Egg yolk colour and retinol concentration of eggs from laying hens fed diets containing carrot and beetroot meal | Laura Aline Zanelatto Souza, Heder José D’Avila Lima, Renata Aparecida Martins, Andrey Sávio Almeida Assunção, Donaldo Antônio Nunes Junior, Willian Ferreira Silva, Felipe Gomes Silva | Agricultural Journals

ABSTRAT Arthritis implies inflammation of the intra-articular structures and is one of the causes of condemnation in broilers. The disease is associated with infectious agents such as Staphylococcus aureus, which may pose a potential public health risk. This work was conducted with the objective to determine the occurrence of arthritis in broiler chickens, predominantly of bacterial staphylococcal origin and if there is a difference between the degrees of injury regarding the presence of the bacterium and the histological lesion. Sixty samples of chickens diagnosed with arthritis by Federal Inspection Service from commercial slaughterhouse were collected according to their severity (of mild and severe degree) and submitted to bacteriological and histopathological analysis. There was bacterial growth of Staphylococcus aureus in 3.3% of the samples classified as mild degree in 10% of the samples classified as severe grade of lesion (p=0,29). For histopathological evaluation, 16.67% and 70% of the samples presented inflammatory infiltrate in mild and severe degrees, respectively (p=0,0001). Mild degree arthritis is related to non-infectious lesions in their higher prevalence while severe-grade arthritis has infectious causes. The condemnation criteria were efficient since S. aureus could be present regardless of the degree of the lesion diagnosed in arthritis.

The objective of this work was to study the behavior of swine females in the grower phase using different observation intervals (continuous, 5, and 10 min). A total of 42 swine were used, 14 of them for each treatment, which were identified with a marker stick. These animals were observed using the focal sampling method for 5 h. The treatments were the observation intervals: continuous, every 5 min, and every 10 min. Among the behaviors analyzed during the experiment, the different observation intervals did not affect the estimated time spent in the activities. Time observation intervals of 10 min or less adequately describe the duration of the main behavioral parameters of female pigs in this setting.

Heat stress can disrupt the balance between the heat poultry release into the environment and the heat they generate. Pequi oil has antioxidant properties, which may mitigate the heat stress effects. This study aimed to investigate the response of laying hens to pequi oil supplementation under heat stress using a proteomic approach. A total of 96 Lohmann White laying hens with 26 weeks old were housed in a completely randomized design with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. They were housed in two climate chambers, thermal comfort temperature ± 24.04 °C with the relative humidity ± 66.35 and heat stress (HS) ± 31.26 °C with the relative humidity ± 60.62. They were fed two diets: a control diet (CON), basal diet (BD) without additives, and with Pequi oil (PO), BD + 0.6% PO. After 84 days, plasma samples were analyzed using Shotgun and LC-MS/MS. Proteins related to anti-inflammation, transport, and the immune system were differentially expressed in hens fed PO and CON under heat stress compared to those in thermoneutral environments. This helps protect against oxidative stress and may support the body’s ability to manage heat-induced damage, stabilizing protein expression under stress conditions. The ovotransferrin proteins, fibrinogen isoforms, apolipoprotein A-I, Proteasome activator subunit 4, Transthyretin, and the enzyme serine Peptidase Inhibitor_Kazal Type 5, which presented Upregulated (Up) equal to 1, present characteristics that may be crucial for enhancing the adaptive responses of hens to thermal stress, thereby increasing their tolerance and minimizing the negative effects of heat on egg production. The data presented in this manuscript provides new insights into the plasma proteome alterations of laying hens fed a diet supplemented with pequi oil during heat stress challenges.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the differential expression of plasma proteins in broiler chickens supplemented with different sources (sulfates and hydroxychlorides) and levels of copper (15 and 150 mg kg⁻¹) and manganese (80 and 120 mg kg⁻¹). For this, plasma samples from 40 broiler chickens were used, divided into four experimental groups: S15-80 (15 ppm CuSO₄ and 80 ppm MnSO₄), S150-120 (150 ppm CuSO₄ and 120 ppm MnSO₄), H15-80 (15 ppm Cu(OH)Cl and 80 ppm Mn(OH)Cl), and H150-120 (150 ppm Cu(OH)Cl and 120 ppm Mn(OH)Cl). From plasma samples obtained from each bird from the same treatment, four pools were made considering 10 birds per group. Plasma proteome fractionation was performed by 2D-PAGE. Concentrations of the studied minerals were also evaluated in both plasma and protein pellet samples. A higher concentration of Cu and Mn was observed in the plasma and protein pellets of groups that received higher mineral supplementation levels compared to those receiving lower levels. Mn concentrations were higher in plasma and protein pellets of the hydroxychloride-supplemented groups than the sulfate-supplemented groups. Analysis of the gels revealed a total of 40 differentially expressed spots among the four treatments. Supplementation with different sources of minerals, particularly at higher levels, resulted in changes in protein regulation, suggesting a potential imbalance in homeostasis.