Effects of continuous supplementations of ascorbic acid, aspirin, vitamin E and selenium on some haematological parameters and serum superoxide dismutase level in broiler chickens

1. This study was conducted using male broiler chickens to determine the effects of ascorbic acid, aspirin, ascorbic acid+aspirin, vitamin E+selenium and ascorbic acid+aspirin+vitamin E+selenium supplementations on haematological parameters and serum superoxide dismutase concentration. 2. One hundred and twenty day-old male Hubbunt broiler chicks were randomly divided into 6 experimental groups of 20 chicks each and placed in different pens. Groups 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 were given a diet supplemented with ascorbic acid, aspirin (in water), ascorbic acid+aspirin, vitamin E+selenium and ascorbic acid+aspirin+vitamin E+selenium, respectively for 45 d while group 1 was given a commercial broiler diet. 3. There was no significant effect of ascorbic acid, aspirin, ascorbic acid+aspirin, vitamin E+selenium supplementations on any of the haematological parameters (red blood cell, haemoglobin, haematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular haemoglobin) in broilers but ascorbic acid+aspirin+vitamin E+selenium supplementation significantly decreased the white blood cell counts. 4. In addition to this, ascorbic acid, aspirin, ascorbic acid+aspirin and ascorbic acid+aspirin+vitamin E+selenium supplementations had no significant effect on the serum superoxide dismutase level, but vitamin E+selenium supplementation increased the serum superoxide dismutase level.

Dietary effects on stunting syndrome in poults

Experiments were done to determine the effect of feeding diets of different ingredient composition to poults experimentally infected with stunting syndrome (SS) at 1 day of age. In Experiment 1, feeding a complex diet (CPX) containing fish meal and sunflower meal as the main protein sources eliminated the adverse effects of SS inoculation on performance traits as compared with SS effects on poults fed a corn and soybean meal (CS) diet. In Experiments 2 and 3, the effects of SS were more severe than in Experiment 1. In these experiments, the CPX diet only partly overcame the adverse effects of SS on performance (i.e., in Experiment 2, growth depressions from 2 to 5 days of age were 90.3 and 59.6% in SS-inoculated poults fed the CS and CPX diets, respectively, as compared with uninoculated, control poults fed the same diets). Properties of the CPX diet that made it effective in reducing the severity of SS were not evident from the results of Experiment 3. Replacing soybean meal with soy protein or canola meal was ineffective as compared with the use of a mixture of sunflower meal, fish meal, meat and bone meal, and corn gluten meal.

Stunting syndrome in turkeys: physical and physiological changes

Experiments were conducted to determine the effect of an induced enteric disorder, stunting syndrome (SS), on young turkeys. One-day-old poults were dosed per os with tryptose-phosphate broth (control) or inoculum (inoc) prepared from intestines of SS-affected poults. Inoculation depressed gain (P less than .001) and feed consumption (P less than .001) and impaired (P less than .001) the utilization of feed for gain up to 9 days of age (utilization was 2.02, 2.62 in inoc and 1.27, 1.61 in control poults at 5 and 9 days of age, respectively). Inoculation impaired (P less than .05) retention of nutrients at 8 days of age (dry matter, fat, protein, and ash retentions were 82.5, 88.8, 81.3, and 77.8% in controls and 79.3, 85.6, 74.5, and 74.1% in inoc poults, respectively). Small intestinal weight per 100 g of body weight was greater (P less than .001) in inoc poults, but empty weights per length of jejunum and ileum were less (P less than .05). The jejunal mucosa in inoc poults was thinner, exhibited extensive erosion of villi tips, and had microvilli that seemed to be fused when observed by using scanning electron microscopy. Activities of disaccharidases in the jejunum and ileum of inoc poults were less (P less than .05) than in control poults. In a second experiment, two additional treatments were included, a pair-fed control and a negative control. Control poults pair-fed with the inoc poults grew more rapidly (P less than .01) than inoc poults. The depression in feed consumption due to inoculation accounted for only 54% of the growth depression. Poults inoculated with a suspension prepared from intestines obtained from healthy poults (negative control) performed similarly to controls. Thus, the adverse effects of the SS-inoculum were due to an agent(s) that was present int he intestines of SS-affected poults but not in intestines of healthy poults.