The present study involved in vivo evaluation of the growth promoting effects of thymol and thymol nanoemulsion and their protection against Salmonella Typhimurium infection in broilers. One-day old 2400 chicks were randomly divided into eight groups; negative and positive control groups fed basal diet without additives and thymol and thymol nanoemulsion groups (0.25, 0.5 and 1% each). At d 23, all chicks except negative control were challenged with S. Typhimurium. Over the total growing period, birds fed 1% thymol nanoemulsion showed better growth performance even after S. Typhimurium challenge, which came parallel with upregulation of digestive enzyme genes (AMY2A, PNLIP and CCK). Additionally, higher levels of thymol nanoemulsion upregulated the expression of MUC-2, FABP2, IL-10, IgA and tight junction proteins genes and downregulated IL-2 and IL-6 genes expression. Moreover, 1% thymol nanoemulsion, and to lesser extent 0.5% thymol nanoemulsion and 1% thymol, corrected the histological alterations of cecum and liver postinfection. Finally, supplementation of 1% thymol, 0.5 and 1% thymol nanoemulsion led to increased Lactobacilli counts and decreased S. Typhimurium populations and downregulated invA gene expression postinfection. This first report of supplying thymol nanoemulsion in broiler diets proved that 1% nano-thymol is a potential growth promoting and antibacterial agent.

The present study was done to evaluate the effect of boldenone undecylenate (BOL) on growth performance, maintenance behaviour, reproductive hormones and carcass traits of male rabbits. Sixty apparently healthy New Zealand White male rabbits, 5 weeks of age, were allotted to 3 equal groups. Each group was subdivided into 5 replicates, where the first group is control. The second group (B 1 ) comprised rabbits that received 2 intramuscular injections of BOL (5 mg/kg) with 3 week intervals (9 and 12 weeks of age), while the third group (B 2 ) included rabbits that received 3 intramuscular injections of BOL (5 mg/kg) with 2 week intervals (8, 10 and 12 weeks of age). The end of the trial was after 4 weeks from the last injection (16 weeks of age). The results revealed that the treated groups had a significant increase in total body weight, daily gain and feed efficiency, with a significant decrease in feed conversion ratio (FCR). Ingestive, locomotion and grooming behaviors were significantly higher in treated groups. Lateral pasture and exploratory behaviors were significantly higher in the control group. Administration of BOL resulted in a significant increase in dressing % and a significant decrease in testes %. Groups treated with BOL had a significantly (P<0.05) decreased serum testosterone level, simultaneously with a significantly increased estradiol level. The results indicate that BOL improves performance and carcass traits. Furthermore, there are hormonal-behavioral correlations through enhancement of ingestive and locomotion behaviors of treated animals.

Objective: A six weeks trial was conducted to investigate the effect of using different levels of grain sorghum in the broiler chicken diets as a replacement for corn on the growth performance, shank skin pigmentation score, carcass traits, caecal microflora and nutrient digestibility. Materials and Methods: Isocaloric/isonitrogenous diets were formulated where sorghum replaced corn at rates of 0% (control), 10, 25, 50 and 100% making 5 dietary treatments with 5 replicate pens per treatment. A total of 250-day-old-chicks (Cobb500) were randomly allocated into 25 pens with 10 birds per pen. Results: The obtained results revealed no significant differences in the body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) when sorghum replaced corn at levels up to 50%. The ADG was decreased and the FCR was increased when sorghum replaced corn at 100%. The average daily feed intake was not impacted by sorghum inclusion. The measured carcass traits and caecal microflora were not impacted by sorghum inclusion. The shank skin pigmentation score was significantly decreased by sorghum inclusion at 50-100%. The protein digestibility was significantly decreased when sorghum inclusion replaced corn at 100%. Conclusion: It can be concluded that sorghum is a good partial alternative for corn at levels up to 50% without negative impacts on the broiler chicken productivity.

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Two hundred one-day old (Cobb 500) broiler chicks were used to investigate the influence of low crude protein diets (LCP) fortified with synthetic essential and non-essential amino acids (AAs) as well as L-Carnitine for as a new nutrient requirement on growth performance, some serum biochemical parameters, carcass characteristics and economic efficiency. Chicks were randomly divided into four experimental treatments with five replicates per treatment (50 chicks/ treatment; 10 chicks/replicate). Broiler chicks fed standard CP control diet (group 1), group 1 at which CP reduced by 2 %, group 3 and group 4 at which CP was reduced by 4% and 6%, respectively during starter, grower and finisher stages for 42 days. Group 2 fed LCP (decrease by 2%) were recorded marked improvement in feed conversion ratio (P<0.05) while other dietary groups were noted marked (P<0.05) decreased in feed conversion ratio. Also, results indicated that the lowest levels of serum glucose, triglyceride and serum chloride were found in all experimental groups, while these groups had a significant (P<0.05) increased HDL-cholesterol concentration. Percentage weights of all carcass characteristics had no marked (P>0.05) effect on broilers fed on LCP (P>0.05). The broiler chickens fed on (LCP) decreased by 2% had the best growth performance and net profit values. In conclusions, our data shows that crude protein was reduced up to 6% with synthetic essential and non-essential amino acids fortification without affecting the broiler performance.