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The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of Pediococcus acidilactici (P. acidilactici) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) on the growth performance, intestinal lesions and ileal Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens) count of broiler chickens challenged with C. perfringens induced sub-clinical necrotic enteritis (NE). A total of 150 broiler chicks, allocated into five treatment groups (6 replicates of 5 chicks/cage), were reared in cages for 29 days: T0 (control group, not infected, not supplemented); T1 (infected with C. perfringens, not supplemented); T2 (infected with C. perfringens and coccidia, not supplemented); T3 (infected with C. perfringens and coccidia, supplemented with P. acidilactici); T4 (infected with C. perfringens and coccidia, supplemented with S. cerevisiae). The parameters analyzed were: body weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, mortality, intestinal lesion score and ileal C. perfringens enumeration by quantitative real-time PCR. The challenge resulted in impairment of growth performance, increased lesion score (≤ 2) and overgrowth of the C. perfringens population. However, the dietary inclusion of P. acidilactici or S. cerevisiae caused a significant improvement in feed conversion, net reduction of gut lesions, as well as a decrease in the intestinal C. perfringens population. In conclusion, these results suggest that dietary supplementation with probiotics (P. acidilactici or S. cerevisiae) could be beneficial to alleviate the negative effects of subclinical NE in broiler chickens.

Egg quality traits in quail breeders depend on various factors which may influence embryo survival during incubation, affecting the chicks' production and quality. The current study aimed to determine the effect of the laying period on the external and internal quality of the egg, the chemical composition of albumen, yolk, and eggshell as well as the reproductive parameters of quail breeders. A total of 450 quails (Coturnix japonica) obtained from the same hatchery, were reared in a battery cage with a sex ratio of 1 male to 3 females. All the quails were subjected to standard breeding conditions and fed a balanced laying diet. A total of 960 eggs were collected at two different periods of the laying cycle, the beginning period of the laying (BP indicating 10 weeks of quail age) and the peak period of laying (PP showing 20 weeks of quail age). At each laying period, 30 eggs were used to analyze the various parameters of egg quality, and 450 eggs were randomly selected to assess the reproductive performances. Overall, no differences in the external quality of eggs, such as egg length, egg width, and the egg shape index, were recorded between the two laying periods. Apart from albumen weight that tended to be higher at the peak laying period, the shell and the yolk weights were not affected by the period of laying. Additionally, Japanese quail tend to deposit similar proportions of shell, albumen, and yolk at the two periods of laying. Likewise, the rate of dry matter of the three egg components, shell mineral concentrations, and yolk fat concentrations did not show any noticeable variation with the laying period. The most significant effect of the laying period was related to the potential reduction in the total protein content of the albumen and the yolk of eggs laid at the peak period of laying. Finally, the laying period did not significantly affect the fertility and hatchability rate of the incubated quail eggs but slightly improved the embryonic mortality rate during the peak laying phase.

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