Sodium bentonite (SB) has been widely used in poultry industry as agent that binds mycotoxine, moisture and ammonia. SB supplementation has generally been used in animal diets for reasons other than the nutrients they supply. 3% SB in cattle rations reported no significant influence on rate of gain, feed efficiency or hepatic vitamin A and carotene retention (Erwin, Elam and Dyer, 1957). Adding 2% of SB resulted in an improved egg production of 11% in laying hens. SB improves feed efficiency, laying frequency, shell quality and egg size and also reduce moisture of the excreta of Leghorn hens (Quisenberry and Bradley, 1964). This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of SB and a synthetic pigment containing lucantin® yellow and xanthin on performance and egg quality of laying hens.

Selenium (Se) is a dietary trace mineral for poultry. Organic Se such as selenomethionin (SM) increases plasma Se more affectively than inorganic forms such as sodium selenite (SS) (Payne and Southern 2005). Thyroxine 5’-deiodinase-1 (D1) is a selenoenzyme in liver which converts T4 to T3 (main thyroid hormone in poultry) and produces 95% of plasma T3 (Bianco et. al. 2002). This study describes the effects of SM (Biokey® Selen) versus SS on growth performance and plasma level of thyroid hormones by using different levels of dietary energy.

Antibiotic growth promotion in agricultural animal production has been practiced for about 50 year in the United States and other countries. Early indications were for a beneficial effect on production efficiency in poultry and swine. There were early concerns about the development of antibiotic resistance in human pathogens resulting in recommendations to ban sub therapeutic use in animal feeds. One of the best alternatives for antibiotic growth promoters are organic acids. Organic acids mixtures have been shown to be an effective alternative to eliminate salmonellas in feeds and chickens. Various organic acid combinations were tested to prevent Salmonella contamination through the ration in day-old chicks, and it was observed that a mixture of formic (70%) and propionic acid (30%), was efficient to eliminate S. enteritidis and S. thyphimurium, both of great importance in human health and increase growth rate in broiler.

Betain is trimethyl glycerine a methyl donor compound that can reduce other required methyl donors such as methionine and choline. Methionine is an essential amino acid with must not be used for methyl donor in metabolism. Also choline is an important precursor of acetyl choline which is necessary for nervous system and it is better to use choline for other function than methyl donor activity of it. Therefore, the object of this study was evaluation of reducing DL-methionine and choline chloride in broiler diets supplemented with betaine.

Substitution of dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for saturated fatty acids (SFAs) reduces the amount of abdominal fat in broilers (Villaverde et al., 2005, Wongsuthavas et al., 2007). The mechanism of the effect of PUFAs is not known (Villaverde et al., 2006), but we have put forward (Wongsuthavas et al., 2007) that PUFAs versus SFAs are preferentially oxidized (Beynen and Katan, 1985) and thereby yield ATP so that carbohydrates are shifted from the oxidative into the lipogenic pathway. The conversion of glucose into body fat is less efficient in terms of energy deposition than is the conversion of fatty acids into fat (Newsholme and Leech, 1984). Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) are also preferentially oxidized (Beynen and Katan, 1985) and thus should also lower the deposition of abdominal fat. In this study, we tested whether dietary MUFAs indeed reduce abdominal fat mass. Three strains of chickens were fed on diets containing either SFAs in the form of beef tallow, MUFAs in the form of olive oil or PUFAs in the form of soybean oil. De-novo fatty acid synthesis was assessed indirectly by using the concentration of plasma triacylglycerols as indicator.

Aflatoxins (AFs) are toxic metabolites produced by Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus. They are natural contaminants of food and feed stuffs. Their presence in feed depresses body weight, feed intake and feed efficiency (FCR) which has been attributed to reduced protein synthesis, impaired nutrient absorbtion and reduce pancreatic digestive enzyme production (Allameh et al., 2005). Prolonged exposure to low concentration of the toxin produce severe changes in fat metabolism, bile duct proliferation and an increase in relative weight of liver, which could be attributed to increased lipid deposition due to impaired fat metabolism (Swamy et al., 1998). The purpose of this study was to determine whether a clinoptilolite (CLI, natural clinoptilolite, a proprietary product of Afrand Toska, an Iranian company), would diminish the adverse effects of a feed containing aflatoxin as measured by responses in body weight, feed intake, FCR and liver weight.

