The inclusion of straw in high concentrate total mixed rations (TMRs) of male fattening goats can provide the necessary fiber to prevent ruminal acidosis and maintain growth. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the physical form (PF) of the diet (pelleted vs. conventional) and the straw level (SL) of wheat straw (WS) (15% versus 25%) in total mixed rations on feed intake, growth, total tract digestibility, and blood metabolites of fattening goats. Thirty-two male Beetal goats (27.4 ± 0.28 kg body weight (BW)) were divided randomly into the following four dietary treatments with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement (n = 8/treatment): (1) CTMR15 (conventional TMR containing 15% WS), (2) CTMR25 (conventional TMR containing 25% WS), (3) PTMR15 (pelleted TMR containing 15% WS), and (4) PTMR25 (pelleted TMR containing 25% WS). Both conventional and pelleted 15% WS TMR had 33.7% neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and 19.3% acid detergent fiber (ADF), whereas in 25% WS TMR the NDF and ADF contents were 38.7% and 22.9%, respectively. The experimental diets were formulated to be iso-nitrogenous (crude protein (CP) = 15%). The dry matter intake (DMI) (1.265 vs. 1.044 kg/day) and average daily gain (ADG) (0.176 vs. 0.143 kg/day) were higher (p < 0.05) in pelleted vs. conventional TMR-fed goats. Irrespective of the PF of the TMR, the 15% WS-fed animals had greater (p < 0.05) DMI (1.206 vs. 1.102 kg/day) and ADG (0.172 vs. 0.144 kg) when compared to those fed on 25% WS diets. Furthermore, feed-to-gain ratio (F:G) was higher (p < 0.05) in the 25% WS-fed goats when compared with the 15% WS-fed animals. Digestibility coefficients, nitrogen balancing, hepatic enzymes, blood metabolites, and hematological parameters were similar (p > 0.05) across all treatments. In conclusion, feeding pelleted TMR with WS improved DMI and growth performance as compared to those fed conventional TMR, and 15% WS performed better than 25% WS without exerting any adverse effects on blood metabolites, liver enzymes, or hematological parameters.

This study was performed to evaluate the effect of various environmental enrichment (EE) tools on broiler growth, welfare, behavior, carcass, and meat quality. A total of 300 commercial broilers were randomly divided into 05 treatments. The treatments include various EE tools such as perches, balls, hanging bottles, and laser lights placed for birds and a control group. The birds kept with perches and hanging bottles had the lowest feed intake, while the birds in the control group showed the poor feed conversion ratio compared to all EE treatments. Broilers raised under different EE were more active and exhibited frequent maintenance behavior (i.e., walking, jumping, running, wing flapping and aggressiveness) than the control group which spent more time in feeding and drinking. Moreover, the birds with EE had reduced incidence of toe injuries and footpad dermatitis than those in the control group. Birds reared with perches had higher meat lightness, whereas meat from the birds in the control group had lower cooking loss and shear force. It can be concluded that the use of various EE tools improved the welfare and behavior of the birds without affecting bodyweight of the birds. Furthermore, the use of hanging bottles and placing perches reduced feed intake and improved feed conversion ratio.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of fat sources and emulsifier supplementation in different phases on growth performance of broilers. Treatments were; (T1) basal ration (BR) which contained soy oil (SO) and had inclusion of emulsifier for whole life, (T2) BR which contained poultry fat (PO) and had inclusion of emulsifier for whole life, (T3) BR which contained oxidized oil (OO) and had inclusion of emulsifier for whole life, (T4) BR which contained SO and had inclusion of emulsifier during starter phase (T5) BR which contained PO and had inclusion of emulsifier during the starter phase, (T6) BR which contained OO and had inclusion of emulsifier during the starter phase, (T7) BR which contained SO and had inclusion of emulsifier during the starter phase (T8) BR which contained PO and had inclusion of emulsifier during the grower phase, (T9) BR which contained OO and had inclusion of emulsifier during the grower phase, (T10) BR which contained SO and had inclusion of emulsifier during the finisher phase, (T11) BR which contained PO and had inclusion of emulsifier during the finisher phase (T12) BR which contained OO and had inclusion of emulsifier during the finisher phase. The Basal ration which contained SO and supplemented emulsifier during the grower phase and throughout life increased the body weight gain. The supplementation of emulsifier in the finisher phase and throughout life in a diet which contained SO had better feed conversion ratio. The supplementation of emulsifier in the finisher phase and throughout life in SO based diet increased the dry matter and crude fat digestibility. We recommend emulsifier supplementation in the finisher phase for the economic point of view.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of different growth promoters on broiler performance and intestinal morphology reared under various stocking densities. A total of 900 day old (Ross-308) straight run broilers were randomly divided into fifteen treatment groups according to a completely randomized design. A 5 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatment was employed. Treatments were consisted of four growth promoters (antibiotics, prebiotics, probiotics, and symbiotics) and a control group with three stocking densities (0.046, 0.056, 0.065m2). Each treatment was replicated 6 times with 10 birds in each. Regarding growth performance, feed intake (p=0.0008), body weight (p=0.0085) and feed conversion ratio (p=0.0001) were improved with the supplementation of symbiotic in the diet whereas lower body weight was noted in the control group. In terms of intestinal morphology, villus height (p=0.0011) and villus to crypt ratio (p=0.0001) were significantly higher in the symbiotics treatment groupas compared to the control group. Moreover, birds reared under 0.065m2 stocking density showed improvement in body weight, feed conversion ratio and livability as compared to the other treatment groups. It can be concluded that the supplementation of symbiotics in the diet of commercial broiler reared under 0.065m2 stocking density had a positive influence on overall growth performance and intestinal morphology.

The impacts of dietary levels of oxidized vegetable (sunflower) oil on growth performance, gut morphology, nutrients utilization, serum cholesterol and meat fatty acid profile were evaluated in Ross 308 straight-run (n = 192) day-old broilers. The broilers were arbitrarily distributed among four dietary treatments including; FVO: fresh vegetable oil (1 mEq kg⁻¹), LOO: low oxidized (20 mEq kg⁻¹), MOO: moderately oxidized (40 mEq kg⁻¹), and HOO: highly oxidized vegetable oil (60 mEq kg⁻¹) with 5% inclusion containing six replicates. Results revealed that the broilers consuming MOO and HOO based diets showed reduced (p = 0.05) feed intake, body weight gain and carcass weight accompanied by a poorer feed conversion ratio than those consuming FVO. Villus height, villus height to crypt depth ratio, ileal digestibility of crude protein (p = 0.041), crude fat (p = 0.032) and poly unsaturated fatty acids (p = 0.001) in thigh muscles were decreased, whereas crypt depth (p = 0.001), serum cholesterol levels (p = 0.023) and short chain fatty acids (p = 0.001) were increased (p < 0.001) by increasing dietary oxidation level. In conclusion, MOO and HOO exerted deleterious effects on growth, carcass weight, gut development and nutrients utilization. Low oxidized vegetable oil (20 mEq kg⁻¹), however, with minimum negative effects can be used as a cost effective energy source in poultry diets.