This research was conducted to evaluate the effect of organic acid blends (OAB) of ascorbic (A), citric (C), malic (M), sorbic (S), and tartaric (T) acids provided through the drinking water on growth performance, blood constituents, and immune response of broiler chickens from hatch to 42 d of growth. Three-hundred 1-d-old Ross broiler chickens were randomly divided into 4 treatment groups (1 control and 3 experimental) of 5 replicates (15 birds per replicate). Control group was given ordinary water and treatments were given continuously the acidified water using three different blends consisting of: OAB 1 ＝A:C:M, OAB 2 ＝A:S:M, and OAB 3 ＝A:T:M. Blends were prepared with ratio 35:60:5 and were used at a concentration of 0.5% (wt/vol). The results showed that all OAB had no significant effect on live body weight (LBW); however, an improvement on feed consumption (FC), feed conversion ratio (FCR), and survival rate (SR) were observed as compared to the control. Birds supplied with OAB 1 presented the lowest FCR (1.803), FC (96.19 g/bird/day), and the highest SR (95.63%). Blood constituents (hematocrite, total protein, and albumin), enzymatic activity (gamma glutamyl transpeptidase and aspartate aminotransferase), immune response, organs weight, and pH values of different gastrointestinal tract segments were not affected by administering the OAB. However, reductions in the alanine aminotrasferase activity and an increment in the aspartate aminotransferase:alanine aminotrasferase ratio were observed in groups provided with the OAB 1 and OAB 3 , respectively. From these results, it is concluded that OAB 1 could be used as an alternative for improving FC, FCR, and SR in broiler chickens.

Worldwide, many emerging porcine parvoviruses (PPVs) have been linked to porcine circovirus‐2 (PCV2) associated disease (PCVAD), which includes post‐weaning multi‐systemic wasting syndrome (PMWS), PCV2‐related reproductive failure (PCV2‐RF), as well as other syndromes. To determine the DNA prevalence of PPVs and their relationship with PMWS and PCV2‐RF in Mexico, 170 formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded tissues were selected from archival collections to detect PPVs using a nested polymerase chain reaction. The tissues were composed of 50 PMWS cases, 20 age‐matched tissues from healthy pigs, 56 PCV2‐related reproductive failure (PCV2+‐RF) cases, and 44 PCV2‐‐RF cases. Overall, PPV2 and PPV6 were the most prevalent species (90.0% and 74.7%, respectively). In 8–11 week old pigs, the highest prevalence was for PPV6 and PPV3. Concerning reproductive failure, the PCV2‐affected farms had a significantly higher prevalence for PPV6 (61.6%) and PPV5 (36.4%) than the PCV2‐unaffected farms (35.0% and 5.0%, respectively). The concurrent infection rate was high, being significant for PPV2/PPV4 and PPV1/PPV5 within the PMWS cases and for PPV6/PPV5 among the PCV2+‐RF tissues. PPV5 showed a significant relationship with PMWS, whereas PPV5 and PPV6 were significant for PCVAD. The prevalence and coinfection rate of PPVs in Mexico were markedly higher than that described in other countries, denoting that PPV5 and PPV6 might have a potential role in PCVAD in Mexico. It is concluded that it is likely that the density population of pigs in Mexico is contributing to high PPV inter‐species and PCV2 coinfections which might lead to a different pathogenic outcome.