• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.1300-1308
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• 2016

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of phytogenic additive and antibiotic growth promoter in laying Japanese quails. One hundred and sixty five quails were divided into three groups of 5 replicates and 11 quails (8 females and 3 males) in each replicate. Treatment 1 was fed control diet, treatment 2 was fed control diet supplemented with 0.05% bacitracin methylene disalicylate as antibiotic growth promoter and treatment 3 was fed control diet supplemented with 0.1% phytogenic feed additive (PFA) for two periods of 3 weeks each from 37 to 42 weeks of age. Results showed that egg production, eggshell strength, eggshell weight, villus height and villus height to crypt depth ratio were significantly (p${\leq}$0.05) increased and feed consumption, feed conversion ratio, albumen, Haugh unit, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, alanine transaminase, gamma glutamyltransferase, alkaline phosphatase, high-density lipoprotein, triglyceride, number of goblet cell, crypt depth and intestinal bacterial population of Coliforms, Salmonella and E. coli were significantly (p${\leq}$0.05) decreased in PFA fed group. It is concluded that addition of PFA containing phytomolecules and organic acids as main ingredients could significantly improve the production parameters and the general health of laying quails as an alternative to antibiotic growth promoters.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.66 no.3
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• pp.471-481
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• 2024

Achyranthes japonica extract (AJE) is derived from a medicinal plant Achyranthes japonica, known for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties. AJE contains multiple bioactive compounds, including saponins, triterpenoids, phytoecdysteroids, 20-hydroxyecdysone, and inokosterone. The aim of this investigation was to examine the impact of AJE as a phytogenic feed additive on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, excreta microbial count, noxious gas emissions, breast meat quality in broilers. About three hundred and sixty, day-old broilers (Ross 308) were assigned into four treatments (five replication cages/treatment, and 18 birds/cage). Dietary treatments: CON, basal diet; 0.02% AJE, basal diet with 0.02%; 0.04% AJE, basal diet with 0.04% AJE, and 0.06% AJE, basal diet with 0.06% of AJE. Body weight gain increased linearly (p < 0.05) through the inclusion of AJE during days 7 to 21, 21 to 35, as well as the entire experimental period. Besides, feed intake increased (p < 0.05) linearly during days 21 to 35 and the entire experiment with the increased AJE doses in broiler diet. Dry matter digestibility was increased (p < 0.05) linearly along with increasing amounts of AJE. With increasing AJE supplementation, nitrogen and energy utilization tended to improve (p < 0.10). In summary, the addition of AJE in the corn-soybean meal diet led to higher body weight gain and increased feed intake as well as enhanced nutrient digestibility, among them the highest improvement was found in 0.06%-AJE indicating the acceptance of AJE as a phytogenic feed additive.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.151-159
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• 2017

The experiment was carried out on 648 Ross 308 broilers ($40.4{\pm}0.2$ g; 1 d) chickens. It lasted for 28 days to evaluate the effects of phytogenic feed additive (PFA) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, cecum microbiota, bone minerals contents, meat quality and internal organ weights. The chickens were haphazardly divided into any 1 of 6 dietary treatments (6 replicate pens/treatment; 18 broilers/pen). The experimental diets were: CON, control; T1, CON + 150 ppm PFA; T2, CP 0.5% reduced from basal diet; T3, T2 + 150 ppm PFA; T4, Ca 0.07% reduced + available P (aP) 0.065% reduced from basal diet; T5, T4 + 150 ppm PFA. Overall, broilers fed with T3 diet tended to have higher (P=0.08) body weight gain (BWG), and lower (P=0.05) feed conversion ratio (FCR) than T2 diet. The apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of P was lower (P=0.03) in T2 as compared to CON and it was higher (P=0.02) in T3 as compared to T2. There were no differences in meat quality, relative organ weight, and cecum microbiota (P>0.05). The supplementation of PFA showed trends in improvement in ash content in the bone of birds fed T1, T2 and T4 diets compared with CON. Likewise, the supplementation of PFA tended to increase (P=0.07) Ca content in the bone of birds fed T1 diet compared to CON. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with 150 ppm PFA could improve BWG in birds fed protein reduced diet, improve apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of P, and the bone Ca contents in broilers.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.66 no.5
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• pp.981-998
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• 2024

