J. D. Richards

Organic trace minerals and 25-hydroxycholecalciferol affect performance characteristics, leg abnormalities, and biomechanical properties of leg bones of turkeys

Leg problems and resulting mortality can exceed 1% per week in turkey toms starting at approximately 15 wk of age. Dietary supplementation of organic trace minerals (MIN) and 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (HyD) may improve performance, decrease incidence of leg abnormalities, and increase bone strength. Nicholas 85X700 toms were assigned to 4 treatments consisting of a factorial arrangement of 2 concentrations of MIN (0 and 0.1% of Mintrex P(Se), which adds 40, 40, 20, and 0.3 mg/kg of Zn, Mn, Cu, and Se, respectively) and 2 concentrations of HyD (0 and 92 microg/kg of HyD). Diets were formulated to be equal in nutrient content and fed ad libitum as 8 feed phases. Feed intake and BW were measured at 6, 12, 15, 17, and 20 wk of age. Valgus, varus, and shaky leg defects were determined at 12, 15, 17, and 20 wk of age. Tibia and femur biomechanical properties were evaluated by torsion and bending tests at 17 wk of age. There were no treatment effects on BW. Only MIN significantly improved feed conversion ratio through to 20 wk of age. Cumulative mortality at 3 wk of age was greater among the MIN birds, but it was lower by 20 wk (P = 0.085). The MIN decreased the incidence of varus defects at 17 wk of age; shaky leg at 12, 15, and 17 wk of age; and valgus defects at 15, 17, and 20 wk of age. There were no MIN x HyD interaction effects on individual gait problems. Maximum load and the bending stress required for tibias to break in a 4-point assay were increased with MIN supplementation, especially when HyD was also added. Maximum shear stress at failure of femoral bones in a torsion assay was increased by supplementation with both MIN and HyD together. Dietary supplementation of MIN and HyD may improve biomechanical properties of bones. Dietary MIN supplementation may improve feed conversion of turkeys, likely by decreasing leg problems.

Identification of potential biomarkers for gut barrier failure in broiler chickens

The objective of the present study was to identify potential biomarkers for gut barrier failure in chickens. A total of 144 day-of-hatch Ross 308 male broiler chickens were housed in 24 battery cages with six chicks per cage. Cages were randomly assigned to either a control group (CON) or gut barrier failure (GBF) group. During the first 13 days, birds in CON or GBF groups were fed a common corn–soy starter diet. On day 14, CON chickens were switched to a corn grower diet, and GBF chickens were switched to rye–wheat–barley grower diet. In addition, on day 21, GBF chickens were orally challenged with a coccidiosis vaccine. At days 21 and 28, birds were weighed by cage and feed intake was recorded to calculate feed conversion ratio. At day 28, one chicken from each cage was euthanized to collect intestinal samples for morphometric analysis, blood for serum, and intestinal mucosa scrapings for gene expression. Overall performance and feed efficiency was severely affected (P < 0.05) by a GBF model when compared with CON group at days 21 and 28. Duodenum of GBF birds had wider villi, longer crypt depth, and higher crypt depth/villi height ratio than CON birds. Similarly, GBF birds had longer crypt depth in jejunum and ileum when compared with CON birds. Protein levels of endotoxin and α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) in serum, as well as mRNA levels of interleukin (IL)-8, IL-1β, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β4, and fatty acid-binding protein (FABP) 6 were increased (P < 0.05) in GBF birds compared to CON birds; however, mRNA levels of FABP2, occludin, and mucin 2 (MUC2) were reduced by 34% (P < 0.05), 24% (P = 0.107), and 29% (P = 0.088), respectively, in GBF birds compared to CON birds. The results from the present study suggest that serum endotoxin and AGP, as well as, gene expression of FABP2, FABP6, IL-8, IL-1β, TGF-β4, occludin, and MUC2 in mucosa may work as potential biomarkers for gut barrier health in chickens.

Molecular analysis of microbial community structure in the chicken ileum following organic acid supplementation.

To compensate for possible decreases in animal production due to restrictions on the use of antibiotics as growth promoters, several non-antibiotic alternatives have been investigated. Organic acid supplementation (OAS) of feed or water has shown some promising results for affecting intestinal microbiota and reducing pathogenic bacteria in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. However, few studies have explored the effects of OAS on microbial communities using objective molecular-based techniques. The aim of the present study was to characterize via 16S rRNA gene-based approaches responses of the intestinal microbiota after OAS in chicks. Newborn chicks were randomly divided in four treatments: (a) control (no antibiotic, no OAS); (b) antibiotic administration (bacitracin MD); (c) organic acid blend dl-2-hydroxy-4(methylthio) butanoic acid [HMTBA]; lactic, and phosphoric acid (HLP); and (d) organic acid blend HMTBA, formic, and propionic acid (HFP). Ileal contents and mucosal scrapings from 7 chicks/treatment/day were taken at 15, 22, and 29 days of age, and genomic DNA was isolated for the molecular analysis of the intestinal microbiota. The data demonstrate that HFP blend treatment for 29 consecutive days affected ileal microbial populations as indicated by community fingerprinting analysis (16S rRNA PCR-DGGE). In parallel, total bacterial and lactobacilli populations were increased by the HFP blend treatment as demonstrated by targeted qPCR analysis of 16S rRNA. In summary, the present data demonstrate that OAS, HFP blend treatment in particular, shifts intestinal microbiota, generates more homogenous and distinct populations, and increases Lactobacillus spp. colonization of the chick ileum.

Quantitative Analysis of Tendon Structural Integrity in Chickens using FourierTransform-Second Harmonic Generation Imaging

Degenerative changes in tendons are common in human and land-dwelling vertebrates of all species, and are associated with both age and use. Tendon rupture and inflammation are common causes of lameness in broilers and breeders at multiple ages and has become a very important issue in the poultry industry attempts to analyze tendon health have relied primarily on visual assessment. The ability to conduct meaningful experiments on causes and interventions would be much improved by a direct assay of tendon structural integrity. The objective of this study is to test whether we can use Fourier transform-second harmonic generation (FT-SHG) imaging technique to quantify the differences in collagen fiber organization and nuclei morphology between normal and injured chicken tendons. Tendon injury/degeneration was induced by rearing chickens in wire-floor pens and feeding them an oxidized fat diet. Injured tendons had greater collagen fiber degradation/degeneration; more randomly organized collagen fibers, higher cellularity and more circular-shaped nuclei than normal tendons, indicating loss of collagen tertiary structure and lateral compression in injured tendons. Therefore, analysis of collagen fiber organization and nuclear morphology using FT-SHG imaging is a potential diagnostic tool to evaluate tendon structural health and to test the effects of nutrients and intervention strategies on the structural development of tendons in chickens.