This study investigated the effects of dietary supplementation with different levels of purple corn pigment (PCP) on the growth performance, blood biochemical indices, meat quality, muscle amino acids, and fatty acids of growing chickens. A total of 288 (8 weeks of age) growing Chishui black-bone chickens (body weight, 940 ± 80 g; mean ± standard deviation) were randomly divided into 4 groups using a completely randomized design. The four diet groups were as follows: (1) control, basal diet; (2) treatment 1, treatment 2, and treatment 3, which were basal diet with 80, 160, and 240 mg/kg PCP, respectively. The results showed that compared with the control group, the feeding of anthocyanins significantly (p < 0.05) increased the average daily feed intake and average daily gain in chickens. Moreover, chickens receiving 80 mg/kg PCP significantly increased (p < 0.05) plasma total antioxidant capacity, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, catalase, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and albumin concentrations relative to the control group. For meat quality, dietary supplementation with PCP significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the drip loss and water loss rate in breast muscle. Additionally, chickens receiving PCP tended to increase (p < 0.05) the levels of most individual amino acids, essential amino acids, and umami amino acids in the muscle. Specifically, the addition of 80 mg/kg PCP significantly improved (p < 0.05) total polyunsaturated fatty acids in chicken muscle. Accordingly, the consumption of anthocyanin-rich PCP by the growing chickens had the potential to increase the growth performance, enhance antioxidant and immune capacities, increase meat quality, and improve essential and umami amino acids as well as unsaturated fatty acids in the muscle.

The gut microbiota plays an important role in the physiological activities of the host and affects the formation of important economic traits in livestock farming. The effects of cecal microbiota on chicken weights were investigated using the Guizhou yellow chicken as a model. Experimental cohorts from chickens with high- (HC, n = 16) and low-market-weights (LC, n = 16) were collected. Microbial 16S rRNA gene sequencing and non-targeted serum metabolome data were integrated to explore the effect and metabolic mechanism of cecal microbiota on market weight. The genera Lachnoclostridium, Alistipes, Negativibacillus, Sellimonas, and Ruminococcus torques were enriched in the HC group, while Phascolarctobacterium was enriched in the LC group (p < 0.05). Metabolomic analysis determined that pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), luvangetin (2H-1-benzopyran-6-acrylic acid), and menadione (vitamin K3) were significantly higher in HC serum, while beclomethasone dipropionate (a glucocorticoid) and chlorophene (2-benzyl-4-chlorophenol) were present at higher levels in the LC group. The microbes enriched in HC were significantly positively correlated with metabolites, including pantothenic acid and menadione, and negatively correlated with beclomethasone dipropionate and chlorophene. These results indicated that specific cecal bacteria in Guizhou yellow chickens alter the host metabolism and growth performance. This study provides a reference for revealing the mechanism of cecal microbe actions that affect chicken body weight.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different levels of Green Tea Powder on the performance, egg quality, serum immune and antioxidant indices, and cecal microflora of 300-day-old Chishui black-bone chickens during the peak laying period. A total of 360 Chishui black-bone chickens were selected as the experimental animals. They were randomly allocated into four groups: the control group (CON), trial group I (T1), trial group II (T2), and trial group III (T3), each group with six replicates and 15 hens in each replicate. The control group was fed a basal diet, and the experimental groups were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0.8%, 1.6%, and 2.4% Green Tea Powder, respectively. The accommodation period was 14 d, and the experimental period was 60 d. The statistical software SPSS was used to perform a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the experimental data, and Duncan’s method was used to perform multiple comparisons among groups. The results showed the following: compared with those of the control group, the average daily gain of the laying hens significantly decreased in the 1.6% Green Tea Powder group (p < 0.05); adding Green Tea Powder significantly reduced the content of malondialdehyde in the serum (p < 0.05), and the addition of 0.8% tea leaves significantly increased the immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin A contents (p < 0.05); the egg yolk weight, eggshell thickness, eggshell strength, and yolk color of the laying hens significantly decreased in the 1.6% Green Tea Powder group (p < 0.05), and the addition of Green Tea Powder at the level of 2.4% significantly increased the percentage of umami, essential, and total amino acids (p < 0.05); and the structure of intestinal microorganisms was improved, and the abundance of Bacteroidetes and Bacteroidaceae significantly increased, while the abundance of Firmicutes and Lachnospiraceae significantly decreased (p < 0.05).

