Transforming Camellia oleifera meal into feedstuff: Enhancing value through detoxification and fermentation.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that Broussonetia papyrifera is an unconventional feed resource with significant developmental potential. This research aimed to explore the effects of Broussonetia papyrifera silage on the growth performance, blood parameters, immunity, antioxidation, cytokine levels, and rumen bacterial composition of Kazakh lamb. Forty healthy male Kazakh lambs, aged 5 months and weighing 30.12 ± 1.14 kg, were randomly divided into control and experimental groups, each consisting of four replicates (five lambs per replicate). The control group was fed a basal diet, while the experimental group received a diet supplemented with 20% Broussonetia papyrifera silage (dry matter basis). Following a 10-day pre-feeding period, a 60-day formal experiment was conducted. The results indicated no significant difference in growth performance between the experimental and control groups. However, compared to the control group, the use of Broussonetia papyrifera silage significantly reduced (p < 0.05) neutrophil, lymphocyte, and eosinophil counts, as well as creatinine levels in the blood. Furthermore, Broussonetia papyrifera silage (p < 0.01) enhanced total serum antioxidant capacity, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, immunoglobulin A, immunoglobulin M, immunoglobulin G, interleukin-2, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8, and decreased malondialdehyde and interleukin-4 levels. Additionally, the use of Broussonetia papyrifera silage increased the diversity and richness of the rumen bacterial community, notably enhancing the relative abundance of Firmicutes such as Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group and Christensenellaceae_R-7_group. In conclusion, feeding Kazakh lamb with Broussonetia papyrifera silage (20% DM) did not adversely affect their growth performance but improved their immunity and antioxidant capacity and enhanced the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria in the rumen, thereby promoting animal health.

Simple SummaryThis study aimed to investigate the effects of different supplementation levels of stevia residues in high-fiber diets on the fecal microorganisms of pregnant sows. Stevia residue supplementation significantly increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria, such as g__Lachnospiraceae_XPB1014_group, g__Christensenellaceae_R-7_group, and g__Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005 (p < 0.05), and significantly reduced the abundance of harmful bacteria, such as Treponema_2 (p < 0.05), at the genus level. The stevia-residue supplementation reduced the feed cost, with the highest reduction rate being 13.33%. In conclusion, high-fiber diets can improve the intestinal balance and evenness index of the intestinal flora in pregnant sows, promote the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria, reduce the relative abundance of harmful bacteria, and reduce feed cost.This study aimed to investigate the effects of different supplementation levels of stevia residues in high-fiber diets on the fecal microorganisms of pregnant sows. Forty-eight first-farrowing Danish Landrace sows with similar weight, age, and due date were randomly divided into four groups. The control group was fed a normal diet (CON; 3.15% crude fiber content), and the treatment groups were supplemented with 20% stevia residue (SRL), 30% stevia residue (SRM), or 40% stevia residue (SRH) stevia residue, with crude fiber content of 7.79%, 9.15%, and 10.68%, respectively. The test period was 135 days, and Illumina Miseq high-throughput sequencing was used to test the fecal bacteria of the pregnant sows on day 56. Compared to the control group, species diversity was greater in the 30% stevia residue group. At the phylum level, Firmicutes and Spirochaetes had the greatest relative abundances; Firmicutes was most abundant in the SRM group, and Spirochaetes was most abundant in the CON group. At the genus level, Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, and Lachnospiraceae_XPB1014_group, and Treponema_2 had the highest relative abundances in the stevia-residue treatments. Among them, Lactobacillus and Treponema_2 were more abundant in SRL, Streptococcus was more abundant in SRH, and Lachnospiraceae_XPB1014_group was more abundant in SRM. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) showed that the bacterial species differed among the stevia residue treatments. SRL mainly included g__Lactobacillus and g__Romboutsi, SRM mainly included g__Lachnospiraceae_XPB1014_group and g__Ruminococcaceae_UCG_014, SRH mainly included g__Streptococcus, and CON mainly included g__Treponema_2, f__Clostridiaceae_1, g__norank_f__Muribaculaceae, and g__norank_f__p_251_o5. Stevia-residue supplementation significantly increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria, such as g__Lachnospiraceae_XPB1014_group, g__Christensenellaceae_R-7_group, and g__Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005 (p < 0.05), and significantly reduced the abundance of harmful bacteria, such as Treponema_2 (p < 0.05). Moreover, compared with the control group, the stevia-residues treatment groups reduced the feed cost 8.33%, 12.50%, and 13.33% per sow per day, respectively. In conclusion, high-fiber diets can improve the intestinal balance and evenness index of the intestinal flora in pregnant sows, promote the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria, reduce the relative abundance of harmful bacteria, and reduce feed cost. The optimal supplementation level of the stevia residue was found to be 30%.

This experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of including either Leucaena leucocephala (LLM) or Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) as tropical feed resources at two levels (30 or 40 %) on growth performance, carcass traits, and economical efficiency of growing rabbits. A total of 60 California growing rabbits were randomly distributed into five experimental groups, each consisting of 12 rabbits and were allocated individually; the groups were control, 30 % LLM, 40 % LLM, 30 % MOLM, and 40 % MOLM. The experimental period lasted from 6 to 12 weeks of age. The results showed that rabbits fed control and 30 % MOLM diets had significantly the highest final body weight and daily weight gain being 2,040 and 2,000 g and 31.6 and 30.6 g/day, respectively. Similarly, the best feed conversion ratio was associated with 30 % MOLM and control groups (3.2 and 3.4), while the worst value was for 40 % LLM group (5.2). MOLM treatments recorded significantly the highest dressing percentage along with control group. The inclusion of MOLM by 30 and 40 % improved the economical efficiency (2 and 1.5) in comparison with the control group (1.1). The results suggest that MOLM can be included in growing rabbit diets up to 40 % without any adverse effect on growth performance or carcass traits with higher economical efficiency of growing rabbits.

Selection for feed efficiency (FE) is a strategy to reduce the production costs per unit of animal product, which is one of the major objectives of current animal breeding programs. In pig breeding, selection for FE and other traits traditionally takes place based on purebred pig (PB) performance at the nucleus level, while pork production typically makes use of crossbred animals (CB). The success of this selection, therefore, depends on the genetic correlation between the performance of PB and CB (rpc) and on the genetic correlation (rg) between FE and the other traits that are currently under selection. Different traits are being used to account for FE, but the rpc has been reported only for feed conversion rate. Therefore, this study aimed 1) to estimate the rpc for growth performance, carcass, and FE traits; 2) to estimate rg between traits within PB and CB populations; and 3) to compare three different traits representing FE: feed conversion rate, residual energy intake (REI), and residual feed intake (RFI). Phenotypes of 194,445 PB animals from 23 nucleus farms, and 46,328 CB animals from three farms where research is conducted under near commercial production conditions were available for this study. From these, 22,984 PB and 8,657 CB presented records for feed intake. The PB population consisted of five sire and four dam lines, and the CB population consisted of terminal cross-progeny generated by crossing sires from one of the five PB sire lines with commercially available two-way maternal sow crosses. Estimates of rpc ranged from 0.61 to 0.71 for growth performance traits, from 0.75 to 0.82 for carcass traits, and from 0.62 to 0.67 for FE traits. Estimates of rg between growth performance, carcass, and FE traits differed within PB and CB. REI and RFI showed substantial positive rg estimates in PB (0.84) and CB (0.90) populations. The magnitudes of rpc estimates indicate that genetic progress is being realized in CB at the production level from selection on PB performance at nucleus level. However, including CB phenotypes recorded on production farms, when predicting breeding values, has the potential to increase genetic progress for these traits in CB. Given the genetic correlations with growth performance traits and the genetic correlation between the performance of PB and CB, REI is an attractive FE parameter for a breeding program.

The aim of this research was to study the effect of insect meal from larvae ( larvae meal [TML]) as complete replacement of soybean meal (SBM) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and carcass and meat traits of broilers. A total of eighty 30-d-old male Shaver brown broilers were homogenously divided into 2 groups (each consisting of 8 replicates of 5 birds). Up to 62 d of age, the groups were fed 2 isoproteic and isoenergetic diets differing for the ingredient used as the main protein source: the control group was fed a corn-SBM-based diet, whereas in the TML group, the SBM was completely replaced by TML. Broiler growth performance was measured during the trial. At 62 d of age, 2 broilers per replicate (16 per group) were slaughtered and apparent ileal digestibility coefficients and carcass and meat traits were determined. The use of TML as the main protein source in the broiler diet had no significant effect on most growth performance and carcass traits and chemical and physical properties of meat, the latter being important for marketing purposes. The feed conversion ratio in the entire experimental period (from 30 to 62 d) was improved in the TML group compared with the SBM group ( < 0.05). The apparent ileal digestibility coefficients of DM, OM, and CP in broilers fed the SBM diet were greater ( < 0.01) than the other group. The full digestive system in broilers fed SBM had a lower ( < 0.05) absolute and relative weight than that of broilers fed TML. Also, the weight and the percentage of the spleen in the SBM group were lower ( < 0.05) than those in the TML group. The length of the entire intestine in the group fed TML was greater ( < 0.05) than the other group and the same happened when intestinal length was expressed as percentage of broiler BW ( < 0.05). Among the different intestinal tracts, the ileum and ceca of broilers fed TML had a greater ( < 0.05) length than that of broilers fed SBM. Also, ceca weight (as an absolute value or percentage on live weight) in broilers fed TML was greater ( < 0.05) than that of broilers fed SBM. Breast pH and cooking losses in broilers fed TML were greater ( < 0.05) than those of broilers fed SBM. Chemical characteristic of meat obtained from right breast of slaughtered broilers were unaffected by dietary treatments. larvae meal can be a suitable alternative protein source for growing broilers and also when used as principal protein contributor to the diet.

