The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of bee glue (BG) on the performance, relative visceral weights, some blood parameters, and immune status of broilers. A total of 200 male Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly assigned to 5 dietary treatments: basal diet (BD), and basal diet supplemented with 600, 700, 800, and 900 mg kg −1 of BG. Each of the 5 diets was fed to 4 replicates of 10 chicks each from 0 to 42 days of age. The results indicated that the highest body weight, average daily gain, average daily feed intake, carcass weight, and carcass yield were observed in broilers offered 800 mg kg −1 of BG (P < .05). Inclusion of BG improved the feed conversion ratio compared with the control group (P < .01). The calculated European broiler index and crop percentage were greater for the birds received 800 and 900 mg kg −1 of BG compared with that of the control birds (P < .05). Inclusion of 900 mg kg −1 of BG significantly increased the relative weight of spleen and bursa, but reduced total triglycerides, cholesterol, LDL, and LDL: HDL ratio than the control group (P < .05). The serum IgG and IgM levels were increased for the birds received 700 to 900 mg kg −1 BG (P < .01), and addition of BG to the basal diet significantly increased antibody response against sheep red blood cell at 35 days of age (P < .05). It was concluded that an addition of 800 mg kg −1 BG to diet improves economic efficiency possibly by creating miniscule improvement in FCR and promoting immune response of broilers. ARTICLE HISTORY

Avian leukosis viruses (ALVs) belong to Alpharetrovirus genus of the family Retroviridae that are widespread in nature. Different subgroups of ALV commonly infect egg-laying hens. They are responsible for economic losses due to both mortality and depressed performance in chickens. To investigate the presence of these viruses in chickens in Iran, 560 egg albumens were selected from different farms of Fars province, Iran. These eggs were obtained from flocks of two research centers of native fowl production (60 eggs), a broiler grandparent farm (100 eggs), three broiler breeder farms (300 eggs), and a commercial layer flock (100 eggs). Firstly, for primary screening a degenerative primer set (PU1 and PU2) were used in reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Positive cases were detected in 47 of 300 (15.7%) samples from three broiler breeders, 40 of 100 (40%) samples from commercial layer, 53 of 60 (88.3%) samples from flocks of two research centers of native fowl production, and none from the samples of broiler grandparent. Then RT-PCR was undertaken with primers PA1 and PA2 on the positive samples. RT-PCR analysis detected ALVs in two of 47 (4.3%) samples from three broiler breeders, 13 of 40 (32.5%) samples from commercial layer, and 19 of 53 (35.8%) samples from flocks of two research centers of native fowl production. The sequencing results showed that subgroup E of ALV was the most detected virus among chicken eggs and subgroup B was more prevalent in the eggs of native fowls. This is the first report of the ALV subgroup B and E in egg albumen in Iran.

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