This study was conducted in an attempt to evaluate the impact of dietary addition of probiotics (Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bacillus subtilis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and prebiotics (beta glucan and mannan oligosaccharides) on broiler diets with respect to some growth related genes (mucin2, chicken growth hormone (cGH), and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) gene expressions. It was also our aim to evaluate the growth performance and economic efficiency of the diet. A total of 350 one-day male broiler chicks (ROSS) were randomly divided into 14 groups each group contained 25 birds were fed different doses of probiotics, prebiotics and symbiotic except the control group. The results showed that there was a significant improvement in body weight gain (BWG) of the treatments fed on probiotics, prebiotics and symbiotic compared to the control group. The best result was T8, 2007.5± 23.88 which contains Probiotics (108 cfu / ml) + 250 ppm prebiotics/ ton. The same treatment (T8) also showed a clear improvement in feed intake (FI), as the birds consumed the least amount of feed 3064± 26.53 compared to other groups with the best feed conversion rate 1.52± 0.01. The liver of birds fed T8 had higher IGF1 and cGH expression compared to other treatments 7.60±1.33 and 8.66±1.38 respectively. Enhanced expression of the muc2 was found in treatments fed on probiotics, prebiotics and symbiotic, the best result was T8 8.70±1.29. The economic evaluation showed that birds fed on symbiotic at a 250 ppm level of prebiotics was the best treatments. It could be concluded that supplementation with probiotics, prebiotics, and symbiotic had beneficial effects on total BWG, FI, FCR and IGF1, cGH and muc2 expression in broiler chickens. They also enhanced the expression of some growth-related genes, so they can be used as an alternative to antibiotics.

Successful breeding programs for Japanese quails rely on accurately estimating genetic parameters linked to economically important traits such as body weight, carcass characteristics, and meat quality. The objective of the present study was to evaluate body weight (BW) characteristics, carcass attributes, and their genetic correlations with select meat quality traits in two strains of Japanese quail (white and brown). A total of 530 quail chicks, with 265 from each strain, were included in the analysis. At six weeks of age, the quails were slaughtered, and carcass traits as well as amino acid profiles were measured. For BW traits, the heritability (h2) estimates ranged from 0.27 at d 1 to 0.36 at d 42. The h2 estimated for carcass traits ranged from 0.19 for liver weight, to 0.42 for carcass yield (CY). The h2 estimated for drip loss (DL) of meat quality was 0.21, and the h2 estimate was 0.35 for the meat's ultimate Ph (Phu). White quail quails recorded the heaviest weight of all carcass traits. Also, white quails had the highest water-holding capacity (WHC), yellowness (b*), and lightness (L*) with the lowest level of DL, cooking losses (CL), and redness (a*) in muscles compared with brown quails. A high genetic correlation of 0.32 was noted between CW carcass weight (CW) and b*. For the pHU, a negative correlation of -0.11 was exhibited with BW. In contrast, L* appeared to have a positive but smaller relationship with CW and CY. High negative correlations were noted for b* with BW and CY -0.24 and -0.27, respectively. The CW showed a moderate relationship (0.19) with CL. In conclusion, the current study revealed that the white quail strain had high BW, as well as the finest carcass traits and meat quality. Therefore, white plumage Japanese quail might be preferred as a meat-producing strain. Keywords: Amino acid, Carcass, Genetic correlation, Meat quality, Heritability, Quail

This investigation was established to assess the effect of dietary different copper sources and levels supplementation on growth performance, plasma biochemical parameters and antioxidant activities of broiler chickens. Four hundred and twenty-one-day-old chicks (Ross 308) were randomly allocated into 7 experimental treatment (n= 60 birds per each).At the end of the experiment, results obtained revealed that birds fed basal diet with inorganic or organic Cu had significantly (P < 0.05) better live body weight, weight gain and feed conversion ratio, while feed intake was reduced comparison with control group. Chicks supplemented with organic CuNo3 significantly (P < 0.05) improved growth performance s compared with the other groups. Considerable reductions in plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were detected in the group that fed diet with 125 mg / kg diet Cu in comparison with other diets. Plasma glutathione (GPX), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and total antioxidant activity (T-AOC) were significantly enhanced with Cu-supplemented diets, while malondialdehyde (MDA) was significantly declined in the experimental groups compared with the control group. In conclusion, Cu supplemented at level of 125 mg/ kg diet either copper nitrate or copper sulfate improved the productive performance, profile of lipid metabolism and oxidative response enzymes of broiler chickens. Broilers fed organic form of copper (copper nitrite) had better growth and immune response than those fed inorganic form of copper (copper sulfate) sulfate.

This study was performed to study the effects of lighting colors and litter type on growth performance, blood parameters and digestive enzyme activity of broiler chickens. A total number of 336 unsexed hatched chicks (broilers, Indian River IR) were used for 5 weeks. Chicks were allocated in four lighting color: White (WC), Blue (BC), Green (GC), Mixed (BC × GC) light colors. Each color group was further divided in two litter type (sand (SL) and wood shavings (WL)). Chicks of each group were distributed into three replicates. The obtained results revealed that the lighting colors and litter type significantly affected on final body weight and weight gain. Highly significant (P<0.01) increase in body weight and body weight gain were observed in chicks reared under W color WC and SL litter type. Chicks reared on SL litter type showed significantly the highest average of FC, but the lowest values were recorded in WL litter type. Mortality rate during all period (1-35 day) was not significantly affected by lighting colors. The highest value of digestive enzymes activity (DEA) were observed in GC light group while; the lowest values were recorded in group of WC light. Significant interaction effects (P<0.001) were found in plasma lipid profile. It can be concluded that using white and green light color with sand litter could improve growth performance, blood parameters and digestive enzyme activity in broilers chickens.

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of dietary saponin supplementation and essential oil (thymol and carvacrol) on growth performance and some biochemical parameters of broiler chickens. Two hundred and fourty one-day-old chicks (Ross 308), which was randomly divided into 8 treatment groups each with three replicates of 10 birds. The first treatment (T1) was fed a diet without saponin while, saponin 10 ppm (T2), 20 ppm (T3) and 40 ppm (T4), however birds in group 5 (T5) fed diet without saponin and in drink water with 50 ppm essential oil, saponin 10 % with 50 ppm EO (T6), 20 ppm with 50 EO (T7) and 40 ppm with 50 EO (T8). Results obtained revealed that chicks fed basal diet with saponin had significantly (P < 0.05) better body weight, weight gain and feed conversion ratio, while feed intake was reduced comparison with control treatment. Chicks that received a diet supplemented with saponin at 20 or 40 ppm with 50 ppm EO significantly (P<0.05) improved growth performance compared with the other treatments. Supplementation of essential oils and saponin at levels of 40 and 20 ppm, respectively significantly increased Serum protein fractions (total protein, albumin and globulin). Significant reductions in serum total cholesterol and triglyceride, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol were detected in the group that fed diet with 20 and 40 ppm diet saponin plus EO 50 ppm compared with other diets. Consequently, these findings suggest that phytogenic feed additives, particularly essential oils combined with saponin, hold promise as effective agents for enhancing the growth performance of broiler chickens