The positive aspects of the tea plant/legume intercropping system draw attention to the Chinese tea industry for its benefit for soil fertility improvement with low fertilizer input. However, limited information exists as to the roles of intercropped legumes in the rhizosphere microbiome and tea quality. Hereby, soybean was selected as the intercropped plant to investigate its effect on bacterial communities, nutrient competition, tea plant development, and tea quality. Our data showed that intercropped soybean boosted the uptake of nitrogen in tea plants and enhanced the growth of young tea shoots. Nutrient competition for phosphorus and potassium in soil existed between soybeans and tea plants. Moreover, tea/soybean intercropping improved tea quality, manifested by a significantly increased content of non-ester type catechins (C, EGC, EC), total catechins and theanine, and decreased content of ester type catechins (EGCG). Significant differences in rhizobacterial composition were also observed under different systems. At the genus level, the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria, such as Bradyrhizobium, Saccharimonadales and Mycobacterium, was significantly increased with the intercropping system, while the relative abundance of denitrifying bacteria, Pseudogulbenkiania, was markedly decreased. Correlation analysis showed that Pseudogulbenkiania, SBR1031, and Burkholderiaceae clustered together showing a similar correlation with soil physicochemical and tea quality characteristics; however, other differential bacteria showed the opposite pattern. In conclusion, tea/soybean intercropping improves tea quality and nutrition uptake by increasing the relative abundance of beneficial rhizosphere bacteria and decreasing denitrifying bacteria. This study strengthens our understanding of how intercropping system regulate the soil bacterial community to maintain the health of soils in tea plantations and provides the basis for replacing chemical fertilizers and improving the ecosystem in tea plantations.

Hydroxyapatite as a passivator for safe wheat production and its impacts on soil microbial communities in a Cd-contaminated alkaline soil

Soil sterilization integrated with agronomic measures is an effective method to reduce soilborne replant diseases. However, the effect of vermicompost or biochar application after soil sterilization on soilborne diseases is poorly understood. A pot experiment was conducted in American ginseng to investigate the effects of vermicompost (VF), biochar (BF), and a combination of vermicompost and biochar (VBF) applied after soil sterilization on the incidence of Fusarium root rot using natural recovery (F) as control. After one growing season, the disease index of root rot, the phenolic acids, and the microbial communities of American ginseng rhizosphere soil were analyzed. The disease index of VF, BF, and VBF decreased by 33.32%, 19.03%, and 80.96%, respectively, compared with F. The highest bacterial richness and diversity were observed in the rhizosphere soil of VBF. Besides, VF and VBF significantly increased the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria (Pseudomonas, Lysobacter, and Chryseolinea) in the rhizosphere soil. Higher concentrations of vanillin, one of the phenolic acids in the roots exudates, were recorded in the rhizosphere soils of BF and VBF. The vanillin concentration showed a significant negative correlation with the disease index. To conclude, vermicompost improved the beneficial bacteria of the rhizosphere soil, while biochar regulated the allelopathic effect of the phenolic acids. The study proposes a combined application of biochar and vermicompost to the rhizosphere soil to control Fusarium root rot of replanted American ginseng effectively. KEY POINTS: Vermicompost improves the relative abundance of rhizosphere beneficial bacteria. Biochar inhibits the degradation of phenolic acids by adsorption. The combination of vermicompost and biochar enhances the disease control effect.