In all bird species studied, plasma growth hormone (GH) concentrations are high after hatching and during the rapid growth period. Then, plasma GH concentrations decline during the slow growth period to reach low concentrations in adult birds (Harvey et al, 1983). Moravej et al. (2006) indicated that low-energy intake could increase FCR and mean plasma concentrations of GH and T3 but could decrease BW and mean plasma concentrations of T4. They also reported that different protein levels during starter, grower and finisher periods in broilers may change the plasma concentrations of GH, T4 and T3 but keeping protein levels nearly constant during these phases of growth did not change (P<0.05) these hormones.

Feed restriction during growth increase plasma growth hormone (GH) concentrations observed in domestic birds fed practical diets (Proudman et al., 1981). Nguyen et al., 2005 indicated that lower protein diet (17% CP) reduced live body weight and daily weight gain at early ages. Dietary protein levels higher than 17% CP did not show any significantly effect on growth performance, although increasing dietary protein levels positively improved growth performance and feed utilisation. Dietary energy contents of 12.54 and 13.38 MJ ME/kg did not alter the growth performance of the Betong chicks.

The addition of acids generally lowers the pH and buffering capacity of the diet, reduces pH within the stomach, increases both gastric proteolysis and nutrient digestibility, promotes beneficial bacteria at the expense of pathogenic organisms and decreases intestinal bacterial growth. As a consequence there is an improvement in gastrointestinal health, resulting in enhanced growth performance and improved feed efficiency. Mixture of Organic acids has shown to be an effective alternative to eliminate salmonellas in feeds and chickens. Organic acids reduce the pH in the digestive tract and are able to suppress the growth of undesired micro organisms, mainly in the upper part of the digestive tract depending on the place and rate of absorption. The faster the acids are absorbed the smaller is the pH lowering effect. This effect is directly influenced by the acid binding capacity of the diet. Therefore the aim of this study was to determine that antibiotic growth promoter could be replaced by a mixture of organic acids.

Feathers are a waste product generated in large quantities from commercial poultry processing. Recycling of feathers is an interesting subject among animal nutritionists, because of its potential as a cheap and alternative protein feedstuff. Although feathers are deficient in certain essential amino acids such as methionine, lysine, histidine and tryptophan, they contain other amino acids such as arginine, and threonine (Onifade et al., 1998). Feather waste has been used as feedstuff for poultry and livestock. Without appropriate processing, feather meal has little nutritive value because keratin is not degraded by most proteolytic enzymes. The proteolytic resistance of keratin results from its structural features tight packing of protein chains, hydrogen bonding among polypeptides, and hydrophobic interaction and stabilization of the super-coiled polypeptide chains (Onifade et al., 1998). Many treatments have been developed to increase the digestibility of feather meal and are usually categorized into two groups: hydrothermal treatments and microbial keratinolysis (Onifade et al., 1998). Food irradiation has been recognized as a reliable and safe method for preservation, improve hygienic quality and improve the nutritional value of foods (Diehl, 2002). Lee (1962) observed that sulfhydryl and disulphide groups in proteins are apparently highly susceptible to irradiation and destruction of disulphide bonds improves digestibility of proteins.

Fish meal is an expensive ingredient in broiler diets and some times it can be harmful if it hasn’t produced or stored at suitable condition; On the other hand supplying essential amino acids is more important than using fish meal in diets. Therefore it’s possible to reduce the inclusion rate of fish meal by supplementing diets with methionine and lysine as limiting amino acids. The object of this study was evaluation of reducing fish meal in broiler diets supplemented with DLmethionine and L-lysine hydrochloride.

