• Animal Bioscience
• /
• v.37 no.1
• /
• pp.151-160
• /
• 2024

Objective: The growing consumers' interest on animal welfare has raised the request of products obtained by alternative rearing systems. The present study was conducted to assess the influence of housing system on gut and muscle morphology and on microbial load in rabbits reared under free-range (FR) and cage system (CS). Methods: A total of forty weaned (35 days of age) male Italian White breed rabbits were allotted according to the rearing system, and at 91 days of age were randomly selected and slaughtered for the morphological evaluation of tissue from duodenum and longissimus lumborum. Morphometric analysis of the villus height, villus width, crypt depth, villus height/crypt depth ratio, and villus surface was performed. The microbial loads on hind muscle was determined by total mesophilic aerobic count (TMAC), Escherichia coli and Enterobacteriaceae; whereas, total anaerobic bacteria count (TABC) and TMAC, E. coli and Enterobacteriaceae was determined on caecal content. Results: Rearing system did not interfere with the duodenum and muscle histomorphology in both rabbit groups. Similarly, microbial load of caecal content showed no significant differences on the TABC and TMAC. Conversely, significant difference was found for E. coli strains in caecal content, with the lower counts in FR compared to CS rabbits (p<0.01). Microbiological assay of muscle revealed significant lower TMAC in FR vs CS rabbits (p< 0.05). All rabbit meat samples were negative for E. Coli and Enterobacteriaceae. Conclusion: Free-range could be considered a possible alternative and sustainable rearing system in rabbits to preserve gut environment and muscle quality.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.25 no.12
• /
• pp.1726-1733
• /
• 2012

The effect of genotype, fibre level and fibre source on gut morphology, environment and microflora was studied using 18 Mong Cai (MC) and 18 Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire (LY) pigs, aged around 60 d. The diets were based on maize, rice bran, soybean meal, fish meal and soybean oil, and cassava residue (CR) or brewer's grain (BG) as fibrous ingredient sources in the high-fibre diets (HF). A low-fibre diet (LF), containing around 200 g NDF/kg dry matter (DM), was formulated without CR and BG as feed ingredients. The HF diets (HF-CR and HF-BG) were formulated to contain around 270 g NDF/kg DM. The experiment was arranged according to a $2{\times}3$ factorial completely randomized design with six replications, and lasted 30 d. Crypt density in ileum was lowest (p<0.05) and villus height in jejunum and ileum were the greatest (p<0.05) in pigs fed diet HF-BG. Villus width in ileum was greatest in pigs fed diets HF-CR and HF-BG (p<0.05). Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) counts in stomach were greatest (p<0.05) and E. coli counts in ileum and colon were lowest (p<0.05) in pigs fed diet HF-CR. The concentration of total organic acids in ileum, caecum and colon were greatest (p<0.05), and pH in ileum and colon were lowest (p<0.05) in pigs fed diet HF-CR. Crypt density in ileum was lowest, and villus height in ileum and villus width in jejunum and ileum was greatest in LY pigs (p<0.05). LAB counts in stomach and ileum were greatest, and E. coli counts in ileum were lowest in MC pigs (p<0.05). The concentration of total organic acids in ileum, caecum and colon were greatest (p<0.05) and pH lowest (p<0.05) in MC pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.21 no.11
• /
• pp.1659-1664
• /
• 2008

