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This research aims to study the effects of rare earth-chitosan chelates (RECC) on growth performance, immunity and antioxidant function in broilers. A total of 192 one-day-old mixed-sex Arbour Acres (AA) broilers were allotted into 4 treatment groups with 6 replicates per treatment and 8 broilers per pen. Broilers were fed the basal diet supplemented with, respectively, 0 (control group), 150, 200 and 250 mg/kg RECC for 42 d. The results showed that dietary RECC improved average daily gain and decreased feed/gain (p

In this study, the effects of Artemisia argyi polysaccharide (AAP) on broilers’ immune and antioxidative functions and the underlying regulatory mechanism were investigated. In this experiment, 288 one-day-old Arbor Acres plus broilers were randomly allocated into 6 treatments with 6 replicates where each treatment group contained 6 replicate groups and there were 8 broilers in each replicate group. The control group was fed the basal diet, and the experimental groups were fed the basal diet supplemented with 250, 500, 750 or 1000 mg/kg AAP in comparison with 50 mg/kg chlortetracycline for 42 d. The result demonstrated that the best amount of AAP addition was 1000 mg/kg for growth. It could promote the contents of cytokines, immunoglobulin as well as the activity of the antioxidant enzyme (GPx), and reduce the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in the serum of broilers on 42 d. The same dose of AAP could regulate the immune and antioxidant functions in the liver of broilers, and activate the TLR/NF-κB signal pathway in broilers. The growth-promoting effect of AAP was comparable to that of chlorotetracycline.