A 2×4 factorial arrangement was performed including two levels of garlic powder (0 and 0.5%) and four levels of lead acetate (0, 300, 600 and 900 mg/kg diet).One hundred twenty unsexed 1-week-old Ross broiler chicks were randomly distributed to 8 dietary treatment groups (15 birds each).Each treatment was subdivided to 3 replicates and each replicate contained 5 chicks.Growth performance and carcass traits were studied.Obtained results showed that final live body weight, daily body weight gain, feed conversion ratio and survival rate were significantly (p<0.01)improved while, daily feed intake was significantly (p<0.01)decreased with dietary garlic supplementation.Lead acetate significantly (p< 0.01) impaired live body weight, body weight gain and feed conversion.The interaction between lead levels and garlic supplementation showed that dietary garlic supplementation reversed these deleterious effects of lead intoxication on growth performance traits.Giblets percentage was significantly decreased with dietary supplementation by garlic and lead acetate at different levels, while, carcass and dressing were not affected significantly.These results suggested that garlic supplementation at 0.5% in broiler chicks diets can promotes growth performance traits and reverse the inhibitory effects of lead intoxication on such traits.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of Dendrobium nobile Lindl. (DNL) on production performance, immune function, and caecal microbiota of Chishui black-bone hens. A total of one hundred and eighty 600-day-old Chishui black-bone hens were randomly allocated to two experimental groups, with six replicates of 15 chickens per group. The control group was fed a basal diet, and the experimental group was supplemented with 2100 mg/kg DNL in the basal diet. The results demonstrated that compared with the control group, the addition of 2100 mg/kg DNL to the diet significantly (P < 0.05) increased the average egg production rate of Chishui black-bone hens from 38.97 to 44.95%. Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) levels were significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group, whereas serum immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels were significantly higher (P < 0.05). However, adding DNL exerted no significant effect on egg quality. Asp, Ser, Gly, Leu, Phe, His, Pro, TAA, EAA, and NEAA levels in the eggs of the experimental group were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than in those in the control group. Additionally, the EAA/TAA in the control and experimental groups were 40.38% and 40.76%, respectively, and the EAA/NEAA was 76.62% and 74.72%, both of which were higher than the 40% and 60% thresholds specified in the WHO/HAO ideal protein guidelines. The results also indicated that eggs in the experimental group had significantly higher contents of palmitic acid (C16:0), stearic acid (C18:0), palmitic acid (C16:1), oleic acid (C18:ln9c), behenolic acid (C22:0), palmitic acid (C16:), oleic acid (C18:ln9c), saturated fatty acids (SFA), and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) (P < 0.05). In contrast, the contents of hexadecenoic acid (C15:0), heptadecanoic acid (C17:0), α-linolenic acid (C18:3n3), arachidonic acid (C20:0), C10 heptadecanoic acid (C17:1), linoleic acid (C18:2n6c), α-linolenic acid (C18:3n3), eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:2), Docosapentaenoic Acid (DPA), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), and n-6PUFA were significantly reduced (P < 0.05). Moreover, when 2100 mg/kg DNL was added to the diet of Chishui black-bone hens, the composition of the intestinal flora was altered. Specifically, the relative abundances of Bacteroides, Lactobacillus, Subdoligranulum, and Parabacteroides increased, whereas those of Desulfovibrio, Lachnoclostridium, Ruminococcaceae, Fournierella, Faecalibacterium, and Oribacterium decreased. In conclusion, adding 2100 mg/kg DNL to the feed can increase serum IgA and reduce IFN-γ content in Chishui black-bone hens during the late laying period. Furthermore, it can enhance the laying rate and types of amino acids in eggs, as well as the ratio of ideal proteins. Simultaneously, it improved the caecal microbial community of Chishui black-bone hens and increased the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria.

