ABSTRACT The objective of the current study was to examine the effect of replacing maize with new or stored wheat on the nutrient intake, digestibility, digesta viscosity, and growth performance of growing broilers from 1-21 days of age. For this purpose, 560 one-day-old male broiler chicks were randomly divided into seven experimental treatments, each with 8 replicates of 10 birds. The control diet was a corn soybean-based diet, while six other experimental treatments replaced the corn of the control diet with either 50% or 100% of new, 1.5 year, and 2.5-year-old wheat. The results showed that the replacement of corn with new wheat at 50% and 100% in the diet of broilers significantly reduced feed intake and body weight gain, and increased FCR (p<0.05) at week 3. Similarly, in the overall period of the starter phase (1-21 days), replacement of corn with new wheat at 50% and 100% in the diet of broilers significantly reduced feed intake, nutrient digestibility, and body weight gain, and increased digesta viscosity and FCR (p<0.05). Based on the findings of the current study, it is concluded that stored wheat successfully replaces corn and new wheat in the diet of broilers. Furthermore, stored wheat has a positive impact on feed intake, performance parameter, digesta viscosity, and nutrient digestibility as compared to new wheat.

The effects of yeast cell wall (YCW) supplementation on growth performance, cell-mediated immune response, blood metabolites, and health scores in early-weaned male buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) calves were evaluated. Forty Nili Ravi buffalo calves were randomly divided into four groups and supplemented with four dietary treatments, namely control (animals without prebiotics), YCW-2 (yeast cell wall fed at 2 g/calf/day), YCW-4 (yeast cell wall fed at 4 g/calf/day), and cMOS-4 (commercial mannan-oligosaccharide fed at 4 g/calf/day). Milk intake, dry matter intake (DMI), and health scores were recorded daily, whereas body weight (body weight) and structural developments (hip height, wither height, heart girth, and body length) were recorded weekly. Feed efficiency and average daily gain (ADG) were calculated at the end of the experiment. Blood samples were collected fortnightly to determine glucose, non-esterified fatty acids, beta-hydroxybutyric acid (ßHBA), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), catalase, malondialdehyde, creatinine, hepatic enzymes, cholesterol, triglycerides, and total serum protein profile. The cell-mediated immune response was determined by the application of dinitrochlorobenzene directly to the skin. The results of the study revealed that supplementation of YCW and cMOS increased DMI, body weight, feed efficiency, ADG, and structural growth in buffalo calves, whereas faecal scores were significantly improved in supplemented groups compared to the control. Glucose, BUN, and ßHBA improved in supplemented animals more than in the control group, indicating bioactivity that contributed to the improvement of gut health. Supplementation with YCW improved the growth performance, physiological responses, and gut health of early-weaned male buffalo calves.

The study evaluated the efficacy of ethanolic extracts of Catharanthus roseus (C. roseus) in altering growth performance, viscera development and intestinal microarchitecture in broilers. Day-old broiler chicks (n = 175) were randomly divided into seven groups (n = 25/group) with 5 replicates (n = 5). The chicks in the control groups were fed a corn-soya-based basal diet, whereas groups 2 - 4 had the same basal diets supplemented with 0.05%, 0.1%, and 0.2% ethanolic leaf extracts (ELE), respectively. Chicks in groups 5 - 7 were fed the basal diet supplemented with 0.05%, 0.1%, and 0.2% ethanolic root extracts (ERE) of C. roseus, respectively. The growth performance and feed conversion ratio remained unchanged, but feed consumption of birds supplemented with 0.1% ERE increased in weeks 1 and 3. The relative length of the small intestine was lower in the 0.05% ERE group compared with the control. Villus height, width, surface area, and lamina propria thickness were higher in the 0.1% ERE group in all three segments of the small intestine than in the control. Broilers supplemented with 0.1% ERE performed better in terms of feed consumption and improved intestinal microarchitecture of the small intestine.