Jovanir Inês Müller Fernandes

Effects of starter diet supplementation with arginine on broiler production performance and on small intestine morphometry

The effects of starter diet (days 1 to 21) supplemented with arginine (Arg) on the production performance and duodenum and jejunum mucosa morphometry of broilers were studied. Male Cobb broiler chickens (990) were randomly assigned to one of five treatments in a complete random design. Measurements of 33 chicks per treatment were made in six repetitions. The treatments consisted of a basal diet with 1.390% digestible Arg (no supplementation) and four dietary levels (1.490%, 1.590%, 1.690%, and 1.790%), providing a relationship with lysine of 1.103; 1.183; 1.262; 1.341 and 1.421%, respectively. From the age of 22 days on, all birds received conventional grower diet. The data were submitted to regression analysis by polynomial decomposition of the degrees of freedom in relation to the levels of Arg. The Arg supplementation increased (P 0.05) in the growth phase (days 22 to 42) in the absence of the Arg supplementation. The supplementation of Arg over of NRC recommendation during the starter phase may be necessary for the expression of the maximal weight gain potential in birds. No effect (P<0.05) of Arg dietary supplementation was observed either on small intestine weight and length at any age. However, the duodenum villus:crypt ratio increased and the crypt depth decreased in the first week in response to increasing dietary Arg. It is concluded that broiler Arg dietary supplementation in the starter diet improved production performance and small intestine morphometry, especially in the first week.

Relação vitamina E: vitamina C sobre a qualidade da carne de frangos submetidos ao estresse pré-abate

Determinou-se a melhor relacao vitamina E:vitamina C em dietas para frangos de corte, visando ao melhor desempenho produtivo e a melhor qualidade da carne das aves submetidas ao estresse pre-abate. Utilizaram-se 800 pintos de corte, machos, distribuidos em delineamento inteiramente ao acaso, em esquema fatorial 2x4, com dois niveis de suplementacao de vitamina E - 0 e 250mg/kg - e quatro de vitamina C - 0, 150, 300 e 450mg/kg. Aos 42 dias de idade, 12 horas ante mortem, amostras de aves de cada tratamento foram submetidas ao estresse por calor e, em seguida, pelo transporte. Foram avaliadas caracteristicas de desempenho - peso vivo, consumo de racao e conversao alimentar - , bem como rendimento de carcaca e qualidade da carne de peito e coxas - perda de agua, cor e pH. Os niveis de vitaminas avaliadas nao influenciaram nas caracteristicas de desempenho avaliadas. Houve menor rendimento de peito (34,2 vs. 34,9%) e maior pH inicial (6,3 vs. 6,1) dos cortes, para aves que sofreram estresse em relacao aquelas que nao foram submetidas ao estresse pre-abate.

Effect of arginine supplementation of broiler breeder hens on progeny performance

Fernandes, J. I. M., Murakami, A. E., Gomes de Souza, L. M., Ospina-Rojas, I. C. and Rossi, R. M. 2014. Effect of arginine supplementation of broiler breeder hens on progeny performance. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 313-321. Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of arginine (Arg) supplementation of broiler breeder hens on the performance, carcass yield, and bone measurements of their progeny. In both experiments, the maternal diet was supplemented with five levels of digestible Arg (0.94, 1.09, 1.24, 1.39 and 1.54%). In exp. 1, a total progeny of 1050 chicks were housed in pens according to maternal diet and fed a typical diet without L-Arg supplementation. In exp. 2, a total progeny of 960 chicks were kept in pens according to maternal diet and fed diets containing supplemental L-Arg from 1.30 to 1.90% in the starter phase and from 1.15 to 1.75% in the grower phase. The data obtained in both experiments were deployed in orthogonal polynomials to allow for an analysis of variance and a regression analysis. In the starter phase, there was a quadratic effect (P<0.05) of Arg level in the maternal diet on the feed:gain ratio of the non-supplemented progeny. In the Arg-supplemented progeny, there was a quadratic effect (P<0.05) of Arg level on the feed intake and feed:gain ratio and a linear increase (P<0.05) in body weight gain, and carcass and breast yields (P<0.05). Femur length, tibia diameter, and the Seedor index of both bones increased linearly (P<0.05) in broilers fed the Arg-supplemented diet. Arg supplementation in the broiler breeder hen diets had little positive effect on the non-supplemented progeny; thus, Arg supplementation in the progeny diet is necessary to optimize performance, carcass yield, and bone quality of these hens′progeny.

