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The aim of our study was to compare overfeeding performance, fatty acid composition, enzymes activity and gene expression between overfed Xupu geese with large and small liver. A total of sixty 80 d male Xupu geese were overfed by the same feed intake under the same conditions. The liver weight exhibited normal distribution. Based on the weight of liver, samples were divided into large liver (LL) and small liver (SL) Xupu geese. After overfeeding for 28 d: compared with the SL-Xupu geese, liver weight and liver-to-body weight ratio increased (p

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different supplementation levels of palygorskite and probiotics complex (Pal-Pro) on laying performance, hatching performance, egg quality, plasma antioxidative status, and immune response of broiler breeders. A total of 432 Xuefeng black-bone chickens (42-week-old) were randomly assigned into four treatments with six replicates of 18 hens. The broiler breeders were fed the basal diet supplemented with 0, 250, 500, and 750 mg/kg Pal-Pro for 8 weeks. The Pal-Pro supplementation linearly or quadratically increased (p

To investigate the supplemental effects of Hermetia illucens larvae meal (HILM) on the production, egg quality, yolk fatty acid composition, egg amino acid content, oxidative status, and immune indexes of laying hens. A total of 432 Xuefeng black-bone chickens (45-week-old) were randomly assigned to 4 treatments with 6 replicates per treatment and 18 hens in each replicate. The laying hens were fed the basal diet supplemented with 0%, 1%, 3%, and 5% HILM (CON, HILM-1, HILM-3, and HILM-5, respectively) for 56 d. The experimental diets were isonitrogenous and isoenergetic. The highest egg weight and Haugh unit were obtained with 3% HILM supplementation, but the HILM-3 or HILM-5 supplementation have negative effect on the eggshell thickness, yolk index, and albumen height during the early stage of the experiment. The HILM supplementation linearly or quadratically (p

The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of increasing inclusion levels of the mixture of Bacillus subtilis and essential oils (BSEO) on production, hatching performance, egg quality, serum antioxidant capacity, immune response, and hormone levels of laying hens. A total of 768 24-wk-old layers were randomly allotted into 4 treatments with 6 replicates of 32 birds each replicate. The experiment lasted for 84 d, and the birds were fed a basal diet (CON) or diets with BSEO at 300 (BSEO-1), 600 (BSEO-2), and 900 mg/kg (BSEO-3) in the other 3 groups, respectively. As the BSEO level increased, egg production (linear, p

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare overfeeding performance, fatty acid composition, blood chemistry, enzymes and genes expression overfed Xupu and Landes geese.Methods: Sixty male Xupu geese (80 d) and Landes geese (80 d) were selected. After a period of one-week of pre-overfeeding, Xupu and Landes geese were overfed three meals of 550 and 350 g/d, respectively, of a high-carbohydrate diet in the first week of the overfeeding period. The next week, geese were given four meals of 1,200 and 850 g/d, respectively, over 8 to 14 d. Finally, geese were given five meals of 1,600 and 1,350 g/d, respectively, for the last two weeks.Results: After overfeeding for 28 d: Compared with Landes geese, Xupu geese liver weight and liver-to-body weight ratio decreased (p

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects and combinational effects of Bacillus subtilis (BS) and montmorillonite (MMT) on laying performance, gut mucosal oxidation status, and intestinal immunological and physical barrier functions of laying hens. Three hundred sixty laying hens (29-week-old) were randomly assigned to a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments (n = 6) for 10 wk as follows: (1) basal diet; (2) the basal diet plus 5 × 108 cfu BS/kg; (3) the basal diet plus 0.5 g MMT/kg; and (4) the basal diet plus 5 × 108 cfu BS/kg and 0.5 g MMT/kg. Dietary supplementation with BS increased egg production and egg mass, the activities of catalase (CAT) and total superoxide dismutase in the intestinal mucosa, and villus height and villus height-to-crypt depth ratio of the jejunum (P

1. Adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (A-FABP) plays a key role in fatty acid uptake and intracellular transport. The objective of the present study was to identify and characterise the A-FABP ge...

