Influence of feeding alternative fiber sources on the gastrointestinal fermentation, digestive enzyme activities and mucosa morphology of growing Greylag geese

Abstract

The objective of this trial was to study the influence of dietary fiber sources on the gastrointestinal fermentation, digestive enzyme activity, and mucosa morphology of growing Greylag geese. In total, 240 Greylag geese (28-day-old) were allocated to 4 treatments (15 pens/treatment) differing in dietary fiber source: corn straw silage (CSS group), steam-exploded corn straw (SECS group), steam-exploded wheat straw (SEWS group), or steam-exploded rice straw (SERS group). At 112 days of age, 15 birds per group were euthanized to collect samples. No difference (P > 0.05) was found on all the gastrointestinal pH values and ammonia-nitrogen concentrations between the groups. The CSS and SERS groups had a lower (P < 0.05) proportion of acetic acid in the gizzard than the SECS and SEWS groups. The CSS group had a higher VFA concentration in the jejunum (P < 0.05) and acetic acid proportion (P < 0.01) in the ceca, and a lower (P < 0.01) butyric acid proportion than the other groups except for the SECS group. The SECS group had a higher (P < 0.01) acetic acid proportion and lower (P < 0.05) proportions of propionic acid and valeric acid in the ceca than the SEWS and SERS groups. Different fiber sources resulted in different VFA profiles, especially in the gizzard and ceca. Almost all gastrointestinal protease activities of the CSS group were higher (P < 0.05) than the other groups, along with lower (P < 0.01) amylase activities in the duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and ceca. Lipase activity in proventriculus was highest (P < 0.01) in the SEWS group and its cecal activity was lower (P < 0.01) in the SECS and SEWS groups than the CSS and SERS groups with a higher (P < 0.01) lipase activity in the CSS group than the SERS group. The SECS and SERS groups had a higher cellulase activity in the ceca than the CSS and SEWS groups, with a higher (P < 0.01) rectal cellulase activity in the SERS group than the other groups. There was no significant effect (P > 0.05) on the intestinal mucosa morphology. These results suggest that corn straw silage improves protein digestion while steam-exploded straw provides more energy.

Growth performance and development of internal organ, and gastrointestinal tract of calf supplementation with calcium propionate at various stages of growth period

“…Each compartment of GIT and internal organs were removed from the abdominal cavity, stripping all attachments, large blood vessels, lymph nodes and fat tissue. Two 2-cm sections were removed from the duodenum (within 10 cm of pylorus), jejunum (estimated midpoint of small intestine), and ileum (within 10 cm of cecum) were collected and fixed in 10% formalin solution in preparation for morphometric analysis of villus lengths and crypt depths immediately, according to He et al (2015) [16]. The villus:crypt ratio was calculated as the villus length divided by crypt depth.…”

Body growth, intestinal morphology and microflora of quail on diets supplemented with micronised wheat fibre

“…Coarse feed particles remain longer in the upper part of the GIT, stimulating gizzard activity (Hetland et al 2005) and increasing the production of HCl (Duke 1986). A low gizzard pH improves pepsin activity and nitrogen retention and increases the solubility of the mineral fraction of the feed (Guinotte et al 1995), which in turn can favour its absorption. Souffrant (2001) and Hetland et al (2005) reported that, because of its nonviscous nature, insoluble NSP may have beneficial effects on digestive processes.…”

“…One possible alternative control of enteric disease is by changing feed composition and uses various dietary interventions (Armstrong 2016). Many studies have been performed to change gut health and microbial populations by adding types of fibrous fractions into poultry diets (He et al 2015).…”

The effects of lignocellulose supplementation on laying performance, egg quality parameters, aerobic bacterial load of eggshell, serum biochemical parameters, and jejunal histomorphological traits of laying hens

“…One alternative that may very well have a positive effect on feed intake ( FI ), growth and development, gut structure and digestibility, and the overall health in poultry is fiber ( Mateos et al., 2012 , He et al., 2015 , Jiménez–Moreno et al., 2016 , Kheravii et al., 2017 ). It is already known that the potential effects of dietary fiber are related to the physicochemical characteristics and structure of the fiber source ( Raninen et al., 2011 , Yokhana et al., 2016 ).…”