Objective: The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of lycopene on growth performance, abdominal fat deposition, serum lipids levels, activities of hepatic lipid metabolism related enzymes and genes expression in broiler chickens.Methods: A total of 256 healthy one-day-old male Arbor Acres broiler chicks were randomly divided into four groups with eight replicates of eight birds each. Birds were fed basal diet supplemented with 0 (control), 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg lycopene, respectively.Results: Dietary 100 mg/kg lycopene increased the body weight at 21 day of age compared to the control group (p<0.05). Compared to the basal diet, broilers fed diet with 100 mg/kg lycopene had decreased abdominal fat weight, and broilers fed diet with 100 and 200 mg/kg lycopene had decreased abdominal fat percentage (p<0.05). Compared to control, diets with 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg lycopene reduced the levels of total triglyceride and total cholesterol in serum, and diets with 100 and 200 mg/kg lycopene reduced the level of serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol (p<0.05). The activity of fatty acid synthase (FAS) in 400 mg/kg lycopene treated broilers and the activity of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) in 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg lycopene treated broilers were lower than those fed basal diet (p<0.05). Lycopene increased the mRNA abundance of adenosine monophosphate activated protein kinase α (AMPK-α), whereas decreased the mRNA abundance of sterol regulatory elementbinding protein 1, FAS, and ACC compared to the control group (p<0.05).Conclusion: Dietary lycopene supplementation can alleviate abdominal fat deposition and decrease serum lipids levels, possibly through activating the AMPK signaling pathway, thereby regulating lipid metabolism such as lipogenesis. Therefore, lycopene or lycopenerich plant materials might be added to poultry feed to regulate lipid metabolism.

Cottonseed meal (CSM), an oil industry by-product, is an attractive alternative protein source in poultry diets. To investigate the effects of CSM on growth performance, small intestinal morphology, digestive enzyme activities, and serum biochemical parameters of geese, a total of 300 healthy, 28-day-old, male Jiangnan geese were randomly divided into 5 treatments, with 6 pens of 10 geese each. Five isonitrogenous and isocaloric experimental diets were formulated to produce diets in which 0% (control), 25% (CSM25), 50% (CSM50), 75% (CSM75), and 100% (CSM100) of protein from soybean meal was replaced by CSM (corresponding to 0, 6.73, 13.46, 20.18, and 26.91% CSM in the feed, respectively). At 28, 42, and 70 d, BW and feed intake for each pen were measured. Blood, small intestine, and chyme samples were collected at 70 d. The results showed that dietary 13.46% CSM or more decreased BW at 42 d and ADG from 28 to 42 d but increased the feed/gain ratio (F/G) from 28 to 42 d (P < 0.05). From 42 to 70 d, geese in the CSM groups had higher ADFI and ADG than those of the control group (P < 0.05). Geese in the CSM75 and CSM100 groups had a higher ADG from 28 to 70 d and BW at 70 d and a lower F/G from 42 to 70 d than those of the control group (P < 0.05). Dietary 6.73% CSM also improved ADFI from 28 to 70 d (P < 0.05). Compared to the control, geese in the CSM groups had decreased pepsin and lipase activities, and those in the CSM25, CSM50, and CSM75 groups had increased villus height in the jejunum at 70 d (P < 0.05). All groups had similar concentrations of total protein, blood urea nitrogen, uric acid, cholesterol, triglyceride, calcium, and phosphorus in serum (P > 0.05). In conclusion, excessive use of CSM (>6.73%) decreased growth performance at an early age (28 to 42 d) in geese, whereas 6.73 to 26.91% CSM in feed improved growth performance from 28 to 70 d.

Meat color and lipid peroxidation are important traits related to meat quality. CO2 concentration is a critical factor that can affect meat quality in the commercial use of gas stunning (GS). However, the effect and mechanism of CO2 stunning on meat color and lipid peroxidation during long-term storage remain poorly studied. We aimed to study the effects of GS methods, especially CO2 concentration, on meat color and meat lipid peroxidation in broilers during long-term storage at 4 °C and to explore the potential mechanism of meat color change via lipid peroxidation and the inner lipid peroxide scavenging system. Eighteen broilers were sacrificed after exposure to one of the following gas mixtures for 90 s: 40% CO2 + 21% O2 + 39% N2 (G40%), 79% CO2 + 21% O2 (G79%), or no stunning (0% CO2, control). Meat color, serum variables, enzyme activities, and the gene expression of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), glutathione S-transferase (GST) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were determined. The concentrations of serum triiodothyronine (T3, P = 0.03) and the ratio of serum free triiodothyronine/free thyroxine (FT3/FT4, P < 0.01) were decreased, whereas levels of serum cortisol (P < 0.01) were increased in the 40% CO2 group compared with the control group. Additionally, the thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) 3 d (P < 0.01) and TBARS 6 d (P = 0.01) in breast meat and the TBARS 3 d in thigh meat (P < 0.01) were increased in the 40% CO2 group compared with the control group. Serum T3 was negatively correlated with TBARS6 d both in the breast and thigh meat (r = − 0.63, P < 0.01 and r = − 0.47, P = 0.05 respectively). T3/T4 was negatively correlated with TBARS6 d in the breast meat and in the thigh meat (r = − 0.57, P = 0.01; and r = − 0.53, P = 0.03 respectively). Compared with the control group, Lightness (L*) 1 d (P = 0.03) and L*9 d (P < 0.01) were increased, whereas total chromatic aberration (E*) 1 d (P = 0.05) and E*3 d (P < 0.01) were decreased in the breast meat of both the G40% and G79% groups. The values of yellowness (b*) 3 d (P = 0.01), b*6 d (P < 0.01) and E*6 d (P < 0.01) in the thigh meat were lower in both the G40% and G79% groups than in the control group. In the breast muscle, the mRNA levels of c-Jun N-terminal kinase 2 (JNK2, P = 0.03), GSTT1 (P = 0.04), and SOD1 (P = 0.05) were decreased, and the mRNA levels of JNK1 (P = 0.07), Nrf2 (P = 0.09), and GSTA3 (P = 0.06) were slightly lower in both the G40% and G79% groups compared with the control group. However, among these genes, only the mRNA level of JNK1 was decreased in the G40% group compared with the control group and the G79% group (P = 0.03) in the thigh muscle. Compared with the control group, meat color quality in the breast meat was decreased, and the expression of genes in the MAPK/Nrf2/ARE (antioxidant responsive element) antioxidant pathway in breast muscle was partly suppressed by GS of both 40% and 79% CO2. However, oxidative stress and meat lipid peroxidation during storage were aggravated by GS with 40% CO2 compared to GS with 79% CO2 and no GS.