To study the working mechanisms for non-starch polysaccharidases to improve the growth performance of broiler chickens, a 21-day feeding trial was conducted. Two dietary treatments were included: 1) wheat diet (the control); 2) wheat+xylanase diet (xylanase, Allzyme PT, Alltech, Kentucky, USA). There were 8 replicates with 8 birds each for each treatment and the experimental diets were given to birds from hatch. Feed intake and body weight were measured on days 7 and 21. At the same ages, samples were taken for the determination of selected groups of luminal and mucosa-associated bacteria, mucosal morphology, brush-border membrane (BBM) bound enzyme activity and ileal nutrient digestibility. The xylanase supplement increased (p<0.05) body weight gain (BWG) and improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) at the end of the experiment but protein and starch digestibilities were not affected (p>0.05) by xylanase. Up to day 7, xylanase increased the counts of C. perfringens in the ileum and total anaerobic bacteria (TAB) in the caeca (p<0.05, p=0.07, respectively). By day 21, the counts of ileal lactobacilli (p<0.05) and TAB (p=0.07) were lower in birds given the xylanase-supplemented diet than in those on the control diet. No significant differences were observed in the counts of mucosa-associated lactobacilli and coliforms between xylanase treatment and the control at both ages. Villus height at the jejunum was not affected (p>0.05) by the supplement but crypt depth at the same site was reduced at day 7. Also, xylanase tended to increase the concentration of BBM protein (p = 0.09) and the specific activity of sucrase (p = 0.07) at day 21.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.580-587
• /
• 2010

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary water-soluble carbohydrate extract from Renga renga lily (Arthropodium cirratum) and a commercial product, $Frutafit^{{\circledR}}$ (both fructans) on the performance, organ weights, ileal digestibility and gut morphology of male Cobb broiler chickens. There were six treatment groups: a negative control with no supplements, a positive control supplemented with 45 ppm Zn-bacitracin, and four test diets each supplemented with Renga renga lily extract or Frutafit at 5 or 10 g/kg diet. Supplementation with low levels of Renga renga lily extract and Frutafit in the diet did not affect productive parameters, whereas the inclusion of a high level of Frutafit had a negative effect on BWG and FI compared with birds fed the negative control diet. The addition of an antibiotic to the diet significantly improved (p<0.05) the BWG and FCR of broilers. Apparent ileal digestibility of dry matter, starch, protein and fat was not affected (p>0.05) by supplementation with both levels of lily extract and the low level of Frutafit. The apparent ileal digestibility of dry matter, protein and fat was decreased (p<0.05) by the high level of Frutafit. The apparent metabolisable energy (AME) of the diets fed the high level of Frutafit was approximately 0.2 MJ/kg DM lower than that of the negative control group. The addition of Zn-bacitracin increased (p<0.05) the apparent ileal digestibility of fat. The relative weight of the liver was higher (p<0.05) in broilers supplemented with the high level of Frutafit than for negative control birds at 14 and 35 d of age. Feeding Renga renga lily extract or Frutafit had no effect on the gut morphology of birds on d 14 and 35. It can be concluded that dietary inclusion of fructans from the two sources used in this study affected broiler performance differently and in a dose-dependent manner.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.50 no.4
• /
• pp.841-860
• /
• 2023

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary mangosteen peel extract (MPE) on growth performance, serum biochemistry, jejunum morphology, and cytokine levels in growing pigs raised at a high stocking density. A total of 120 male growing pigs (43.68 ± 0.48 kg) were randomly arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial design with stocking density (high; HD, 0.55 m²/pig and normal; ND, 0.82 m²/pig) and dietary MPE (0 or 5 g/kg) as factors. Each treatment had six replicates with four or six pigs per treatment. Feed and water were provided ad libitum for 6 weeks. The HD group exhibited lower final body weight, average daily gain, and average daily feed than the ND group (p < 0.05). None of the factors affected villus height to crypt depth ratio. Dietary MPE, but not stocking density, increased IL-10 levels in the serum com-pared to the non-supplemented control diet (p < 0.05). In the microbiome analysis, alpha diversity analysis showed significant reductions in the MPE-treated group only under normal density conditions. High density stress induced gut microbiome changes and these response was differ between normal and MPE diet fed pigs. Overall, each group exhibited different major microbial composition in the gut. In conclusion, there were significant changes in the major microbial composition in response to high-density stress, and this variation was influenced by dietary treatment.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.64-70
• /
• 2017

