Effects of supplementation of betaine hydrochloride on physiological performances of broilers exposed to thermal stress

Abstract

Background: Betaine has the potential to spare methionine and choline as methyl-group donors, and is thought to improve broiler performance under conditions of stress. An experiment was conducted to ascertain the effects of supplemental betaine on performances and physiological responses of broilers exposed continuously to thermal stress. Materials and methods: Male broilers (n=128, divided into four groups, with eight replicate cages in a group) received diets containing suboptimal levels of methionine and metabolizable energy and supplemented with 1.3 g/kg and 2 g/kg betaine hydrochloride from day 1 to 38. The positive control (PC) did not contain supplemental betaine, and the negative control (NC), to which betaine was added, was deficient in methionine and energy and devoid of added choline. The experiment included assessment of growth, feed-conversion ratio, rectal temperature and respiration rates, and assay of blood hormones and metabolites. Results: Betaine at both the levels of inclusion improved live weight and feed intake over the PC and the NC groups. Rectal temperature and respiration rates were also lower in the betainesupplemented groups, indicating a sequestering effect of betaine on metabolic rates of thermally stressed broilers. Carcass yield was unaffected. Betaine-supplemented groups had better thyroid activity than the NC and PC groups of birds. Conclusion: Based on this study, it was inferred that in tropical countries betaine may be effectively used to ameliorate the negative impact of high ambient temperature in broiler chickens. The findings also suggest that at an appropriate dose, betaine may spare some quantity of dlmethionine and dietary energy to support the growth process of heat-stressed broilers. However, further studies are warranted to assign a definite methionine and energy matrix to supplemental betaine that can be used in broiler diets without inviting any risk of drop in production.

Impact of Dietary Betaine and Metabolizable Energy Levels on Profiles of Proteins and Lipids, Bioenergetics, Peroxidation and Quality of Meat in Japanese Quail

“…The current study demonstrated the role of dietary betaine in increasing serum TAG and TC levels of quails fed diets containing restricted and low ME levels compared with that of birds fed betaine-non-supplemented diets containing optimum and restricted ME levels ( Table 3 ). These results were consistent with previous work [ 18 ] stated the same role of dietary betaine in broilers at higher (2.0 g/kg), and lower (1.3 g/kg) levels of supplementation. The decreased levels of serum TAG might be attributed to the activity of hormone-sensitive lipase in response to dietary betaine.…”

“…Although the dietary ME levels were suboptimal (restricted and low ME) in either without or with betaine supplementation, respectively, production performance of Japanese quail has not been negatively impacted as shown in Table 2 . Similar study [ 18 ] reported that dietary betaine with suboptimal levels of dietary ME did not induce a significant changes on growth performance of broilers chickens. However, other studies [ 4 , 34 ] demonstrated that, dietary betaine had a positive influence on poultry performance.…”

“…As outlined in the objectives of the experimental design it was intended that, all the experimental diets to be formulated with an optimal crude protein level while, suboptimal levels (restricted and low) of ME being isonitrogenous but not isocaloric, respectively as shown in Table 1 . Our assumptions were based on the available literature [ 18 ] which presumed that dietary betaine would be capable of sparing an energy matrix value of 200 KJ/kg diet by conserving the energy required for oxidation of choline into betaine. Although the dietary ME levels were suboptimal (restricted and low ME) in either without or with betaine supplementation, respectively, production performance of Japanese quail has not been negatively impacted as shown in Table 2 .…”

“…Thus, innovative feeding approaches are required to reduce the overall cost of poultry production possibly, by decreasing dietary energy concentrations while, maintaining optimum or even higher performance [ 17 ]. Scarce literatures have been dealt with the energy matrix of betaine in poultry diets [ 18 ].These articles outlined that dietary betaine provided an energy matrix spare of 200 KJ/kg diet. The lipid modulating activity of betaine could effectively perform such task especially if we would hypothesize an experimental design with low-energy diets.…”

Effects of Dietary Betaine on Growth Performance, Digestive Function, Carcass Traits, and Meat Quality in Indigenous Yellow-Feathered Broilers under Long-Term Heat Stress

“…Chand et al [14] found that dietary supplementation of 1.5% and 2% betaine increased the feed intake and BWG and reduced the FCR of fast-growing broilers exposed to heat stress. Similar findings have been reported in the studies of Sakomura et al [16] and Singh et al [24], who observed a significant increase in feed intake and BWG of heat stressed Cobb broilers fed with diet contained betaine. However, the studies related to the effects of betaine on indigenous slow-growing broilers are very scarce.…”