Abstract

BackgroundHighly automated cage-rearing systems are becoming increasingly popular in China. However, a high stocking density can cause oxidative stress and decrease broiler performance. The tryptophan (TRP) derivative 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HT) has been shown to preserve membrane fluidity in birds suffering from oxidative stress. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to determine the effects of dietary TRP supplementation on performance, breast meat quality and oxidative stress in broilers reared in cages with a high or low stocking density.MethodsFemale Arbor Acres broilers (25-d-old, n = 144) were randomly allocated to 1 of 4 treatments. The birds were fed a diet based on corn, soybean meal, cottonseed meal and corn gluten meal containing either 0.18 or 0.27% TRP and were housed with stocking densities of 11 or 15.4 birds/m2 in a 2 × 2 factorial experiment. Broiler performance was evaluated from d 25 to 42. Eight birds from each treatment were slaughtered on d 42 and plasma and breast muscle samples were collected to measure biochemical indices.ResultsA higher stocking density tended to be associated with reduced weight gain (P < 0.10), and significantly increased plasma glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT) activity (P < 0.001). Increased dietary TRP significantly reduced the activities of lactic dehydrogenase and GPT while increasing total cholesterol in the plasma (P < 0.01), reducing drip loss of breast muscle (P < 0.10) and improving feed efficiency (P < 0.10).ConclusionsAn increase in dietary TRP, 1.5-fold higher than the standard supplementation level, can alleviate oxidative stress as well as improve welfare and feed efficiency in broilers reared in cages with a high stocking density.

Highlights

  • Automated cage-rearing systems are becoming increasingly popular in China

  • Increased attention is being paid to animal welfare and meat quality, factors that are strongly affected by stocking density [1]

  • Performance Only one bird died during the experiment and as a result, mortality is not shown in the tables

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Summary

Introduction

A high stocking density can cause oxidative stress and decrease broiler performance. The tryptophan (TRP) derivative 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HT) has been shown to preserve membrane fluidity in birds suffering from oxidative stress This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of dietary TRP supplementation on performance, breast meat quality and oxidative stress in broilers reared in cages with a high or low stocking density. Previous studies have shown that high stocking densities affect the amount of time broilers spend walking [3], decrease locomotor activity [4,5], as well as increase the temperature, moisture, and ammonia concentrations in the chicken house, and cause leg and hock problems [6,7,8]. High stocking densities result in reduced growth, impaired feed efficiency, and poor quality of life for broilers [4,13]

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