ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of gosling quality on their growth parameters, intestinal villus morphology, blood biochemistry, and nonspecific pathological lesions from 0 to 4 weeks old. Seventy-two goslings were randomly distributed into 12 pens, with each pen containing three males and three females in a completely randomized design of two control variables, including healthy and weak goslings. Healthy goslings all shared the same characteristics, such as good features with no abnormalities and full absorption of yolk sac. Albeit lighter body weight (<85 g/bird) and incomplete absorption of the yolk sac were found in the weak geese, no obvious disease was exhibited in them. Post mortem examination revealed that the incidence of nonspecific pathological lesions of the 4 week-old healthy and weak gosling groups were 25.0 and 50.0%, respectively. Nonspecific pathological changes of 4 week-old goslings in the liver, ileum, lung, and heart were 16.7, 12.5, 8.3, and 4.2%, respectively. The healthy goslings also had higher total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotein than weak goslings. Separately raising weak goslings from 0 to 4 weeks old could increase the survival rate and reduce economic losses of feeding.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the in vitro free radical scavenging activity and antioxidant capacity in solid-state fermented wheat bran and its potential modulation of antioxidative molecular targets in chicken peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). After solid-state fermentation of wheat bran by white rot fungi for 12 d, the scavenging action of the fermented wheat bran extracts was 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and the free radicals increased significantly, approximately 1.5-fold. Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity of 1 mg/mL fermented wheat bran extracts was increased from 100 to 150 mM trolox antioxidant capacity after 12 d of fermentation. Moreover, the extracts exhibited 50% of the chelating capacity observed for ferrous iron (Fe2+) after fermenting for 12 d. In vitro, and under the stimulus of fermented wheat bran, the antioxidant gene expression (GST, HO-1, Nrf2, and GCLC genes) of PBMC was more than double that of the PBS, ascorbic acid, and unfermented wheat bran. The expression of fermented wheat bran was the lowest for the NOX1 and ROMO1 genes. Solid-state wheat bran fermented by white rot fungi can increase the scavenging action of DPPH, the trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity, and the chelating capacity of ferrous iron; in addition, in vitro, it can regulate the expression of antioxidant molecular targets in chicken PBMC.

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to determine the effect of spent mushroom compost (SMC) meal on the growth performance and meat characteristics of geese. The SMC extracts contained 2.49±0.62 mg gallic acid equivalent/g dry weight (DW) and 1.08±0.15 mg quercetin equivalent/g DW of the total phenolic and flavonoid contents. A total of 120 White Roman geese, aged five weeks, were randomly distributed among 12 pens and fed a grower diet ad libitum during the growing period, with each pen containing five males and five females in a completely randomized design. Each treatment comprised three pens (total of 30 geese), including control (corn-soybean meal); supplementation with 5% SMC meal (5% SMC); supplementation with 10% SMC (10% SMC); and supplementation with 15% SMC (15% SMC), for eight weeks. The results revealed that the body weight of the 15% SMC group was significantly lower than that of the control group at the age of 12 weeks. There were no significant effects among the groups on feed conversion ratio or intake. The malondialdehyde content of the serum in the 15% SMC group was lower than that of the control group at week 12. There were no significant effects among the groups for blood biochemical parameters in grower geese at week 12. The color values of meats in the SMC groups were higher than those obtained with control group. The flavor and acceptability score of meats in the 5% SMC group were significantly higher than for the 15% SMC and control group. Supplementation with SMC at 5% in the diet has no adverse effects on the growth performance of grower geese. However, SMC meal at 5% in the diet favorably affects sensory attributes (meat flavor and acceptability).