With increasing concerns about antibiotic resistance, there is a growing interest to find alternatives to antibiotics in poultry production. Diet formulation based on digestible amino acids is an attempt to reduce excreta nitrogen and cost of broiler production Fermacto ®, a microbial feed supplement derived from Aspergillus mycelium, is one of the several alternatives that could be used at 1-2 g/kg of diet to improve microbial balance of intestine and performance of young chicks.. Fermacto® supplementation is reported to increase uptake of nutrients in marginally deficient amino acids diet. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Aspergillus meal (AM) inclusion and digestible amino acid levels on performance, transit time of feed (TTF) and ileal lactobacillus population of broiler chicks.

A number of feed additives including antibiotics have been widely used in the poultry industry for several decades. The manipulation of gut function and microbial habitat of domestic animals with feed additives has been recognized as an important tool for improving growth performance and feed efficiency (Collington et al, 1990). Recently, the concerns about possible antibiotic residues and disease resistance have aroused great caution in the usage of antibiotic in the animal industry (Ricke et al, 2005). The ban on the use of antibiotic as feed additives has accelerated and led to investigations of alternative feed additives in animal production. The primary alternatives to enhance gut function and growth performance to date include acidification of feed, feeding probiotic organisms, and prebiotic compounds (Patterson and Burkholder, 2003). The main aim of the present research was to evaluate the efficiency of alternative antibiotic growth promoters on growth performance in Iranian Ross broiler performance.

Pelleting is a processing method that is employed by the feed manufacturing industry to improve farm animal performance. The improvements of pellet on performance have been attributed to 1) decreased feed wastage 2) reduced selective feeding 3) destruction of pathogenic organisms 4) improved palatability., Manufacturers have used various types of pellet binders to increase the durability of pellets. The bentonite type of binders would supply little nutritive value. Bentonite is tri-layered aluminium silicate having sodium or calcium as its exchangeable cation. Feed inclusion is about 1-2%, and this mineral must be hydrated to be functional. The sodium form is the best and hydration of the mineral results in a five-fold increase in weight. During this change, the aluminium silicate layers become separated, and water is attracted to their ionic surfaces creating a 12 to 15 fold increase in volume. The ingredients of bentonite are Sio2, 66%; Al2o3, 16.3%; H2o (Crystal), 60%; Fe2o3, 3.3%; Na2o, 2.6%; Cao, 1.8%; Mgo, 1.5%; K2o, 0.48%; Tio2, 0.12%. This experiment was conducted to study the effect of a local Sodium Bentonite (SB) source and comparison of pelleted and mash diets upon the performance of broiler chickens under the conditions of feed manufacturing plant.

Ascites is a disease in poultry characterised by increased cardiac output and pulmonary blood pressure, enlargement of the right ventricle and cardiopulmonary dysfunction often leading to death (Julian, 1993) Although the heart, lungs and liver are the main internal organs affected, and spleen weight is a general indicator of stress (Silversides et al., 1997), the gut may also be influenced by this syndrome since it is a metabolically active system that has considerable nutrient and oxygen requirements (Yen et al., 1998). Ascites is a severe cause of loss to the broiler industry in many countries, not only due to high rate of mortality, but also due to reduced weight gain and increased condemnations at slaughter. This study was conducted to investigate weight alterations of heart, lungs, liver, gut and spleen by ascites.

In sericulture fungicides are applied for two purposes; (1) to heal the fungal diseases of mulberry trees and (2) to prevent and control fungal diseases, such as muscardine, of silkworms (Kuberappa and Jayaramaiah, 1988). Therefore identifying appropriate fungicides with a high efficiency of disease control with low side effects on silkworm are very important. Lin and Tzeng (1994) reported that alpha-DL-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) treatment showed no deleterious effect on mulberry plants and treated plant parts were safe to use as feed for the silkworms, even immediately after application. The fungicide carbendazim belongs to the benzimidazole class and is recommended to control muscardine and mulberry powdery mildew. Azole fungicides, such as triazoles and imidazoles, are molecules that inhibit ergosterol biosynthesis by preventing the cytochrome P-450 dependent 14 alpha-demethylation of lanosterol. These can also inhibit the cytochrome P-450-dependent metabolism of both endogenous and exogenous compounds (Kuribayashi, 1988). Because carbendazim has recently been introduced to sericulture the present study aimed to investigate the effects of long term application of carbendazim on the biological performance of silkworms.