The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of treatment with combination of royal Jelly (RJ) plus green tea (GT) or propolis (PR) plus GT on thermo-physiological response, growth performance, blood biochemicals and carcass traits. Total of 60 NZW weaned rabbits (5 wk of age and 703.03±11.59 g LBW) were assigned into three similar groups of 20 rabbits in each (10 males and 10 females). Rabbits in the 1stand 2nd groups were fed complete feed diet (CFD) supplemented with 2 g GT/kg and orally treatment twice/week with 150 mg RJ/kg (G1) or 0.5 g PR/kg LBW (G2). However, rabbits in the 3rd group were fed the same CFD without any supplements and orally treated with one ml saline and served as a control group (G3). Throughout the experimental period (August and September months), temperature humidity index (THI), rectal temperature (RT), LBW, feed intake (FI), viability rate and performance index (PI) were recorded, and daily weight gain (DWG) and feed conversion ratio(FCR) were calculated at 5-9, 9-13 and 5-13 age intervals. Blood samples were collected from three males from each group for determination of total proteins (TP), albumin (AL), glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoproteins (HDL), low density lipoproteins (LDL), creatinine, urea, triiodothyronine (T3) and tetraiodothyronine (T4) concentrations, as well as activity of aspartate (AST) and alanine (ALT) transaminases in serum. At 13 wk of age, three males from each group were slaughtered to evaluate carcass traits. Meat samples from hind limb were taken for chemical analysis. Results show that rabbits extremely severed from heat stress throughout all months studied. RT reduced in G2 (P<0.05) and G1 (P≥0.05) as compared to G1, being better in males than in females. Both G1 and G2 showed marked improvement in LBW, DWG, RGR, FI, FCR and PI as compared to G3, being with the best G2, in particular, at 5-9 wk of age. VR was the highest in G1, and higher in females than females only in G2. Concentrations of TP, AL, GL, AL: GL ratio, total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, HDL, creatinine and urea as well as activity of ALT in blood serum were not affected by treatment. Serum glucose concentration was higher (P<0.05) in G2 than in G1, while both groups did not varied significantly from that in G1. Also, AST activity in serum reduced (P<0.05) in G1, but did not differ in G2 as compared to G3. Concentration of T3 and T4 was higher (P<0.05) in G1 than in G2 and G3. All carcass traits and meat composition were not affected significantly by treatments. Economic feed efficiency was the best in G1, followed by G2, and the lowest in G3.In conclusion, treatment of weaned rabbits during growing period under summer ambient temperature from 5 to 13 weeks of age with green tea in combination with royal jelly or propolis twice/week resulted in improving growth performance, viability rate and economic feed efficiency without adversely effects on rabbit health, in particular, at 5-9 wk age interval. A combination of royal jelly with green tea showed the best results

Effect of feeding carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) pulp powder to broiler chicken on growth performance, intestinal microbiota, carcass traits, and meat quality

Protective effects of carnosic acid on growth performance, intestinal barrier, and cecal microbiota in yellow-feathered broilers under lipopolysaccharide challenge.

IntroductionThe ban on antibiotics in animal husbandry underscores the crucial need for safe, natural feed additives. This study investigates the effects of Ampelopsis grossedentata flavonoids (AGF) and Tween 80 on the growth performance, blood indexes, and rumen microbiota of Nubian goats, evaluating their potential as alternative feed additives in livestock management.MethodsThirty-two goats were randomly divided into four groups. The control group (CON group) was provided with a basal diet, while the experimental groups received diets supplemented with various dietary additives for a duration of 100 days: either a basal diet supplemented with 25 mg/kg of monensin (MN group), a basal diet containing 2.0 g/kg of Ampelopsis grossedentata flavonoids (AGF group), or a basal diet containing 7.5 mL/kg of Tween 80 (TW group). Blood and rumen fluid samples were collected for analysis at the end of the feeding period. Growth performance was monitored through regular weighing and feed intake measurements. Blood indexes were analyzed using standard biochemical techniques, while the microbial composition of the rumen fluid was determined through high throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing to assess microbial diversity and function. The effects of the dietary treatments on growth performance, blood indexes, and rumen microbial composition were then evaluated.ResultsThe AGF group exhibited significantly increased average daily gain, and decreased feed-to-gain ratio (p < 0.05). Blood indexes analysis revealed no differences between the CON and AGF groups, with both showing higher concentrations of triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, and lactate dehydrogenase compared to the monensin group (p < 0.05). The TW group had significantly higher glucose, glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase levels than the MN group (p < 0.05). Microbial diversity analysis revealed that the TW group had significantly greater alpha-diversity than other groups, while beta-diversity analysis showed closer similarity between the rumen microbiota of the AGF and CON groups. LEfSe analysis identified Proteobacteria, Deferribacteres, Ehryarchaeoia, and Elusimicrobia as biomarkers distinguishing the rumen microbiota among the groups. In conclusion, AGF supplementation increased the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria in the rumen of Nubian goats, and thus enhanced the growth performance. TW supplementation significantly increased rumen microbial diversity and abundance, suggesting benefits for rumen health despite poor palatability. These findings highlight the potential of AGF as a new green additive with important implications for the efficiency and development of animal husbandry.

Plant essential oils improve growth performance by increasing antioxidative capacity, enhancing intestinal barrier function, and modulating gut microbiota in Muscovy ducks