A 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments was used to investigate the effects of Bacillus subtilis (0 vs. 5 × 108 cfu/kg) and montmorillonite (0 vs. 0.5 g/kg) supplementation on laying performance, egg quality, oxidation status, and immune response in laying hens. A total of three hundred sixty 29-wk-old laying hens were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 dietary treatments with 6 replicates per treatment and 15 hens per replicate for 10 wk. Dietary treatments were: 1) basal diet; 2) the basal diet + 5 × 108 cfu Bacillus subtilis/kg; 3) the basal diet + 0.5 g/kg of montmorillonite; and 4) the basal diet + 5 × 108 cfu Bacillus subtilis/kg + 0.5 g/kg of montmorillonite. The Bacillus subtilis supplementation increased (P

Antibiotics are commonly overused to prevent livestock from diseases and to increase production performance. As potential substitutes of antibiotics, plant extracts have attracted the attention of researchers. It was known to all that addition of Macleaya cordata extract (MCE) to the food could advance immunity, intestinal health and animal performance. Thus, it was conducted to investigate the influence of MCE (0, 100, 150 and 200 mg/kg, with six replicate pens/treatment and 24 hens/pen) on intestinal morphology and microbial diversity in different intestinal segments in Xuefeng black-boned chicken in this study. The results showed that MCE supplement (100, 150 and 200 mg/kg) significantly diminished (P

To investigate the supplemental effects of Bacillus subtilis C-3102 on the production, hatching performance, egg quality, serum antioxidant capacity and immune response of laying breeders, a total of 480 Xuefeng black-bone (25-week-old) hens were randomly assigned into four treatment groups: Hens fed the basal diets with 0 (CON), 3.0 × 105 (BS-1), 6.0 × 105 cfu/g (BS-2) and 9.0 × 105 (BS-3) cfu/g of B. subtilis C-3102. As the B. subtilis C-3102 level increased, egg weight (linear, p

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of increasing inclusion rates of Bacillus subtilis and essential oil (BSEO) on egg production, hatching traits, egg quality, plasma antioxidant capacity, immune response, and hormone concentrations of broiler breeders during the late laying period. A total of 576 broiler breeders at 54 wk of age were randomly allocated to 4 treatments with 6 replicates of 24 broiler breeders per replicate. The experiment lasted for 12 wk and dietary treatments included corn-soybean meal-based diet supplemented with 0, 300, 600, and 900 mg/kg of BSEO. The BSEO supplementation decreased linearly (P

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with montmorillonite (MMT) on performance, intestinal endotoxin concentration, gut mucosal oxidation status, intestinal morphology and permeability, and immunological barrier function of laying hens during late production. Four hundred and eighty 75-week-old laying hens (Lohmann Brown) were randomly assigned to five treatments with eight replicates per treatment and 12 hens in each replicate. The hens were fed the basal diet supplemented with 0 (control), 0.3, 0.6, 0.9, or 1.2 g MMT/kg for 70 days. Compared with the control, supplemented with 0.9 g MMT/kg increased egg mass significantly (p < 0.05) during weeks 1-5 of the experiment. Supplemented with 0.6 and 0.9 g MMT/kg also increased the endotoxin concentration in the ileal digesta (p < 0.05), but decreased the MDA concentration in the ileum significantly (p < 0.05). The T-AOC in the jejunum of the group fed 0.3 g MMT/kg was significantly increased (p < 0.05). Compared with the control, the villus height:crypt depth of ileum from the groups fed 0.6, 0.9, and 1.2 g MMT/kg increased significantly (p < 0.05). The sIgA concentration of jejunum in the groups fed 0.6 and 0.9 g MMT/kg was higher (p < 0.05) than the control. The MMT supplementation linearly increased (p < 0.05) the mRNA expression of claudin-1 and claudin-5 in the jejunum. Dietary MMT supplementation down-regulated the mRNA expression of NF-κB P65 and TNF-α in the jejunum in a linear and quadratic manner (p < 0.05). The IL-1β mRNA expression of jejunum in the group fed 0.6 g MMT/kg was lower (p < 0.05) than the control. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with MMT may improve the gut barrier functions and suggests that 0.9 g/kg of MMT in diets may be the optimal supplemental level for laying hens in late production.