Introduction In recent years, many problems have appeared in silkworm (Bombyx mori), rearing as a result of pesticide applications to cultivations, especially when mulberry trees are grow next to cultivated plants. Study of insecticides on silkworms includes their toxicity and effects on retardation of development and growth, fecundity, mortality, food utilisation and economic parameters (Bizhannia, 2005). Admiral®, as an insect growth regulator (IGRs), is a juvenile hormone analogue, with relatively low mammalian toxicity that was first registered in Japan for control of public health pest (Miayamoto et al., 1993). Lately, this insecticide has been used for the control of different pests and much research has been completed on the efficacy of this IGR. Silkworm larvae are extremely susceptible to a number of different IGRs, that at very low doses induces in 5th instar larvae a “Non-Spinning Syndrome” and developmental arrest (Kim et al., 2002; Etebari, 2000). The persistence of insecticides used to control insect pests of mulberry and air drift of pesticides from other neighbouring crops are reported and include study of biochemical changes of silkworm due to insecticide residue (Kim et al., 2002). Also it have been studied its effects on biological traits of silkworm in different stages. The aim of the present study was to study the effect of Admiral® residue on biological parameters of silkworm larvae.

Conformation of horses has been assessed subjectively for centuries and used as an indicator of future performance and soundness. More recently however, objective methods for assessing conformation have been utilised in research, using quantitative measurements taken of the equine skeleton. Many studies have investigated the effect of different types of conformation on movement in the horse for example Holmstrom et al. (1990); however there are none available about head and neck conformation specifically. The position of the head and neck is very important for competition horses as it is used for balance and has been shown to have a significant effect on movement (Gomez-Alvarez et al., 2006). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between head, neck and shoulder conformation and stride length in walk and trot.

Some of the most common health problems in commercial sow herds are Urinary tract infections (UTI). Prevalence of UTIs ranges from 4 to 40% in sow herds and at least 15% of all sow deaths are generally attributed to cystitis-pyelonephritis (Wegemann, 1993). Examinations of reproductive organs showed a correlation between sow infertility and UTIs. Infections of the urinary tract are known as predisposing factors for inflammations of the uterus. An endogenous mechanism of the sow as protection against bacterial infections in the urogenital tract is the urinary pH, which can be manipulated by dietary means affecting the dietary anion-cation balance (Beker, 1999). The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of a dietary urine acidifier based on a blend of anionic substances, inorganic acids and plant extracts from vaccinium species on urinary and reproductive parameters in sows.

The assessment of the health and welfare of farm animals is steadily gaining importance, not only from a human health perspective, but also for the sake of the animals themselves. Consumers are increasingly concerned with the effect of industrial farming practices on animal well-being, and so there is a growing need to develop scientifically validated methods which address the welfare experience of animals on farms. Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA) is a novel method developed at Scottish Agricultural College (SAC), designed to make an animal’s welfare experience accessible through a ‘whole animal’ approach. From a ‘whole animal’ perspective, what animals feel is an integral part of what they do, and so their experience speaks to us through their behaviour, as an expressive ‘body language’. By integrating details of an animal’s posture, behaviour and of the context in which these occur, we can assess that body language, and judge whether the animal is calm, anxious, enthusiastic or agitated, whether it is generally content or in distress. The question is whether such judgements are reliable, and can be a legitimate part of scientific welfare assessment. Traditionally scientists are taught to be distrustful of applying terms such as ‘content’ and ‘distressed’ to animals, regarding use of such terms as ‘subjective’ or ‘anthropomorphic’. However, several years of Defra/SEERAD funded research at SAC have shown qualitative judgements of behaviour to be unfailingly reliable, repeatable, and well-correlated to quantitative behavioural and physiological welfare indicators, both for individual animals and for animals kept in groups (eg Wemelsfelder et al., 2000, 2001; Wemelsfelder & Lawrence, 2001; Rousing & Wemelsfelder, 2006; Wemelsfelder, 2007). Thus, when facilitated by an appropriate methodology, qualitative judgements of behaviour can and do attain scientific validity.