Suplementação dietética de levedura de cerveja e de minerais orgânicos sobre o desempenho e resposta imune em frangos de corte desafiados com a vacina de coccidiose

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of beer yeast and organic minerals supplementations on the performance, intestinal morphometry and humoral immune response of broilers that were challenged with coccidiosis vaccine. Three-hundred-eighty-four chicks were used, randomly distributed in an entirely random design total with four treatments (1. control, 2. organic minerals on top, 3. beer yeast, 4. association between organic minerals and beer yeast) and four treatments with 24-bird repetition each. At housing, 12 birds of each repetition were identified and received the eye-drop vaccine against coccidiosis. At 7, 21, 35 and 42 days it was collected blood to analyze the total serum proteins and the eletrophoretic profile of IgA and IgG and a duodenal segment for morphometric analysis. Neither the beer yeast nor the organic minerals supplementation affected the broiler performance or the antibodies production. The immunological challenge like the coccidiosis vaccine was not efficacious enough to provide an immune response able to modify the duodenal mucosa morphometry and the antibodies production.

Effect of vitamin K on bone integrity and eggshell quality of white hen at the final phase of the laying cycle

Objetivou-se com este estudo avaliar o efeito de quatro niveis dieteticos de vitamina K (vit. K) sobre o desempenho e a qualidade de ovos e ossos de poedeiras leves na fase final de postura. Foram utilizadas 192 poedeiras comerciais com 67 semanas de idade, distribuidas em delineamento casualizado, com quatro niveis de vitamina K (0, 2, 8, 32 mg/kg), seis repeticoes e oito aves por unidade experimental. As racoes eram isoproteicas (15,5% de proteina bruta), isoenergeticas (2.790 kcal de energia metabolizavel/kg), isocalcicas (4,25% calcio) e isofosforicas (0,40% fosforo disponivel) e foram formuladas a base de milho e farelo de soja. A suplementacao de vitamina K nao alterou a massa de ovos, o consumo de racao, a conversao alimentar (kg/kg), a resistencia ossea a quebra, a gravidade especifica do ovo, o peso da casca, o percentual de ovos de casca fina e quebradas e a espessura da casca. Houve efeito linear dos niveis de vitamina K sobre o peso do ovo, a taxa de postura e a conversao alimentar (kg/dz) e efeito quadratico sobre o teor de cinzas osseas. A inclusao de vitamina K influenciou o desempenho produtivo e a mineralizacao ossea, mas nao influenciou a qualidade da casca dos ovos. A ausencia de resposta da qualidade da casca a suplementacao de vitamina K pode estar relacionada a idade das poedeiras.

Quantitative feed restriction from 35 to 42 days of age for broiler chickens

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito de niveis crescentes de restricao alimentar dos 35 aos 42 dias de idade de frangos de corte sobre o desempenho, caracteristicas de carcaca e intensidade de lesoes na carcaca no momento do abate. Um total de 1225 pintainhos de um dia de idade foram alojados aleatoriamente em boxes e alimentados ad libitum por 5 semanas. Aos 34 dias de idade as aves foram pesadas e redistribuidas em um delineamento inteiramente aleatorizado e submetidas a 0 (controle), 10, 20, 30 ou 40% de restricao alimentar. A quantidade de racao fornecida aos animais foi ajustada diariamente, de acordo com o consumo do tratamento controle. Aos 42 dias as aves avaliou-se o rendimento de carcaca e cortes, alem da composicao bromatologica corporal. Houve efeito linear decrescente sobre o ganho de peso e o consumo de racao (p<0,05) de acordo com os tratamentos, enquanto que sobre a conversao alimentar houve efeito quadratico (p<0,05). O peso da carcaca eviscerada quente diminuiu linearmente (p<0,05) de acordo com o aumento dos niveis de restricao, sem afetar o rendimento de carcaca e peito. Com relacao aos dados de composicao da carcaca verificou-se que a materia seca e a gordura da carcaca decresceram enquanto que a proteina bruta aumentou (p<0,05). Conclui-se que o nivel de 2,5% de restricao e capaz de melhorar a eficiencia alimentar das aves na ultima semana de criacao, periodo em que tem-se maior acumulo de gordura na carcaca.

