This study aimed to evaluate in vitro and in vivo dietary supplementation with different levels of natural or nano-zeolite forms on rumen fermentation patterns and nutrient digestibility. In the in vitro experiment, a basal diet (50% concentrate: 50% forage) was incubated without additives (control) and with natural zeolite (10, 20, 30 g/kg DM) or nano-zeolite (0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 1.0 g/kg DM) for 24 h to assess their effect on ruminal fermentation, feed degradability, and gas and methane production using a semi-automatic system of in vitro gas production (GP). The most effective doses obtained from the in vitro experiment were evaluated in vivo using 30 Barki goats (26 ± 0.9 SE kg body weight). Goats were allocated into three dietary treatments (n = 10/treatment) as follows: control (basal diet without any supplementations), natural zeolite (20 g/kg DM diet), and nano-zeolite (0.40 g/kg DM diet). The in vitro results revealed that only the nano-zeolite supplementation form quadratically (p= 0.004) increased GP, and the level of 0.5 g/kg DM had the highest GP value compared to the control. Both zeolite forms affected the CH₄ production, linear, and quadratic reductions (p < 0.05) in CH₄ (mL/g DM), consistent with linear increases in truly degraded organic matter (TDOM) (p = 0.09), and propionate molar proportions (p = 0.007) were observed by nano zeolite treatment, while the natural form of zeolite resulted in a linear CH₄ reduction consistent with a linear decrease (p = 0.004) in NH₃-N, linear increases in TDOM (p = 0.09), and propionate molar proportions (p = 0.004). Results of the in vivo experiment demonstrated that the nutrient digestibility was similar among all treatments. Nano zeolite enhanced (p < 0.05) the total short-chain fatty acids and butyrate concentrations, while both zeolite forms decreased (p < 0.001) NH₃-N compared to the control. These results suggested that both zeolite supplementation forms favorably modified the rumen fermentation in different patterns.

This study was conducted to assess the impacts of using two essential oils, rosemary and ginger, on growing rabbits’ performance, carcass traits, meat composition, blood biochemicals, and the redox status of growing New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits. A total of 120 unsexed NZW rabbits, 42-days-old, were assigned randomly to five experimental groups (n = 24, 6 replicates with 4 rabbits each). The first group received a basal diet (control), the second to fifth groups were dietary supplemented daily with rosemary essential oil (REO) and ginger essential oil (GEO) at doses of 0.25 and 0.5% for each supplementation (REO-0.25, REO-0.5, GEO-0.25, and GEO-0.5), respectively. The growth traits were studied for 7 weeks, from the 7th to the 13th week of the rabbits’ age. The results revealed that final body weight, weight gain, and average daily gain increased significantly (p < 0.01) in the REO-0.5 and GEO-0.5 treatments compared to the control group. Daily feed intake decreased (p = 0.005) in essential oil treatments. Meanwhile, the feed conversion ratio improved significantly (p = 0.001) in REO and GEO at the high doses compared to the control group. The weight percentages of liver and giblets increased (p < 0.001) with both treatments of REO and GEO compared to the control group. The dietary supplementation with REO and GEO did not affect (p > 0.05) the meat composition of Longissimus dorsi and hind leg muscles. Meanwhile, REO and GEO supplementation significantly decreased cholesterol levels in the rabbit meat. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance concentrations decreased by 10 and 15% in the meat of REO-0.5 and GEO-0.5 treatments, respectively, compared to the other groups. In the same trend, REO and GEO treatments induced a significant (p = 0.001) reduction in the plasma cholesterol concentrations and triglycerides compared to the control. The total antioxidant capacity increased by 7.60% and the malondialdehyde decreased by 11.64% in the plasma of GEO-0.5 treatment than the control. Thus, the dietary supplementation of REO and GEO have a beneficial effect in improving the productivity and meat quality of growing rabbits.

The objective of this work was to study the effect of tea tree (TTO) and lavender (LavO) essential oils instead of formaldehyde fumigation to disinfect the surface of fertilized eggshells. A total of 1050 fresh unwashed fertilized quail eggs were randomly divided into 7 groups and treated before incubation as follows: group 1 was untreated (negative control), group 2 was sprayed with 70% ethyl alcohol (positive control), group 3 was fumigated with formaldehyde gas (FF), groups 4–5 and 6–7 were sprayed with 2%, 3% TTO and 2%, 3% LavO, respectively. Spraying fertilized eggs with 3% TTO or LavO significant reduced (P < 0.05) egg weight loss and improved yolk sac absorption expressed as a decrease in the yolk sac remaining weight (P < 0.01), which coincided with increasing the percentage of embryonic weight at 14th day of incubation compared to the FF. TTO or LavO significantly boosted the hatching rate that correlated with significant reduction (P < 0.01) in embryonic mortality with preference for LavO. Spraying fertilized eggs immediately after collection with TTO or LavO significantly reduced (P < 0.01) total bacterial count on the eggshell surface compared to the FF. Thus, TTO and LavO can be used to disinfect fertilized eggs prior to incubation to improve hatching rates and chicks’ quality upon hatching.

To investigate the effect of Flaxseeds (Flax) or vitex Agnus-castuson (Vitex), a total of 180 aged hens (58 weeks of age) were divided into 5 treatment groups with 36 each as followe: groups 2 and 3 were fed the basal diet supplemented with 1 or 2 g Flax/kg, respectively. And group 4 and 5 were fed the basal diet supplemented with a 2.5 or 5 g Vitex/kg, respectively. While group 1 was served as a control group. The experiment period was lasted for two months. Flax or Vitex in hens’ rations resulted in a significant (p ≤ .001) increase in EP and EM percentages compared to the control group, as well, EW was increased significantly with the high level of Vitex only. Although, Flax or vitex did not affect daily FI, a FCR values showed a significant improvement. The high level of both Flax and Vitex boosted (p ≤ .001) the egg-shell weight than the control group. Flax or Vitex treatment resulted in a slightly decline egg albumin weight (%),while, the egg yolk weight was increased significantly(p ≤ .001). There were a significant reduction (p ≤ .001) in blood total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol concentrations in Flax or Vitex groups, Contrariwise, HDL cholesterol was a significantly increased (p ≤ .001). Blood total antioxidant capacity concentration was a significant increase (p ≤ .001) of Flax and Vitex groups than the control. Adding Flax or Vitex to hens ration boosted blood oestradiol-17β hormone secretion (p ≤ .001) than the control group.

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of color (white and blue-green) of LED lighting on the productive, carcass and behavior traits of Cobb broiler chickens. Total of 200 one- day-old unsexed chicks were used, and divided into two pens/groups (100 birds of each with 25 birds of each replicate), at stocking density of 8.7 bird/ square meters. First pen used for LED white color and second pen for LED blue- green mix color light. The results showed that the birds exposed to blue-green light had significant higher (P≤0.01) BW, DBWG and FC values of the whole experimental period compared to those exposed to white color. However, the light color had no significant effect on FCR and MR measurements with average values 1.44 and 0.50%, respectively. The birds exposed to blue-green light had significant higher pre-slaughter live BW and carcass weights (P≤0.01) compared to those exposed to white color. The birds exposed to blue-green light had higher insignificant dressing percentage compared to those exposed to white color. The weekly behavior results showed highly significant differences (P≤0.01) among weeks for aggressiveness and immobility activities, while it being insignificant for pecking activity. The correlation value between immobility and five-week BW of birds reared under blue-green light was the only significant value (0.42) among all studied values. In conclusion, the results indicated that Cobb broilers were calmer under blue-green light compared to those reared under white light, which contributed in more better performance traits.