H. Eleroğlu, A. Yıldırım, A. Canikli, M. Duman, and H. Bircan. 2018. Analysis of growth curves of Guinea fowl (Numidea meleagris) fed diets containing dry oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) in an organic system. Cien. Inv. Agr. 45(2): 99-108. In this study, 240 day-old guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) keets were utilized. They were divided into four treatment groups each containing 20 chicks and were randomly distributed into 12 mobile coops placed in a 100-m 2 grazing area. Guinea fowl chicks were randomly allocated to 4 treatment diets containing 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15% dry oregano leaf (DOL) supplements. Nonlinear Gompertz and logistic growth models were used to estimate the mean age-body weight. The growth curve parameters for these models and the following characteristics for fowl were estimated: β 0 , the asymptotic weight parameter; β 1 , the scaling parameter; β 2 , the instantaneous per week growth rate; weight at age of inflection point (WIP); maximum weight gain at inflection point (MWG); and age at the inflection point (AIP). The goodness of fit (GF) for the models was assessed using the following variables: coefficients of determination (r 2), mean square error (MSE), adjusted determination coefficient (ADR 2), Akaike's information criteria (AIC), chi-square test (Chi.Sq 2) and residual standard deviation (RSD). The different nonlinear function results of the individual data indicated that supplementation of diets with DOL had no significant effects on growth curve parameters when compared with the control diet. Greater correlation values were estimated among β 0 , β 1 , β 2 , WIP, MWG and AIP in the Gompertz equation, and similar results were estimated in the logistic equation, but there was no significant correlation between β 2-β 1 and β 2-MWG. According to the results obtained from the GF, high r 2 and ADR 2 were estimated in Gompertz and logistic equations (above 0.96).

Background The study was conducted to determine the nutrient composition and gossypol levels of glandless cottonseed (GCS), glandless cottonseed kernel (GCSK) glandless cottonseed meal (GCSM) and cottonseed kernel meal (GCSKM) obtained by cold pressing of cotton seeds and kernels (Glandless Nazilli variety) as a raw material of compound feed industry. Result Feed and dry matter (DM)-based nutrient analyses showed significant differences (p < 0.05) in DM, OM (organic matter), CP (crude protein), EE (ether extract), ash and NFE (nitrogen-free extract) contents between GCS and GCSK. The DM-based K, P, S, Mg, Ca, Na, Fe, Cu, Zn and Al contents were significantly different (p < 0.05) between GCS and GCSK. The concentrations of nonessential heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Ni and Al) in GCS, GCSK, GCSM and GCSKM samples were below the permissible limits. The linoleic acid (C18:2; ω6) was the main component (55.55%) among the 20 fatty acids identified in GCS oil. The level of unsaturated fatty acids (70.78%) was higher than that of saturated fatty acids (29.22%). Total phenolics concentrations of GCS, GCSK, GCSM and GCSKM samples were 7.87, 2.18, 5.86 and 1.91 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g, respectively. Free and total gossypol levels of GCS and GCSK were 294 and 440, and 521 and 706 mg/kg, respectively. Conclusion The results revealed that nutritional properties of Nazilli GCS with low gossypol and high linoleic acid content were relatively higher compared to the other meals investigated. The antioxidant activity of phenolic compounds, albeit at low levels in Nazilli GCS and GCSM, may contribute to animal health and production efficiency when used in animal rations.