The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of shackling and halal slaughter with head-only electrical stunning (ES) using water bath or no stunning (NS) on plasma levels of adrenaline (AD), noradrenaline (NAD) and corticosterone (CORT) levels of broiler chickens. Male and female broiler chickens (Cobb 500) 38 days old from a commercial farm in Johore, Malaysia, were placed in plastic crates (0.80 χ 0.60 χ 0.31 m) at 10 birds per crate, and transported for 2.5 hours in an open truck. The ambient temperature during transportation was 25 to 27 °C. Upon arrival at a commercial processing plant, a total of 50 male broiler chickens (2.2 - 2.5 kg) were randomly selected from the flocks that were delivered, transferred to different five crates (10 birds per crate) and held in a lairage for 2 to 3 h. Blood samples were collected at various points, namely after lairaging (P1) (first sampling point for both ES and NS chickens, regarded as basal values), shackling (P2) (second sampling point for both ES and NS chickens), stunning (P3) (third sampling point for ES chickens), and ventral neck incision in stunned (P4) (fourth sampling point for ES chickens) and no stun (P5) (third sampling point for NS chickens). Ten birds were sampled at each sampling point (50 birds in total). Both stunned and no stun birds were shackled. Results show that shackling (P2) did not significantly affect the AD, NAD and CORT levels. However, electrical stunning elevated both the AD and CORT levels significantly, but not NAD. Neck cut had negligible effect on the AD and NAD in NS and ES broilers, but significantly increased CORT compared with the basal CORT value. In conclusion, the study demonstrated that head-only electrical stunning using a water bath might elevate AD and CORT. The study concluded that, as measured by AD and NAD, slaughter with or without stunning may not induce a physiological stress response in broilers.

Prebiotic effects of oligosaccharides extract from palm kernel expeller (OligoPKE) on Salmonella typhimurium were investigated in chicks in two experiments. Results of the first experiment showed that OligoPKE reduced the colonization of Salmonella typhimurium in the cecum and increased the immunoglobulin A (IgA) production in the blood and jejunum. The second experiment further investigated the prebiotic efficacy of dietary supplementation of OligoPKE on three levels of Salmonella typhimurium infection (1.0 x 104 Colony-forming unit (CFU)/mL; 1.0 x 106 CFU/mL and 1.0 x 108 CFU/mL) in chicks. OligoPKE reduced the colonization of Salmonella in the medium and high levels of infection. IgA level in serum and jejunum content increased significantly in all the three levels of infection when chicks received OligoPKE in their diet. Interleukin 8, and 10; interferon-α; and tumour necrosis factor genes were up-regulated in the jejunum of the infected chicks, and OligoPKE down-regulated these gene expressions. Results of the current study indicated that OligoPKE, an oligosaccharides extract from palm kernel expeller, is capable of reducing colonization of Salmonella typhimurium in young chicks, and boosted their immunity.

Conscious animals typically experience sensory (nociception) and emotional pain, whereas unconscious animals that were minimally anesthetized would experience minimal emotional pain. To determine whether 'silencing' the emotional component through a minimally anesthetized model would minimize stress response, and thus improve animal welfare, this study aimed at comparing changes in electroencephalographic (EEG) activities associated with possible noxious stimuli following neck-cut slaughter in conscious non-anesthetized versus minimally anaesthetized Boer cross-bred goats. Ten bucks were randomly assigned to two groups of five animals each, and subjected to neck-cut slaughter when fully conscious (HS) or under minimal anaesthesia (AS) and exsanguinated. The anaesthesia was induced with propofol (5 mg/kg) administered to effect by rapid injection into a cephalic vein and maintained with halothane in 100 % oxygen. Changes in the root mean square (RMS) for each of alpha, beta, delta and theta waves, median frequency (F50) and total power of the EEG (Ptot) were compared in each group before and after neck cut and between groups following treatments. Electroencephalographic parameters did not differ between goats that were fully conscious or slaughtered under minimal anaesthesia. These findings showed that the noxious stimuli from neck cut were present in both conscious and minimally anaesthetized goats. Most importantly, the presence of emotional pain and nociception did not affect the extent of electroencephalographic responses significantly compared with animals that were experiencing nociception only.

Although the use of probiotics especially Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria species on growth and feed utilization in poultry production has been extensively studied, the results were inconsistent presumably because the mode of action of probiotic is multi-factorial and each probiotic strain may affect the host in a specific manner. This study investigated the probiotic effect of two strains of Lactobacillus (Lactobacillus pentosus ITA23 and Lactobacillus acidophilus ITA44; 109 cells/kg feed) isolated from mulberry (Morus Alba) silage on the growth performance, cecal microbial population, and blood cholesterol of broiler chickens. One hundred twenty male broiler chicks (Cobb500) were randomLy allocated to two groups (control and treatment) of six replicates (cages) with 10 chicks per cage. Chicks in the control group received a standard diet and those in the treatment group received the same diet supplemented with 109 cells of the above Lactobacillus per kg feed. Supplementation of Lactobacillus did not affect body weight gain (averaged 1604 g at 35 days old) but feed conversion ratio improved (p<0.01) by 6.4% due to reduction in feed intake (p<0.01) by birds in the treatment group. Supplementation also increased the population of Lactobacillus spp. and reduced pathogens E. coli in the cecal samples. Although Lactobacillus supplementation tends to reduce serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and triglyceride concentrations, these values were not significantly different from those of the control group. Results of this study showed that L. pentosus ITA23 and L. acidophilus ITA44 are potential probiotics to be used in poultry diets.

In order to investigate the effects of the dietary supplementation of organic acids, prebiotics and probiotics on broiler chickens, a total of 288 day-old male Cobb chicks were allocated in a completely randomized design according to a 2 x 4 factorial, consisting of two levels of crude protein (recommended or low (85% of recommended)) and a four feed-additive programme. The basal diet without any feed additive served as control and one of the following additives, organic acids, a prebiotic and a probiotic, were added to the basal diet to form the other treatments. Starter and finisher diets were offered from 1 to 21 d and 22 to 42 d of age, respectively. The birds were reared in an open-sided house system under natural tropical conditions with the same housing and general management practices. Lowering the dietary protein level significantly decreased bird performance throughout the experiment. Additives had no significant effects on body weight, body weight gain and feed intake. Dietary supplementation with the prebiotic resulted in significant improvements in feed efficiency during 22 - 42 d and 1 - 42 d of age. At 21 and 42 d of age birds fed the diets containing the prebiotic had the longest duodenal villi compared to the other treatments. Jejunum villi, and duodenum and jejunum crypt depth were not influenced by additives. At 21 d of age the dietary addition of the prebiotic and organic acids significantly increased the antibody titres against Newcastle disease compared to the control group. It could be concluded that under the condition of the current study, the prebiotic affected performance, small intestinal morphology and immunity of broiler chickens significantly.