The study evaluated the effect of essential oils from lavender (Lavandula stoaches) (LEO), on growth performance, carcass quality and antioxidant status of broilers. Three nutritionally adequate diets were composed with the addition of LEO at 0, 24, and 48 mg/kg of feed. The diets were fed as mash in the starter (d 0-21) and grower (d 22-39) phases. A total of 405 day-old chicks (Ross-308) were allocated to the three dietary treatments, each with three replicate pens with 45 birds per pen. After the first 21-day feeding period, the bodyweight of chicks fed 24 mg/kg LEO was higher (P <0.01) than the 48 mg/kg LEO treatment, but only slightly higher than that of the untreated group. Diets with 24 and 48 mg/kg of LEO tended to increase final bodyweight of birds at 39 days old. No differences were observed for feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and mortality among treatments. Feeding chickens on a diet with added LEO significantly reduced the relative weight of liver (P <0.01) compared with the control (CNT) group. Percentage of spleen weight of birds fed 24 mg/kg LEO was lower (P <0.05) than for those who received 48 mg/kg LEO. However, it was similar to that of the CNT. Birds fed diets supplemented with 24 and 48 mg/kg LEO had breast meat with higher brightness (L* value) and higher concentration of superoxide dismutase (SOD) compared with birds that did not receive LEO. Based on the data, it can be concluded that LEO could be used as a growth promoter in broiler nutrition with potential improvements in breast meat quality.

Organic broiler chicken production has recently received more attention worldwide. This study carried out an economic analysis to compare the profitability of organic versus conventional growing systems per unit of broiler meat production. In this study, 400 slow-growing broilers (Hubbard Red-JA) were reared in an organic production system and the same number of fast-growing broilers (Ross-308) were reared in a conventional system. Profitability was deduced from an economic analysis that compared total costs and net income. Results showed that organic broiler meat can cost from 70% to 86% more with respect to variable and fixed costs when compared with conventional production. The main reasons for the higher cost of organic broiler meat were feed, labor, certification, and outdoor area maintenance. The proportion of fixed costs in total costs was 1.54% in the conventional system and 7.48% in the organic system. The net income per kg of chicken meat in the organic system was €0.75, which is 180% higher compared with the conventional system (€0.27); however, organic broiler meat was sold at a twice as high price than the conventional one. In conclusion, organic broiler meat production was more economical than conventional rearing.

Recently, organic broiler chicken production has received more attention worldwide. This study has carried out an economic analysis to compare the profitability of organic versus conventional growing systems per unit of broiler meat production. To achieve this goal, 400 slow-growing broiler chickens (Hubbard Red-JA) were reared in an organic production system, and the same number of fast-growing birds (Ross-308) in a conventional system. The profitability was deduced with an economic analysis that compared total costs and net income. Results showed that organic broiler meat can cost from 70% to 86% more with respect to variable and fixed costs when compared with conventional production. The main reasons for the higher cost of organic broiler meat were feed, labor, certification, and outdoor area maintenance. The proportion of fixed costs in total costs was 1.54% in the conventional system and 7.48% in the organic system. The net income per kg of chicken meat in the organic system was € 0.75, which is 180% higher than chicken meat grown in a conventional system (€ 0.27); however, the price of organic broiler meat sold in the present study was twice as high as that obtained for conventional broilers. In conclusion, organic broiler meat production was more profitable than conventional rearing.

