (0.04%, 0.08%, 0.12%, 0.16%, 0.20%). The total trial period was 30 days. Compared with broilers fed the basal diet, those fed 0.04 to 0.20% supplemental Met had higher final body weight (FBW), average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily gain (ADG), and lower feed-to-gain ratio (F: G) (p < 0.05). Compared with DL-Met groups, the L-Met group had higher FBW and ADG (p < 0.05). The relative bioavailability (RBV) of L-Met in ADG of 1–30 d was 142.5%. Chicks fed diets supplemented with L-Met had longer fourth primary feather lengths compared to birds fed the control and diets supplemented with DL-Met (p < 0.05). Compared to the control, birds supplemented with DL-Met or L-Met had an increased moulting score (p ≤ 0.05). Chicks fed diets supplemented with L-Met had lower activities of methionine adenosyl transferase (MAT) compared to those fed the basal diet or supplemented with DL-Met (p < 0.05). Chicks supplemented with either DL-Met or L-Met had higher activities of cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) than those fed the basal diet (p < 0.05). Compared with the control, chicks fed diets supplemented with either DL-Met or L-Met had an enhanced level of albumin in plasma (p < 0.05). There were no obvious differences in the plasma content of uric acid and total protein among the treatments (p > 0.05). Chicks fed diets supplemented with either DL-Met or L-Met had higher villus height and V/C in the duodenal than chicks fed the basal diet (p < 0.05). The jejunum morphology was not affected by either L-Met or DL-Met supplementation (p > 0.05). Therefore, dietary supplementation with DL-Met or L-Met improved the growth performance, feather traits, and intestinal morphological characteristics of medium-growing, yellow-feathered broiler chickens aged 1 to 30 d by decreasing the enzyme activities of Met methylation (MAT) and increasing the enzyme activities of the sulfur transfer pathway (CBS), and supplementation with L-Met showed a better improvement compared with DL-Met. The relative efficacy of L-Met to DL-Met was 142.5% for ADG of yellow-feathered broilers. The appropriate Met levels for medium-growing, yellow-feathered broilers are between 0.36~0.38% (supplementation with DL-Met) or 0.32~0.33% (supplementation with L-Met) when based on ADG and feed-to-gain ratio. Full article

Although carbapenems have not been approved for animal use, carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli (CREC) strains are increasingly being detected in food-producing animals, posing a significant public health risk. However, the epidemiological characteristics of CREC isolates in yellow-feather broiler farms remain unclear. We comprehensively investigated the genetic features of carbapenem-resistance genes among E. coli isolates recovered from a yellow-feather broiler farm in Guangdong province, China. Among the 172 isolates, 88 (51.2%) were recovered from chicken feces (88.5%, 54/61), the farm environment (51.1%, 24/47), and specimens of dead chickens (15.6%, 41/64). All CREC isolates were positive for the bla_NDM-5 gene and negative for other carbapenem-resistance genes. Among 40 randomly selected isolates subjected to whole-genome sequencing, 10 belonged to distinct sequence types (STs), with ST167 (n = 12) being the most prevalent across different sources, suggesting that the dissemination of bla_NDM-5 was mainly due to horizontal and clonal transmission. Plasmid analysis indicated that IncX3, IncHI2, and IncR-X1-X3 hybrid plasmids were responsible for the rapid transmission of the bla_NDM-5 gene, and the genetic surrounding of bla_NDM-5 contained a common mobile element of the genetic fragment designated “IS5-△ISAba125-bla_NDM-5-ble_MBL-trpF-dsbC”. These findings demonstrate a critical role of multiple plasmid replicons in the dissemination of bla_NDM-5 and carbapenem resistance. Full article

This study aimed to assess the effects of different dietary vitamin D₃ (VD₃) levels on growth and carcass performance, tibia traits, meat quality, and intestinal morphology of yellow-feathered broilers. One-day-old broilers (n = 1440) were assigned into four treatment groups with six replicates per group, and each replicate contained 60 chicks. Dietary VD₃ significantly improved the growth performance and carcass traits of broilers, and only low-dose VD₃ supplementation decreased the abdominal fat percentage. High-dose VD₃ supplementation improved intestinal morphology in the finisher stage, while the b* value of breast muscle meat color decreased markedly under VD₃ supplementation (p < 0.05). Serum Ca and P levels and the tibia composition correlated positively with dietary VD₃ supplementation at the early growth stage. The weight, length, and ash contents of the tibia increased linearly with increasing dietary VD₃, with maximum values achieved in the high-dose group at all three stages. Intestinal 16S rRNA sequencing and liver transcriptome analysis showed that dietary VD₃ might represent an effective treatment in poultry production by regulating lipid and immune-related metabolism in the gut–liver axis, which promotes the metabolism through the absorption of calcium and phosphorus in the intestine and improves their protective humoral immunity and reduces infection mortality. Dietary VD₃ positively affected the growth—immunity and bone development of broilers during the early stage, suggesting strategies to optimize poultry feeding. Full article