Objective: In the present study, role of increasing levels of Ecklonia cava (seaweed) supplementation in diets was investigated on growth performance, coefficient of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD) of nutrients, serum immunoglobulins, cecal microflora and intestinal morphology of weanling pigs. Methods: A total of 200 weaned pigs (Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire${\times}$Duroc; initial body weight $7.08{\pm}0.15kg$) were randomly allotted to 4 treatments on the basis of body weight. There were 5 replicate pens in each treatment including 10 pigs of each. Treatments were divided by dietary Ecklonia cava supplementation levels (0%, 0.05%, 0.1%, or 0.15%) in growing-finishing diets. There were 2 diet formulation phases throughout the experiment. The pigs were offered the diets ad libitum for the entire period of experiment in meal form. Results: The pigs fed with increasing dietary concentrations of Ecklonia cava had linear increase (p<0.05) in the overall average daily gain, however, there were no significant differences in gain to feed ratio, CTTAD of dry matter and crude protein at both phase I and phase II. Digestibility of gross energy was linearly improved (p<0.05) in phase II. At day 28, pigs fed Ecklonia cava had greater (linear, p<0.05) Lactobacillus spp., fewer Escherichia coli (E. coli) spp. (linear, p<0.05) and a tendency to have fewer cecal Clostridium spp. (p = 0.077). The total anaerobic bacteria were not affected with supplementation of Ecklonia cava in diets. Polynomial contrasts analysis revealed that villus height of the ileum exhibited a linear increase (p<0.05) in response with the increase in the level of dietary Ecklonia cava. However, villus height of duodenum and jejunum, crypt depth, villus height to crypt depth ratio of different segments of the intestine were not affected. Conclusion: The results suggest that Ecklonia cava had beneficial effects on the growth performance, cecal microflora, and intestinal morphology of weanling pigs.

• Journal of Species Research
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.325-338
• /
• 2020

The animal gut is filled with highly diverse microbes associated with host metabolism, physiology, and pathology. However, numerous animal gut microbes have not been cultured or reported. We isolated various bacterial species using culture-dependent approaches during a comprehensive investigation of endangered endemic vertebrate species in the Republic of Korea. A total of 18 unrecorded bacterial species were isolated from the feces of an Oriental stork (Ciconia boyciana), and from the intestinal tracts of a cobitid fish (Kichulchoia multifasciata) and a Korean splendid dace (Coreoleuciscus splendidus). Based on a phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences, we discovered species belonging to the phyla Actinobacteria (eight species), Firmicutes (seven species), Proteobacteria (two species), and Bacteroidetes (one species). Based on their high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities (>98.7%) and formation of monophyletic clades with type species, each species was classified into an independent and predefined bacterial species. Gram-stain reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic biochemical characteristics, isolation source, and NIBR IDs for each species are described in the species description section.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.20 no.7
• /
• pp.1084-1091
• /
• 2007

Different levels of dietary mannanoligosaccharide (Bio-MOS, Alltech Inc.) were evaluated for their efficacy on performance and gut development of broiler chickens during a 6-week experimental period. Experimental diets contained (g MOS/kg diet) a low (0.5 g during the entire period), medium (1 g during the entire period), high (2 g during the entire period), or step down (2 g in the first week; 1 g in the second and third week; 0.5 g in the last three weeks) level of MOS. Control diets included a negative and a positive control (zinc bacitracin, ZnB, 50 ppm and 30 ppm in the first and last three weeks, respectively). MOS supplementation improved the growth performance of young birds and the effects became less when the birds got older. The growth response of birds was more obvious at the high dosage level of MOS treatment than the other MOS treatments and the growth performance of birds fed on the high MOS diet was comparable to that of birds fed on the ZnB diet. Depending on the dosage level and the age of birds, MOS seemed to reduce the size of the liver and the relative length of the small intestine but did not affect the relative weight of the other visceral organs (proventriculus, gizzard, pancreas, bursa and spleen) and that of the small intestine. A numerical increase in the small intestine digestibility of nutrients was noticed in the young birds fed on the MOS diet(s), but not in the older ones. Medium and/or high MOS treatment also increased the villus height of the small intestine of birds at different ages. Similar results were observed on the ZnB treatment. However, MOS and ZnB affected caecal VFA profile in different ways. MOS increased, or tended to increase, whereas ZnB reduced individual VFA concentrations in the caeca.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.541-551
• /
• 2012