In this study, performance and carcass characteristics of slow-growing broiler chicks, reared in organic or conventional systems, and fed a diet with an essential oil mixture (EOM, 48 mg/kg diet), were evaluated in the autumn and spring seasons. The rearing system affected several performance indices, including body weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR), but not mortality, within a high statistical significance at 42 and 81 days of age. However, this was observed only from 1 to 42 days in the spring trial. Dietary administration with EOM worsened the FCR at 42 and at 81 days of age in the autumn trial, but not in spring. Organically reared slow-growing chickens consumed less feed mixture per unit of body weight gain, but attained a higher final weight compared with those kept indoors. However, the effect was more pronounced in autumn, which displayed cooler temperatures and robust plant cover availability (i.e. lucerne and trifolium). The carcass yield and cut-up carcass yield were not affected by the rearing system, but EOM diet supplementation increased breast yield only in the spring. The results suggest that autumn conditions promote efficient organic chicken production in the subtropical climatic zone. The amount of herbage consumed represented up to 10% and 3% of the birds' daily protein and ether extract requirements, respectively. Supplementing the diet with a mixture of plant essential oils did not support the hypothesis that phytogenic compounds may favourably affect gut function and poultry performance.

Meat and bone meal (MBM) and oyster shell meal (OSM) were supplemented to a basal diet (LMS), either alone or in combination, in order to assess the dietary influences of those complementary Ca sources on performance and egg quality of laying hens. Four hundred and thirty-two Brown-Nick hens, at the beginning of their second production period, were divided into four treatment groups with six replicates each. The final body weight of OSM-fed hens was highest, whereas others did not differ significantly. Hens receiving OSM produced more eggs and egg mass along with considerably greater feed intake than those on all the other treatments. Egg weight was not affected by the treatments except for the lower egg weight of the MBM+OSM treatment. Hens fed a diet supplemented with MBM laid at a rate of 1.14%, 3.66% points lower than those on the control and OSM treatments, respectively. Feed efficiency was not influenced by origin of calcium source. Egg shape index and eggshell weight did not differ among treatments. Eggshell thickness and eggshell breaking strength were higher in hens fed with MBM as compared to control and OSM fed birds. Similar to the tendency in shell quality, MBM inclusion in the diet tended to enhance albumen height and Haugh unit. Dietary treatment with OSM resulted in the highest serum Ca and P concentrations. These results indicate that partially replacing limestone with OSM in the laying hen diet provided significant improvements in egg production performance, whereas most of the egg quality traits were enhanced by dietary supplementation with MBM at 4%.

The major quality characteristics of breast and thigh meat, including chemical composition, fatty acid composition, cholesterol content and colour of slow-growing broilers (Hubbard Red-JA), reared under either organic or conventional rearing systems, and fast-growing broilers (Ross-308) grown under the conventional procedure, were investigated in this comparative study. Slaughter age was 81 days and 42 days for slow- and fast-growing birds, respectively. A lower protein, but higher fat content was measured in the thigh meat of slow-growing broilers reared both in the organic and conventional systems, compared with conventionally reared fast growers. In both systems the breast meat of fast-growing birds had a higher moisture content than those of the slow-growing birds. The organic system promoted ash retention in breast meat compared with conventional rearing procedures. The fatty acid profile of thigh and breast meat showed different responses to broiler rearing systems. Both thigh and breast meat of conventionally reared slow-growing birds contained higher cholestorel levels. Breast and thigh meat yielded from conventionally reared fast-growing birds had a markedly higher red appearance, but a lower yellow colour, than those of slow growers. The organic system increased the yellowness of the meat. In conclusion, the organic rearing procedure provided no added benefit to chicken meat quality than current conventional applications, except in yellowness. Meat produced from birds in the organic system did not meet consumer expectations of presenting a lower n-3 but a higher n-6/n-3 ratio in thigh meat.

A study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of an organic acid, a probiotic or a prebiotic alone or the prebiotic combined with the organic acid or the probiotic on the performance and slaughter characteristics of broiler chickens fed a maize-soya based diet. The six dietary treatments were: a basal diet (negative control) and diets containing 0.5 g mannan oligosaccharide/kg (prebiotic), or 1.0 g formic acid/kg (organic acid), or a probiotic at 0.5 g/kg, or 0.5 g prebiotic/kg + 1.0 g organic acid/kg, or 0.5 g prebiotic/kg + 0.5 g probiotic/kg feed. Each treatment consisted of eight pens with 50 birds per pen (25 male + 25 female). All dietary supplements, alone and in combination improved live weight significantly at both 21 and 42 days of age compared with the control. However, combinations of the prebiotic with either the organic acid or the probiotic had no additive benefit at 21 and 42 days of age in comparison with the prebiotic alone. The feed intake of the birds was significantly increased with prebiotic supplementation at day 21, but not at day 42. Organic acid significantly improved feed conversion ratio at day 21. The combination of prebiotic and probiotic significantly improved the feed conversion ratio at both 21 and 42 days in comparison with the control. At days 21 and 42 bird mortality was significantly higher in the treatments containing organic acid and organic acid with the prebiotic. In the female birds no slaughter traits were affected by dietary treatments. However, liver weight as a percentage of live weight in the male birds was significantly lowered with prebiotic and probiotic supplementation. Prebiotic supplementation with organic acid resulted in a significantly lower weight of the small intestines compared with the control. In general, the different feed additive regimens that include the prebiotic, probiotic, organic acid, prebiotic with organic acid and prebiotic with probiotic improved the growth rate of the birds significantly compared to the control treatment. The significant improvement in feed conversion ratio when the prebiotic and probiotic were supplemented together suggests a synergism between them.

The effects of some alternative feed additives for antibiotic growth promoters on performance and some slaughter characteristics were examined in broilers fed wheat-soya based basal starter and finisher diets. A total of 2160 one-day-old male broiler chicks were randomly allocated to six groups with six replicate pens per treatment. The treatments were the basal diet (Control), and the basal diet supplemented with an antibiotic growth promoter (AGP); a prebiotic, mannan oligosaccharide (Bio-Mos, MOS); an essential oil of oregano (Herb-Mos Oregano, HMO); a plant extract of hop (Herb-Mos Hops, HMH) or a mixture of Herb-Mos Oregano and Herb-Mos Hops (HMOH). There were significant effects of dietary treatments on body weight and feed conversion ratio in the 0 - 21 d period, and on body weight and feed consumption in the 0 - 42 d period. The addition of all experimental additives to the diet resulted in significantly higher body weights as compared to the control treatment at both 21 and 42 days of age. Feed intakes were significantly different between the treatments at 0 - 21 d and 22 - 42 d periods, but not during the 0 - 42 d period. However, during the 0 - 21 d period the broiler chickens that received diets supplemented with AGP, MOS, HMO, HMH and HMOH had significantly better feed conversion ratios than the control group, but this pattern was not sustained during the finisher period (22 - 42 d). Mortality rate, hot carcass yield and relative weights of the small intestines, pancreas, abdominal fat and bursa of fabricius were not affected by experimental treatments. The HMH supplementation increased relative liver weight. These results showed that AGP, MOS and herbal feed additive (HMO, HMH, HMOH) supplementation to a diet provided significant advantages on broiler growth performance through a 42-d growth period. However, the combined supplementation of HMO and HMH did not exert either synergistic or additive benefits on the live performance of the broilers. These results also proved that MOS, HMO, HMH and HMOH improved broiler live performance as well as an AGP in both the starter and through the grower period. Furthermore, outstanding advantages were evidenced for the HMH treatment in particular. Therefore, the MOS, HMO, HMH and HMOH performance enhancer feed additives of natural origin may be considered as potential substitutes for AGP in broiler diets.

Chordomas are rare tumors and they may arise anywhere along the spinal column and clival bone. The vast majority of tumors are found at skull base and sacrum. Chordomas involving the lumbar spine are rare. Approximately 6% of spinal chordomas originate in the lumbar vertebrae. We report a case of this chordoma arising from the lumbar vertebra.

Los cordomas son tumores poco frecuentes que pueden presentarse en cualquier parte de la columna vertebral y en el clivus. Sólo un mínimo porcentaje de estos tumores afectan el área lumbar. En este escrito presentamos un caso de cordoma lumbar y discutimos su presentación clínica, radiológica y las opciones de tratamiento.