Granulosa cells (GCs) in chicken follicles play a crucial role in promoting follicular development, maturation, and ovulation by secreting steroid hormones and growth factors that are essential for follicular growth. However, these cells are highly sensitive to oxidative stress and vulnerable to reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can trigger apoptosis and follicular atresia. This ultimately leads to a significant decline in reproductive performance. Dendrobium nobile polysaccharide (DNP), a primary active component of Dendrobium nobile, has been shown in in vivo experiments to enhance the antioxidant capacity of aging laying hens. To investigate DNP's potential to alleviate oxidative stress in granulosa cells under oxidative stress, an in vitro model was established using deoxynivalenol (DON) to induce oxidative stress in chicken GCs. The stressed model was then treated with DNP, and the relevant antioxidant indicators were observed using the following experimental methods. Experimental approaches included the primary isolation and culture of GCs, immunofluorescence identification, a CCK-8 assay, RT-qPCR, antioxidant index detection, and transcriptome sequencing, as well as CYP1A1 overexpression and knockdown. The results demonstrated that DNP increases the activity of antioxidant enzymes (p < 0.05) and the expression of antioxidant-related genes expression in chicken GCs (p < 0.05), reduces ROS levels (p < 0.05), and modulates the expression of genes involved in reproduction, apoptosis, and autophagy (p < 0.05). Furthermore, DNP ameliorated the oxidative damage induced by DON in chicken ovarian granulosa cells (p < 0.05). CYP1A1 was identified as a key differentially expressed gene: knockdown inhibited its protective effect against oxidative stress (p < 0.05), while overexpression promoted it (p < 0.05). These findings reveal DNP's regulatory role in mitigating oxidative stress in chicken granulosa cells and provide scientific support for its potential application of DNP as a feed additive in poultry production.

Oxidative stress is a major cause of semen quality decline in old roosters. Dendrobium nobile Lindl (DNL), a Chinese herbal medicine, exhibits excellent antioxidant activity. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary DNL supplementation on semen quality, antioxidant capacity, reproductive hormone levels, and testicular tissue structure in aged roosters. This study further aimed to elucidate the potential mechanism for improving reproductive performance. Thus, the expression of antioxidant defense system-related genes was verified, and metabolomic analysis was performed. Twenty 56-week-old recessive, white-feathered roosters were randomly assigned into two groups. The DNL group was fed a basal diet supplemented with 2500 mg/kg DNL for 60 days, whereas the control group was fed a basal diet. Here, DNL improved the semen quality (sperm density and motility) and antioxidant capacity of aged roosters, increased the expression of genes in the Nrf2 pathway, increased serum hormone levels, and delayed testicular tissue degradation. Seventy-six differential metabolites that are mainly enriched in amino acid biosynthesis pathways, taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, and cysteine and methionine metabolism were identified. DL-serine, DL-cysteine, and α-ketoglutarate were related to improved testicular antioxidant capacity. In this study, dietary supplementation with 2500 mg/kg DNL delayed the decline in reproductive performance by improving the antioxidant capacity of aging roosters. These findings could facilitate the use of DNL as a feed additive to improve the reproductive performance of aged roosters.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of Dendrobium nobile Lindl. (DNL) on production performance, immune function, and caecal microbiota of Chishui black-bone hens. A total of one hundred and eighty 600-day-old Chishui black-bone hens were randomly allocated to two experimental groups, with six replicates of 15 chickens per group. The control group was fed a basal diet, and the experimental group was supplemented with 2100 mg/kg DNL in the basal diet. The results demonstrated that compared with the control group, the addition of 2100 mg/kg DNL to the diet significantly (P < 0.05) increased the average egg production rate of Chishui black-bone hens from 38.97 to 44.95%. Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) levels were significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group, whereas serum immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels were significantly higher (P < 0.05). However, adding DNL exerted no significant effect on egg quality. Asp, Ser, Gly, Leu, Phe, His, Pro, TAA, EAA, and NEAA levels in the eggs of the experimental group were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than in those in the control group. Additionally, the EAA/TAA in the control and experimental groups were 40.38% and 40.76%, respectively, and the EAA/NEAA was 76.62% and 74.72%, both of which were higher than the 40% and 60% thresholds specified in the WHO/HAO ideal protein guidelines. The results also indicated that eggs in the experimental group had significantly higher contents of palmitic acid (C16:0), stearic acid (C18:0), palmitic acid (C16:1), oleic acid (C18:ln9c), behenolic acid (C22:0), palmitic acid (C16:), oleic acid (C18:ln9c), saturated fatty acids (SFA), and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) (P < 0.05). In contrast, the contents of hexadecenoic acid (C15:0), heptadecanoic acid (C17:0), α-linolenic acid (C18:3n3), arachidonic acid (C20:0), C10 heptadecanoic acid (C17:1), linoleic acid (C18:2n6c), α-linolenic acid (C18:3n3), eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:2), Docosapentaenoic Acid (DPA), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), and n-6PUFA were significantly reduced (P < 0.05). Moreover, when 2100 mg/kg DNL was added to the diet of Chishui black-bone hens, the composition of the intestinal flora was altered. Specifically, the relative abundances of Bacteroides, Lactobacillus, Subdoligranulum, and Parabacteroides increased, whereas those of Desulfovibrio, Lachnoclostridium, Ruminococcaceae, Fournierella, Faecalibacterium, and Oribacterium decreased. In conclusion, adding 2100 mg/kg DNL to the feed can increase serum IgA and reduce IFN-γ content in Chishui black-bone hens during the late laying period. Furthermore, it can enhance the laying rate and types of amino acids in eggs, as well as the ratio of ideal proteins. Simultaneously, it improved the caecal microbial community of Chishui black-bone hens and increased the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria.