Perception of the environment by farm animals is fundamental for expression of behaviour and of their adaptation to different environmental conditions. From a breeding-environmental perspective, perception becomes increasingly important when a production system negatively impacts on animals such that their normal expression of behaviour is compromised. Therefore, research on the perceptual abilities of farm animals is of crucial importance to understand the animalenvironment relationship. This review is focused on research related to sensory perception of farm animals. It should be stressed that the world of animal senses is very difficult to explore, we have limited knowledge of the complexity of the animal’s ability to perceive and process environmental stimuli.

A high content of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP), namely arabinoxylans (AX), in rye is a reason for the potential adverse effect of this grain on intestinal functions, gut microflora, absorption of nutrients and performance indices. As such, the use of rye grain in intensively produced poultry diets is limited. However, recently developed new types of hybrid rye are characterised not only by increased yield potential, resistance to fungus and pests and low production costs, but also the content of antinutritive substances may be reduced in these varieties. The aim of this paper is to discuss the mechanisms of NSP effects in the digestive tract, as well as to review the results of recent studies on the use of rye in poultry nutrition. Based on the literature data, it can be concluded that the use of new hybrid rye varieties with decreased NSP concentration and NSP-hydrolising enzymes may be a way of increasing the share of rye grain in poultry diets.

There were two goals of the present experiment, namely (1) to determine and compare the concentrations of basal nutrients and anti-nutrients in the grain of a modern hybrid rye and barley cultivars, and (2) to compare the effectiveness of the rye- and barley-containing diets for pig fattening. Crude protein and starch contents were greater (P < 0.01) in rye (cv. Visello) than in barley (cv. Bryl) but fibre and total lipid concentrations were lower (P < 0.01) in rye grain. Mean concentrations of alkylresorcinols and pentosans, as well as the activity of trypsin inhibitors, were all higher (P < 0.01) in rye grain. In all, 150 PIC gilts were randomly divided into two equinumerous groups; control pigs were fed a diet containing barley as the main cereal ingredient (starter phase (SP), 35% of feed content; grower phase (GP), 40% of feed content; and finisher phase (FP), 65% of feed content), while the experimental group received a diet with rye replacing a proportion of barley (10% during SP, 25% during GP and 50% during FP); the diets for both subsets of animals also contained wheat and soybean meal to obtain a proper level of nutritional value. The average weight gain of the rye-fed gilts (783 ± 183 g/day; mean ± s.d.) was greater (P < 0.05) than that of control animals (747 ± 218 g/day). This difference in weight gain was due mainly to an increase in daily feed intake (2.35 ± 0.21 and 2.15 ± 0.19 kg/day in the experimental and control groups, respectively; P < 0.01) recorded during the grower and finisher phase. Carcasses from both groups exhibited the same lean meat content; however, the percentage of carcasses in the higher classes according to the EUROP quality scale tended to be greater in the experimental group, which resulted in a higher (P < 0.05) carcass value than for barley-fed controls. The present results indicated that a modern rye cv. Visello is a safe and cost-effective feed for growing pigs, and yields significantly better outcomes than commonly used barley-containing diets in terms of carcass quality and price.

In this paper, we present a study on the evaluation of the effect of xylanase addition to a diet with an increasing content of modern hybrid rye (Brasetto variety) on the performance indices and viscosity of small intestine content in broiler chickens. A total of 560 1-day-old male Ross 308 chickens were randomly assigned to 1 of 10 treatments, each comprising 7 replicate cages, with 8 male birds per cage. A 5 × 2 factorial arrangement was employed, with five dietary levels of ground rye (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%). All the diets were either unsupplemented or supplemented with xylanase (200 mg/kg of feed; with minimum xylanase activity 1000 FXU/g). In the starter rearing period (1–21 days of age), the inclusion of rye (without xylanase supplementation) to the diet, even at the lowest dietary level (5%), negatively affected body weight gain (p < 0.05); there was no effect on feed intake and feed conversion ratio. In older chickens (the grower-finisher rearing period; 22–42 days of age), none of the dietary levels of rye (5–20%) affected growth performance indices. Similarly, no significant effect of increasing dietary level of rye was found for the entire rearing period (1–42 days of age). Diet supplementation with xylanase improved body weight gain and feed conversion ratio in chickens from 1 to 21 days of age. No positive effect of enzyme was found in older birds. No significant effects of the experimental factors used were noticed on the results of slaughter analysis, i.e., the carcass yield, breast meat yield, abdominal fat, and relative weight of the liver and gizzard. A high dietary concentration of rye (20%) increased the viscosity of small intestine content (p < 0.05); however, diet supplementation with xylanase significantly alleviated this effect. The findings of this experiment indicated that modern hybrid rye grain may be used at a 20% dietary level in broiler diets during the second feeding phase, i.e., from 22 to 42 days of age, without any detrimental influence on growth performance indices, while enzyme (xylanase) positively affected body weight gain and feed conversion ratio in younger chicks (1–21 days of age).