This study was to investigate effects of different phytogenic feed additives (PFA) in grower finishing pigs with stressed by high stocking density. A total of 84 growing pigs ([Landrace × Yorkshire] × Duroc) with initial body weight (BW) of 28.23 ± 0.21 kg were used for 10 weeks (4 replicate pens with 3 pigs per pen). The dietary treatment consisted of basal diets in animal welfare density (positive control [PC]), basal diet in high stocking density (negative control [NC]), NC + 0.04% bitter citrus extract (PT1), NC + 0.01% microencapsulated blend of thymol & carvacrol (PT2), NC + 0.10% mixture of 40% bitter citrus extract and 10% microencapsulated blend of thymol and carvacrol (PT3), NC + 0.04% premixture of grape seed and grape marc extract, green tea and hops (PT4), and NC + 0.10% fenugreek seed powder (PT5). The reduction of space allowance significantly decreased (p < 0.05) growth performance (average daily gain, average daily feed intake, feed efficiency) and nutrient digestibility (dry matter, crude protein). Also, the fecal score of NC group increased (p < 0.05) compared with other groups. In blood profiles, lymphocyte decreased (p < 0.05), and neutrophil, cortisol, TNF- α increased (p < 0.05) when pigs were in high stocking density. Basic behaviors (feed intake, standing, lying) were inactive (p < 0.05) and singularity behavior (biting) were increased (p < 0.05) under high stocking density. However, PFA groups alleviated the negative effects such as reducing growth performance, nutrient digestibility, increasing stress indicators in blood and animal behavior. In conclusion, PFA groups improved the health of pigs with stressed by high stocking density and PT3 is the most effective.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.285-294
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• 2021

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the supplementary effect of a phytogenic blend (SPA: a mixture containing fermented Schisandra chinensis pomace, fermented Pinus densiflora needle extract, and Allium tuberosum powder in the ratio of 2:2:1) on egg production, egg quality, blood constituents, and visceral organs in laying hens. Methods: A total of 135 Hy-line brown laying hens (48-wk-old) were randomly allocated to three dietary treatments with 5 replicates of 9 hens. The control group (CON) was fed a basal diet (no exogenous SPA addition) and the experimental groups were fed the basal diet containing SPA at the level of 0.1% and 0.3% for 6 weeks. Results: The feed intake was significantly improved in SPA supplemented groups as compared with the control (p<0.05). However, egg production, daily egg mass, and feed conversion ratio were not different among the dietary treatments (p>0.05). For egg quality traits, only Haugh unit (HU) was significantly improved in SPA (0.3%) (p<0.05) as compared with other groups. However, HU was not affected during 4-wk of storage at 18℃ among the dietary treatments (p>0.05). Furthermore, SPA supplementation did not affect the blood biochemical constituents except for the phosphate content, which was significantly higher in SPA groups than the CON group (p<0.05). There were no significant differences in visceral organ characteristics and immune indicators (immunoglobulin A [IgA], IgG, and IgM) in SPA or CON groups. Conclusion: This study suggested that the supplementation of SPA may have beneficial effects on feed intake and egg quality in laying hens.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.535-549
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• 2023

This study was to investigate the effects of different phytogenic feed additives (PFA) dosage levels in growing- finishing pigs stressed by high stocking density. A total of 72 mix sexed 12 weeks growing pigs ([Landrace × Yorkshire] × Duroc) with initial body weight (BW) of 49.28 ± 4.58 kg were used for 8 weeks. There were 3 replicate pens in each treatment group, with 3 pigs per pen. The dietary treatment groups consisted of basal diets in animal welfare density (negative control [NC]), basal diet in high stocking density (positive control [PC]), PC + 0.04% essential oil (ES1), PC + 0.08% essential oil (ES2), PC + 0.10% bitter citrus extract & essential oil (CES1), PC + 0.20% bitter citrus extract & essential oil (CES2), PC + 0.05% grape pomace extract (GP1), PC + 0.10% grape pomace extract (GP2). The reduction of space allowance decreased (p < 0.05) average daily gain, feed efficiency, and digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, and gross energy. Also, the fecal score of PC groups increased (p < 0.05) compared with other groups. Basic behaviors (feed intake, standing, lying) were inactive (p < 0.05) and singularity behavior (biting) was increased (p < 0.10) under high stocking density. There was no difference in blood profile. However, the supplementation of PFA alleviated the negative effects such as reduced growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and some increasing stress indicators in th blood (cortisol) and animal behavior (biting). In conclusion, the negative effect of high stocking density was most effectively mitigated by the normal dosage of the mixture of bitter citrus extract and essential oil additive (CES1).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.1314-1321
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• 2016