This study was devoted to the comparison of the probiotic effect of compound probiotics to antibiotics as a feed additive for chicken. Two hundred and seventy newly hatched yellow-feather broilers were randomly divided into three groups: the control group (Con), probiotics (Pb), and antibiotics group (Ab). The Pb group received compound probiotics (Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Streptococcus faecalis, and yeast) via drinking water for 24 days. The Ab group received antibiotics (zinc bacitracin and colistin sulfate) in their diet for 24 days. All broilers were slaughtered on day 42. Compared with the Con group, the body weight was significantly increased on days 13, 28, and 42 in the Pb group (p < 0.05), and markedly increased on day 28 in the Ab group (p < 0.05). Compared with the Ab group, the body weight of the broilers in the Pb group increased significantly on day 13 (p < 0.05). Compared to the Con and Pb groups, the antibiotics treatment reduced the feed intake (p < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in the feed conversion ratio between the Ab and Pb groups (p > 0.05). The feed conversion ratio of the broilers treated with antibiotics or probiotics significantly decreased compared to the Con group (p < 0.05). The depth of duodenum, jejunum, and ileum crypts in the Pb group decreased significantly compared to the Con and Ab group (p < 0.05). The ratio of the villi length to crypt depth of duodenum, jejunum, and ileum epithelium was significantly increased in the Pb group compared to the Con group (p < 0.05). The genera Bacteroides and Barnesiella were the most significantly enriched bacteria in the Ab and Pb groups, respectively (p < 0.05). The expression of the genes related to antibiotic resistance was significantly decreased in the Pb group compared to the Ab group (p < 0.05). Although both compound probiotics and antibiotics can improve growth performance, antibiotics increased the abundance of harmful bacteria and drug-resistant genes, while probiotics increased Barnesiella abundance, which is related to a decrease in the drug-resistant gene expression. Moreover, the probiotics treatment improved small intestinal morphology and fecal emissions, while antibiotics have no significant effect on these indicators, indicating a bright future for probiotics as an alternative to feed antibiotics in the yellow-feather broiler industry. Full article

In China, the sale of freshly slaughtered chickens is becoming increasingly popular in comparison with that of live chickens, and due to this emerging trend, the skin and feather follicle traits of yellow-feathered broilers have attracted a great deal of research attention. The feather follicle originates from the interaction between the epidermis and dermis in the early embryonic stage. Feather follicle morphogenesis is regulated by the Wnt, ectodysplasin (Eda), epidermal growth factor (EGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), sonic hedgehog (Shh), Notch, and other signaling pathways that exist in epithelial and mesenchymal cells. The Wnt pathway is essential for feather follicle and feather morphogenesis. Eda interacts with Wnt to induce FGF expression, which attracts mesenchymal cell movement and aggregates to form feather follicle primordia. BMP acts as an inhibitor of the above signaling pathways to limit the size of the feather tract and distance between neighboring feather primordia in a dose-dependent manner. The Notch/Delta pathway can interact with the FGF pathway to promote feather bud formation. While not a part of the early morphogenesis of feather follicles, Shh and BMP signaling are involved in late feather branching. This review summarizes the roles of miRNAs/lncRNA in the regulation of feather follicle and feather growth and development and suggests topics that need to be solved in a future study. This review focuses on the regulatory mechanisms involved in feather follicle morphogenesis and analyzes the impact of SNP sites on feather follicle traits in poultry. This work may help us to understand the molecular regulatory networks influencing feather follicle growth and provide basic data for poultry carcass quality. Full article

Consumer demand for tasty and quality meat has been quickly increasing. This study investigated how dietary supplemented rutin affects meat quality, muscle fatty acid profile, and antioxidant capacity in the Chinese indigenous Qingyuan partridge chicken. A cohort of 180 healthy 119-day-old chickens was subjected to a randomized assignment into three groups, identified as the control, R200, and R400 groups, with respective supplementation of 0, 200, and 400 mg/kg of rutin. The results revealed insignificance in growth performance, namely, average daily gain, average daily feed intake, and feed-to-gain ratio, across the various treatment groups (p > 0.05). Nevertheless, dietary rutin supplementation increased (p < 0.05) breast muscle yield and intramuscular fat content in breast muscle and decreased (p < 0.05) drip loss in breast muscle. Rutin supplementation increased (p < 0.05) the content of high-density lipoprotein but decreased (p < 0.05) the contents of glucose, triglyceride, and total cholesterol in serum. Rutin supplementation increased (p < 0.05) the levels of DHA (C22:6n-3), total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), n-3 PUFAs, decanoic acid (C10:0), the activity of Δ5 + Δ6 (22:6 (n − 3)/18:3 (n − 3)), and the ratio of PUFA/SFA in breast muscle but decreased (p < 0.05) the level of palmitoleic acid (C16:1n-7), the ratio of n-6/n-3 PUFAs, and the activity of Δ9 (16:1 (n − 7)/16:0). Rutin treatment also reduced (p < 0.05) the contents of malondialdehyde in serum and breast muscle, and increased (p < 0.05) the catalase activity and total antioxidant capacity in serum and breast muscle and the activity of total superoxide dismutase in serum. Additionally, rutin supplementation downregulated the expression of AMPKα and upregulated the expression of PPARG, FADS1, FAS, ELOVL7, NRF2, and CAT in breast muscle (p < 0.05). Convincingly, the results revealed that rutin supplementation improved meat quality, fatty acid profiles, especially n-3 PUFAs, and the antioxidant capacity of Qingyuan partridge chickens. Full article