The effects of an exogenous emulsifier, glyceryl polyethylene glycol ricinoleate, on performance and carcass traits of broiler chickens were assessed. The emulsifier was added to the diet at dose rates of 0 (control), 1 (E1) and 2 (E2) % of added fat (saturated palm oil). Live weight gain (P < .07) and feed conversion ratio (P < .05) in 39 days were higher in the E1 dietary group. Gain: ME inta...

The suitability of leaves for use as broiler litter was evaluated in four 49-d floor pen trials of 150 Avian × Avian female chickens each. In each trial, 25 broiler chicks were weighed and randomly assigned to one of six pens at a density of 1.2 m2 per bird. There were two replicates of each of the following three treatments: 1) pine wood shaving (control), 2) a mix of 50% pine wood shaving and...

An in vivo experiment was conducted to determine the effect of dietary betaine supplementation (Betafin) as a replacement for methionine on broiler performance and carcass characteristics. In a completely randomized design (CRD) with five treatments of betaine levels (at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% in replacement for methionine) and five replicates of 10 birds/replicate, two hundred fifty-day-old R...

An experiment was conducted to investigate the comparative efficacy of two probiotics of different origins (yeast and bacterial based) on the growth performance, immune response, carcass characteristics and nutrient digestibility of broilers. One hundred and twenty day old chicks were purchased from local hatchery and were randomly divided into 4 groups and each group had 3 replicates of 10 chi...

The bacterial succession on the skin of broiler chicken carcasses stored at 2 degrees C was traced, and the ability of representative isolates to produce off-odors was determined by using sterile leg and breast muscle sections. Off-odors were identified by olfactory and chemical means. The inability of peptone-iron agar to detect sulfide-producing strains was noted.

A randomized complete block design with 3 replications (n = 432, 72 broilers per treatment) was used to evaluate the effects of electrical (ES) and vacuum stunning (VS) on broiler breast meat quality. Electrical stunning was performed by applying 11.5 V, <0.05 mA, AC to DC current for 3 s for each broiler. Vacuum stunning was accomplished by exposing the birds to a low atmospheric pressure of 5...

The present work was carried out to investigate the effects of excess dietary Lysine (Lys) and Methionine (Met) on some blood immune parameters and the performance of broiler chicks. Three hundred male Ross 308 broilers were allotted to five groups each of which included four replicates (15 birds per replicate) in a completely randomized design. The treatment groups received the same basal diet...

Campylobacter infection is the leading foodborne bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide and the bacteria are frequently isolated from the intestines of chickens. The broiler meat contamination with C. jejuni or C. coli may occur during slaughter processing. The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of Campylobacter in poultry flocks and the corresponding broiler carcasses in 15 distri...

Crops or gizzards in broiler carcasses are frequently damaged during processing. The contents from either organ, defined by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service as ingesta, may contaminate the carcass. Previous research has shown crop contents are a source of Salmonella contamination on processed carcasses, although less information is available on gizzard contents. The purpose of this s...

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of form and particle size of feed supplemented with L- threonine on growth performance, carcass characteristic and blood biochemical parameters of broiler chickens. The experimental design was a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments evaluating two feed forms (pellet or mash), two feed particle sizes (fine or course), and two inclusion r...