Abstract
Heat stress has strong adverse effects on poultry production and, thereby, threats its sustainability, which energized scientists to search for innovative and effective solutions. Here, we undertook this study to evaluate the effects of in-feed herbal adaptogen (stress response modifier) supplementation on growth performances, meat quality, and breast amino acid profile in chronic cyclic heat-stressed broilers. Day-old male Cobb 500 chicks (n = 720) were randomly assigned, in environmental chambers (n = 12, 24 pens), to three diet-treatments: a three-phase corn-soybean based diet fed as such (Control, C), or supplemented with the herbal adaptogen at 500 g/1000 kg control diet (NR-PHY-500) or at 1 kg/1000 kg control diet (NR-PHY-1000). From d29 to d42, birds from 9 chambers were exposed to cyclic heat stress (HS, 35°C from 9:30 am-5:30 pm), however, the rest of the chamber were maintained at thermoneutral conditions (24°C, TN), which creates 4 experimental groups: C-TN, C-HS, NR-PHY-500HS, and NR-PHY-1000HS (6 pens/group, 168 birds/group). HS altered growth performance via depression of feed intake and body weight. Adaptogen supplementation stimulated feed intake and averaged 65.95 and 83.25 g better body weight and 5 and 10 points better FCR at low and high dose, respectively, compared to heat-stressed birds. This increase in body weight was mirrored in enhanced weights of body parts (breast, tender, wings, and legs). Adaptogen supplementation modulated also breast amino acid profile, pH, color, and quality. Together, these data suggested that adaptogen supplementation could be a promising solution to alleviate heat stress, however further in-depth investigation for its mode of action and its underlying mechanisms are warranted.
Highlights
Poultry industry supports the livelihoods and food security of billions of people worldwide
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], 2018) and to the 2019 World Population Prospect (United Nations, 2019), it is predicted that the world human population will increase by 10% over the decade, reaching approximately 9.7 billion in 2050
Unusual warm season with widespread and more intense heat waves have increased markedly over the past decades, and are likely to be larger in the future (Mora et al, 2013)
Summary
Poultry industry supports the livelihoods and food security of billions of people worldwide. Both poultry meat and egg are globally highly regarded as the most efficient protein sources, with high organoleptic quality, relatively inexpensive, and without religious taboos (Barroeta, 2007; Cavani et al, 2009; Marangoni et al, 2015). Poultry production sustainability is facing several challenges from a steep projected increase in global demand for high animal protein quality and the need to adapt to the pressure on natural resource availability and environmental constraints. The European heat wave of summer 2003 resulted in the death of more than one million chickens in France (Fouillet et al, 2008). In addition to welfare and performance issue, heat stress is a significant economic burden to the industry (St-Pierre et al, 2003), and it is a major thrust of intense research effort to identify effective strategies to ameliorate heat stress productivity loss
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