In last decade, the uncontrolled use of antibiotics as growth promoter for livestock has led to the appearance of antibiotic-resistant pathogens and increased risk of infectious diseases. This situation has triggered intensive research efforts to find safe alternative strategies. Certainly, the plants and vegetables and their derivatives as natural safe substances could be good candidates in this respect. There is huge information on the immunostimulatory properties of herbal plans in human, and may contribute considerably to the improvement of the health and immune response and prevention of certain diseases in animals including poultry. Garlic (Allium sativum) is an herbal plant that has traditionally been used for the healing a number of human diseases and has in recent years been revealed to have immunostimulatory, anticardiovascular disease, antitumour, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. The scientific evidences suggest that allicin and other active components of garlic have also some positive effects for livestock, including hypocholesterolemic, growth promoting, antimicrobial and antioxidant effects. تفاصيل المقالة

Ruminants production systems are facing a critical period within global agriculture due to their unique digestive system which, whilst allowing them to utilize low-quality fiber-rich feed, produces the potent greenhouse gas methane (CH4) as a by-product. It has been proposed that saponin-rich plants can be used to reduce CH4 emissions from ruminant livestock, although the reported results are variable in terms of efficacy. Here we use meta-analytical methods to investigate the literature to determine if saponins can contribute to reducing CH4 production and its further effects on other rumen fermentation parameters in sheep. Following defined search terms available papers on the subject were collected for the period 1990 to 2019 and inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, an analysis was conducted on CH4 production, CH4 per dry matter intake (DMI), ruminal pH, total volatile fatty acid (VFA), acetate, propionate, butyrate, and acetate-to-propionate ratio based on a comparison between a saponin supplemented group and a control group. The standardized effect size (Hedges’ g) was calculated at the confidence interval of 95%. Q-test and I2 statistic were used to determine heterogeneity and publication bias was identified through the Egger test. The meta-analysis determined that using saponin sources tended to decrease CH4 production (P=0.062) and acetate-to-propionate ratio (P=0.057), with a reduction in CH4/DMI (P=0.001) and an increase in propionate concentration (P=0.011). No significant difference was observed in ruminal pH, total VFA concentration, and butyrate concentration. The I2statistic for the parameters analyzed here was below 50% for heterogeneity with the Egger test results indicating a publication bias for CH4 production. تفاصيل المقالة

This research was conducted to compare the effects of two medicinal plants (peppermint and aloe vera) and antibiotic growth promoter on ileum microflora population and growth performance of broiler chickens. In this experiment, 375 one-day old male broiler chickens (Ross 308) were used on a completely randomized design with 5 dietary treatments which were replicated 5 times with 15 birds per replicate. The experimental treatments were: 1) the control diet (basal diet with no additive); 2) basal diet + 10 g/kg dry peppermint leaves (DPL); 3) basal diet + 10 g/kg aloe vera gel (AVG); 4) basal diet + 5 g/kg DPL + 5 g/kg AVG and 5) basal diet + 10 ppm virginiamycin. Growth performance parameters were evaluated during the starter, grower and finisher periods and the populations of Lactobacillus and Escherichia coli bacteria was determined on the 42nd day of age. The maximum number of Lactobacillus bacteria was observed in the ileumof broilers fed diets containing DPL + AVG (P<0.05). The birds receiving the medicinal plant supplements had lower Escherichia coli population in comparison with control birds (P<0.05). The antibiotic fed broilers had higher feed intake, body weight gain, and dressing percentage than the control treatment and those fed medicinal herbs. The broilers fed medicinal herbs had higher feed intake, body weight gain and dressing percentage than the control (P<0.05). The birds fed mixture of DPL + AVG has better growth performance and dressing percentage. This study suggests that using a mixture of peppermint and aloe vera as a feed supplement of broiler chickens could be a potential alternative for antibiotic growth promoter. تفاصيل المقالة

This study was conducted to examine effects of resistant starch compared to fructooligosaccharide (FOS) and zinc bacitracin (ZnB), on performance and ileum morphology in broilers. The experiment groups included a control (basal diet with no additive; CON), four groups receiving different levels of resistant starch type 2 (1, 2, 3, and 4% added to basal diet; RS), a group receiving fructooligosaccharide (0.4% in basal diet; FOS), and a group receiving Zinc bacitracin (50 mg/kg basal diet; ZnB). The findings on the day 35 indicated that the groups that received 2% and 3% RS were not significantly different from the FOS group and the ZnB group in terms of feed intake. The largest body weight and the smallest feed conversion ratio was found in the ZnB group (P<0.05). Body weights in the groups treated with 3% and 4% RS were not significantly different from the FOS group. The 3% and 4% RS groups had a greater villus height (P<0.05) and a smaller crypt depth compared to the FOS group. These results demonstrated that while the ZnB group had a better performance than other groups, it seems that adding 3% and 4% RS resulted in a performance similar to adding FOS. تفاصيل المقالة