The growth-promoting effect of Farmagülatör DRY Humate (FH) on live performance, carcass weight, and the abdominal fat pad of broilers was studied during different feeding periods. Four hundred, 1-d-old straight-run birds were randomly distributed to 20 floor pens of an environmentally controlled house. Four dietary regimens were replicated in five pens, each containing 20 chicks, as follows: 1) birds received no added FH in the starter or grower (NAFH), 2) birds received FH from 0 to 21 d (FH0-21), 3) birds received FH from 22 to 42 d (FH22-42), 4) birds received FH from 0 to 42 d (FH0-42) in the starter and grower diets, respectively. The FH was added to the diets at 2.5 kg/per ton of feed. Starter and grower diets were formulated to meet the minimum NRC requirements for broilers and were provided as a mash feed. Body weights at 21 d were not affected by the dietary regimens. At 42 d, body weights and feed conversions of broilers were significantly affected by the dietary humate treatments. Birds fed FH22-42 weighed more than the NAFH, whereas the FH0-21 and FH0-42 were intermediate and not different from the other treatments. Feed:gain was lower for the FH22-42 and FH0-42 treatments compared to the NAFH. There was no difference in carcass yield or abdominal fat pad percentages due to feeding FH. Feeding FH during the grower period had the most beneficial effect in terms of growth and feed conversion on broiler performance.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of probiotic and/or prebiotic supplementation on growth performance and serum IgG concentrations in broilers. One thousand two hundred one-day old Ross-308 broiler chicks of mixed sex were randomly divided into four treatment groups of 300 birds each. The treatments were: Starter diets: 1) Unsupplemented control diet; 2) Probiotic (Bio-Plus 2B ® 0.05%); 3) Prebiotic (Bio-Mos ® 0.2%); 4) Probiotic and Prebiotic mixture (Bio-Plus 2B ® 0.05% and Bio-Mos ® 0.2%). The grower diets were: 1) Control with no supplements; 2) Probiotic (Bio-Plus 2B ® 0.05%); 3) Prebiotic (Bio-Mos ® 0.1%); 4) Probiotic and Prebiotic mixture (Bio-Plus 2B ® 0.05% and Bio-Mos ® 0.1%). Each treatment group was further sub-divided into five replicates of 60 birds per replicate. The chicks were fed the broiler starter diet for the first 21 d and the broiler grower diet between days 22 and 42. Dietary probiotic and/or prebiotic supplementation did not significantly affect body weight, body weight gain, feed intake, carcass weight, carcass yield or concentration of immunoglobulin (IgG) in the serum. However, feed conversion ratio was improved significantly in the supplemented treatments compared to the unsupplemented control. Probiotic and/or prebiotic supplementation did not significantly affect any of the examined parameters except for an improved feed conversion ratio. ___________________________________________________________________________________

A 6-wk study with 50 birds was conducted to investigate the effects of a dietary supplemental probiotic on morphometric parameters and yield stress of the tibia. Twenty-five 1-d-old broiler chicks were assigned to a control or an experimental diet containing Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis (BioPlus 2B, CHR Hansen BioSystems, Denmark, Ugur Ecza Deposu, Turkiye Distributoru, Adapazari 41400, Turkey; each containing 2.3 x 10(8) cfu/g of spores) supplemented to the starter and finisher diets at 500 g/1000 kg of feed. Each diet was replicated 5 times with 5 birds in each replicate. Tibiotarsi weight, length, and weight/length index, robusticity index, diaphysis diameter, modulus of elasticity, yield stress parameters, and percentage Ca content were not affected by the dietary supplementation of probiotic, whereas thickness of the medial and lateral wall of the tibia, tibiotarsal index, percentage ash, and P content were significantly improved by the probiotic. Medullary canal diameter of the tibia of the birds fed the control diet was significantly greater than that of birds fed the probiotic diet. There was no treatment impact on live performance of the birds throughout the 6-wk feeding trial.

No abstract

Ion-selective electrodes have recently been designed for determining the ionized concentration of magnesium (Mg2+) in serum. This development may allow new insights into some metabolic diseases of cattle. For this report, the concentrations of Mg2+, total magnesium (Mgtot), ionized calcium (Ca2+), total calcium (Catot), and inorganic phosphate (P(i)) were determined in sera from seventeen 3- to 16-year-old Brown Swiss and crossed Simmental/Red Holstein cows during the periparturient period. In each animal, a transient increase of Mg2+ and Mgtot serum concentrations was observed in association with the transient decrease in serum concentrations of Ca2+, Catot and P(i) after parturition. On average, throughout the study, the serum Mg2+ concentrations were 68.5% of those of Mgtot, whereas the serum Ca2+ concentrations were 52% of those of Catot. The possible mechanisms involved in the transient increase of Mg2+ and Mgtot serum concentrations are discussed.