Effect of Pelletized Diets and the Proportion of Fines on Performance of Broilers Raised in High-Density Conditions

SUMMARY The objective of the study was to evaluate some important parameters regarding production and welfare, as well as performance, uniformity, carcass yield and foot‐pad lesions of broilers fed mash or pelleted diets with different concentrations and raised in different density conditions. The experimental design consisted of a 3 × 2 factorial scheme (3 diets: mash feed, pelleted feed with 50% of fines, and pelleted feed with 30% of fines vs. 2 stocking densities: 13 and 15 birds/m2) with six replications, totaling 1,746 male Cobb chicks. Besides the weight of the birds and feed intake for each replicate assessed weekly to evaluate performance, at 7 and 42 d of age all birds were individually weighed to assess uniformity within each replicate. Moreover, 12 birds/treatment were slaughtered to assess the yield for carcass and commercial cuts. To assess the incidence of food‐pad dermatitis (FPD), all birds were evaluated for lesion score at 21 and 42 d of age. The intake of pelleted diets resulted in greater body weight gain and better feed conversion ratio in the first week. The reduction of stocking density resulted in greater weights of carcasses, legs, and wings as well as wing yield at the 46th day but did not alter FPD incidence. The performance during the grower/finisher phase and during all production phases was not affected by diet and stocking density, despite the greater performance that was observed for chicks supplemented with pelleted and ground diets in the starter phase.

Immune response in Eimeria sp. and E. coli challenged broilers supplemented with amino acids

RESUMEN. El objetivo del estudio fue evaluar la respuesta inmune de pollos de engorde desafiados con Eimeria sp. y E. coli, y suplementados con glutamina, arginina y treonina. Se utilizaron 600 pollos machos de 1 dia de edad de la linea comercial Cobb 500. Se uso un diseno completamente al azar en un arreglo factorial 2x3 (con y sin desafio y 3 dietas experimentales). Se utilizo una dieta comercial como control y otras dos dietas fueron formuladas con glutamina (1,5 y 3% Aminogut®), arginina (1 y 2% de L-arginina) y treonina (1 y 2% de L-treonina). A los 28 dias, las aves que recibieron el mayor nivel de aminoacidos mostraron niveles mas bajos de IgA (P<0,05) comparadas al grupo control, y aumentaron el numero de celulas caliciformes. Una semana despues del desafio, las aves desafiadas mostraron medidas mas bajas (P<0,05) del timo en comparacion con aves no desafiadas. A los 28 dias, en aves no desafiadas hubo una reduccion (P<0,05) en las medidas esplenicas en el tratamiento con mayor nivel de aminoacidos. Las medidas mas altas se correlacionaron con aves control no desafiadas. A los 21 dias, los niveles de urea en la sangre aumentaron (P<0,05) en aves que recibieron suplementacion de aminoacidos. La suplementacion dietetica con aminoacidos en las aves desafiadas influyo en el sistema inmunologico, alterando las mediciones morfometricas del bazo y timo, y resulto en una disminucion de los niveles de IgA. Igualmente, aumentaron las concentraciones sericas de acido urico, urea y tambien de la enzima hepatica AST, independientemente del desafio.

Intervalo para o alojamento e níveis de lisina, em dietas baseadas no conceito de proteína ideal, sobre o desenvolvimento muscular e rendimento de carcaça de frangos de corte

This study aimed to study the effects of delayed placement (IA) and dietary lysine levels (LD) in initial diets on breast muscle development and carcass yield of broiler chickens. For this, 1,760 male Cobb500 chicks were allocated randomly to eight experimental groups according to a 2x4 factorial arrangement for 4 IAs (12, 24, 36 and 48h) and 2 levels of LD (1.143 and 1.267%) with four replicates and 55 chicks per experimental unit. Met+Cys, Thr and Trp were balanced according to the ideal protein concept. There were no significant interactions between LD and IA on variables evaluated. The highest breast weight and breast fillet weight at 21 days old and body weight at 43 days old were obtained with the dietary lysine level of 1.143%. The breast weight, breast fillet weight and muscle fiber diameter at 21 days old, body weight, carcass weight and legs weight at 43 days old decreased linearly according to the increase of the delayed placement. The results of this study suggest that the 1.143% DL level improves the breast muscle development at 21 days old and chicken body weight at 43 days old, and the shortest delayed placement improves the breast muscle development during the initial phase and higher carcass yield and legs at the slaughter.