Recently, a P-deficient diet caused rickets in commercial chicks within three days. This study aimed to investigate the duration of onset of rickets in chicks. Data were collected from 3–11 day old chicks raised on 88 commercial farms. Male day-old Arbor Acres Plus broilers (n = 450) were studied in three trials, with three to four treatments each. Each treatment used one of the following crumbled feeds: control feed (calcium (Ca): phosphorus (P)-1.41), slightly high Ca:P feed (SHCa:P, Ca:P-2.69), high Ca:P ratio, P deficient feed (HCa:P, Ca:P-3.08), and HCa:P feed plus 1.5% dicalcium phosphate (HCa:P + DP). Each treatment had three replicates with 15 birds each. Rickets was induced by HCa:P, and cured by HCa:P + DP, confirmed by gross anatomy, gait score, serum P concentration and growth performance. Lameness was not found in control groups, whereas, observed in the HCa:P groups as early as day 2.7 on commercial farms and day 3 in experimental farm. Serum P was reduced in HCa:P (p < 0.01). Bodyweight and feed intake started decreasing at day 3 on commercial farms and in all trials (p < 0.01). The duration of onset of hypophosphatemic rickets in broiler chicks fed HCa:P crumbled feed is approximately three days.

This study aimed to tentatively evaluate the effects of dietary vitamin E (VE) on goose reproductive physiology through the investigation of reproductive performance, egg characteristics, antioxidant capacity, and immune status in breeding geese. A total of 480 female and 96 male Jiangnan White breeding geese were randomly assigned to four treatments with four replicates, and each replicate had 30 females and six males. Four levels of VE were successively added to four treatment diets from 48 to 54 weeks of age, representing the effects of VE deficiency (0 IU/kg), basic-dose VE (40 IU/kg), middle-dose VE (200 IU/kg), and high-dose VE (2000 IU/kg). Neither the egg-laying rate nor the healthy-gosling rate were affected by any of the VE supplementations (p > 0.05). The qualified egg rate, hatchability of fertilized eggs, and spleen index were increased by each VE supplementation (p < 0.05). Egg fertility, the concentration of plasma reproductive hormones (i.e., the follicle-stimulating hormone, estradiol, and progesterone), follicular development, and antioxidant enzyme activities—i.e., the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px)—in the liver and ovary were improved by 200 IU/kg of dietary VE (p < 0.05). Plasma VE concentration, immunoglobulin A, and immunoglobulin G content were increased, whereas plasma vitamin D₃ concentration was reduced by increasing dietary VE levels to 2000 IU/kg (p < 0.05). The VE deposition of yolk, the yolk color depth, and the albumen rate were increased by each VE supplementation (p < 0.05). Antioxidant enzyme activities (i.e., MDA concentration, T-AOC, SOD, and GSH) in yolk were improved by 200 IU/kg and 2000 IU/kg of dietary VE (p < 0.05), compared with 0 IU/kg. The VE deposition was significantly correlated with GSH activity and the MDA concentration in egg yolk (p < 0.05). However, the high intake of dietary VE (2000 IU/kg vs. 200 IU/kg) decreased egg fertility (p < 0.05) and reduced the antioxidant capacity in the liver and ovary (p < 0.05). The qualified egg rate was positively correlated to immunoglobulin production (p < 0.05). Egg fertility and hatchability were correlatively improved by increased antioxidant enzyme activity; decreased MDA in the liver and ovary; hatchability; and enhanced immune status (p < 0.05). To sum up, both VE deficiency and high-dose VE (2000 IU/kg) reduced reproductive performance, whereas a dose of 200 IU/kg VE achieved optimal fertility, possibly through enhancing antioxidant capacity and immune status.