The effects of dietary additives and holding time on resistance and resilience of broiler chickens to Clostridium perfringens challenge were investigated by offering four dietary treatments. These were a negative control (basal), a positive control (Zn-bacitracin) and two dietary additives, mannanoligosaccharides (MOS), and acidifier. Two holding times included (a) immediate access to feed and water post hatch (FED) and (b) access to both feed and water 48 h post hatch (HELD). Chicks fed Zn-bacitracin had no intestinal lesions attributed to necrotic enteritis (NE), whereas chicks fed both MOS or acidifier showed signs of NE related lesions. All dietary treatments were effective in reducing the numbers of C. perfringens in the ileum post challenge. The FED chicks had heavier body weight and numerically lower mortality. The FED chicks also showed stronger immune responses to NE challenge, showing enhanced (p<0.05) proliferation of T-cells. Early feeding of the MOS supplemented diet increased (p<0.05) IL-6 production. The relative bursa weight of the FED chicks was heavier at d 21 (p<0.05). All the additives increased the relative spleen weight of the HELD chicks at d 14 (p<0.05). The FED chicks had increased villus height and reduced crypt depth, and hence an increased villus/crypt ratio, especially in the jejunum at d 14 (p<0.05). The same was true for the HELD chicks given dietary additives (p<0.05). It may be concluded that the chicks with early access to dietary additives showed enhanced immune response and gut development, under C. perfringens challenge. The findings of this study shed light on managerial and nutritional strategies that could be used to prevent NE in the broiler industry without the use of in-feed antibiotics.

• Animal Bioscience
• /
• v.36 no.8
• /
• pp.1252-1262
• /
• 2023

Objective: Microencapsulation technologies have been developed and successfully applied to protect the probiotic bacterial cells damaged by environmental exposure. This study aimed to investigate the effects of microencapsulation of Lactobacillus plantarum MB001 on the growth performance, ileal nutrient digestibility, jejunal histomorphology and cecal microbiome of broiler chickens in a tropical climate. Methods: A total of 288 one-day-old female broilers (Ross 308) were randomly allocated into 4 groups (6 replicates of 12 birds). Treatments included, i) a basal diet (NC), ii) NC + avilamycin (10 mg/kg) (PC), iii) NC + non-encapsulated L. plantarum MB001 (1×10⁸ colony-forming unit [CFU]/kg of diet) (N-LP), iv) NC + microencapsulated L. plantarum MB001 (1×10⁸ CFU/kg of diet) (ME-LP). Results: Dietary supplementation of ME-LP improved average daily gain, and feed conversion ratio of broilers throughout the 42-d trial period (p<0.05), whereas ME-LP did not affect average daily feed intake compared with NC group. Both N-LP and ME-LP improved apparent ileal digestibility of crude protein and ether extract compared with NC group (p<0.05). The broilers fed ME-LP supplemented diet exhibited a beneficial effect on jejunal histomorphology of villus height (VH), crypt depth (CD) and villus height to crypt depth ratio (VH:CD) of broilers compared to NC group (p<0.05). At the phylum level, Firmicutes was enriched (p<0.05) and Proteobacteria was decreased (p<0.05) only in the ME-LP group. At the genus level, the ME-LP diets increased (p<0.05) the number of both Lactobacillus and Enterococcus compared to NC, PC, and N-LP groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: Microencapsulation assists the efficient functioning of probiotics. ME-LP could be potentially used as a feed additive for improvement of cecal microbiota, gut integrity and nutrient utilization, leading to better performance of broilers.