The present work was conducted to examine the effects of dietary crude protein (CP) levels (18, 21 and 24%) on growth performance (Initial and final body weight, daily body weight gain, feed consumption, feed conversion and protein efficiency ratio) during 2-9 weeks of age and certain body measurements (body height, tibiotarsus length and tibiotarsus girth) at 9 weeks of age. A total of 30 Afri...

Two experiments were conducted to compare a sample of calcium citrate-malate (CC-M) with a sample of commercial-grade limestone in starting broiler chick diets. In the first experiment, with 0.7 or 0.9% calcium from limestone or CC-M, no differences in bone development (dry fat-free tibia, tibia weight, tibia ash, or tibia calcium) were observed due to calcium source. However, chicks fed the di...

Objective: The protein quality of earthworm meal was evaluated and compared to that of soybean meal (SBM) in two experiments using broiler chicks.  Methods: The protein quality of earthworm meal was evaluated and compared to that of soybean meal (SBM) in two experiments using broiler chicks. Results: The results of experiment 1 indicated that there were no significant differences between earthw...

A study was conducted to investigate the effects of thermostable phytase supplementation on the growth performance and nutrient digestibility of broilers for 42 d. 1-day-old Arbor Acres chicks with similar initial body weight were randomly divided into 3 treatments consisting 6 pens of 20 chicks per pen. The control group was given maize-soybean meal basal diet and the other two groups were fed...

Two experiments were conducted to estimate standardized P retention (SPR) values of dicalcium phosphate (DCP), monocalcium phosphate (MCP), and monopotassium phosphate (MKP) in broilers. In total, ninety-six 22-d-old male broilers with similar BW (780 g average) were used in each experiment. The chicks were randomly allotted to 1 of 4 treatments (P-free, DCP, MCP, or MKP diets) with 6 replicate...

Effects of L-carnitine administration via drinking water on growth performance, carcass traits, blood serum parameters and abdominal fatty acid composition of ducks was examined. One hundred day-old Turkish native duck chicks were divided into two groups, each with five replicates and given the same diets with 0 and 200 mg/l carnitine chlorhydrate via drinking water. The study lasted 8 weeks, w...

The etiological agent of necrotic enteritis is Clostridium perfringens. Traditionally, necrotic enteritis is controlled with in-feed antibiotics. However, increasing consumer demand for drug-free poultry has fostered the search for nonantibiotic alternatives. Yeast extract contain nucleotides that are immunomodulatory and also essential for cellular functions. An experiment was conducted to eva...

1. Carnitine acetyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.7) activity in sheep liver mitochondria was 76nmol/min per mg of protein, in contrast with 1.7 for rat liver mitochondria. The activity in bovine liver mitochondria was comparable with that of sheep liver mitochondria. Carnitine palmitoyltransferase activity was the same in both sheep and rat liver mitochondria. 2. The [free carnitine]/[acetylcarnitine] ...

Increased dietary protein intake rapidly (3 h) decreases hepatic malic enzyme and increases hepatic histidase mRNA expression in broiler chicks. A series of experiments was conducted to determine the role that glucagon or a specific mixture of dietary amino acids might have in regulating the rapid changes in mRNA expression of these enzymes, when dietary protein intake is increased. Three hours...

Grains produced by low-phytate barley and corn isolines homozygous for each species' respective low phytic acid 1-1 allele were compared to grain produced by near-isogenic normal or wild-type barley and corn in broiler chick feeds. Cobb x Cobb (384) chicks were used in a 10-d study. A randomized complete block design with a factorial arrangement of 2 x 2 x 3 was used with 4 replicates (8 chicks...