We conducted this 10-wk experiment to evaluate the effects of dietary phytoncide, Korean pine extract as phytogenic feed additive (PFA), on growth performance, blood characteristics, and meat quality in finishing pigs. A total of 160 pigs ([Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire]${\times}$Duroc, body weight (BW) = $58.2{\pm}1.0kg$) were randomly allocated into 1 of 4 treatments according to their BW and sex, 10 replicate pens per treatment with 4 pigs per pen were used (2 barrows and 2 gilts). Dietary treatments were: CON, control diet; PT2, CON+0.02% PFA; PT4, CON+0.04% PFA; PT6, CON+0.06% PFA. Overall, average daily gain (ADG) was higher in PT4 (p<0.05) than in PT6, average daily feed intake (ADFI) was lower in PT6 than in CON (p<0.05). Besides ADFI decreased linearly (p<0.05) with the increased level of phytoncide and gain:feed ratio in PT4 treatment was higher (p<0.05) than CON treatment. During 5 to 10 weeks and overall, quadratic (p<0.05) effect was observed in ADG among the treatments. At the end of this experiment, pigs fed with PT4 diet had a greater (p<0.05) red blood cell concentration compared to the pigs fed CON diet. Water holding capacity increased linearly (p<0.05) with the increased level of phytoncide supplementation. Moreover, firmness, redness, yellowness, and drip loss at day 3 decreased linearly (p<0.05) with the increase in the level of phytoncide supplementation. In conclusion, inclusion of phytoncide could enhance growth performance without any adverse effects on meat quality in finishing pigs.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.60 no.10
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• pp.24.1-24.8
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• 2018

Background: Following the ban on the importation of import-dependent fed ingredients in most developing countries, the need to look inward for local content is now compelling. Thus, leaf meals that have phytogenic additive potentials are envisaged will be a viable feed ingredient in rabbit diets. Methods: The effect of dietary inclusion of gliricidia leaf meal (GLM) with or without multi-enzyme (E) supplementation in rabbits was investigated using ninety-six 35-day old rabbits of crossbreed (Newzealand and Chinchilla). One basal diet that met the requirements of growing rabbit was formulated (Diet 1). Thereafter, another two diets were formulated to contain 15% GLM and 15% GLM plus multi-enzyme at 1 g/kg and designated as diets 2 and 3 respectively. The rabbits were randomly distributed into the 3 diets (32 rabbits/treatment; 4 rabbits/replicate) and fed their respective experimental diets for 8 weeks. Results: The body weight and daily weight gain of the rabbits fed on GLM free diet and those on GLM-based diets (diets 1 and 2) were similar at finishing period of 63-91 day but have lower (P < 0.01) values than those rabbits fed GLM + E based diet (diet 3) at finishing period (63-91 days) and whole fattening period (35-91 days). The apparent dry matter and crude protein digestibility of rabbits fed control diet and those fed 15% GLM based diet were lower (P < 0.05) than those fed 15% GLM + E-based diet. Triglycerides concentration of rabbits fed 15% GLM-based diet without enzyme addition were lower (P < 0.05) than those observed for rabbits on the rest test diets. Cholesterol and Low-Density Lipoprotein levels of rabbits fed 15% GLM and 15% GLM + E-based diets were lower (P < 0.05) than those fed the GLM free diet. The superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase of rabbits fed the GLM free diet (diet 1) were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than those fed the 15%GLM and 15% GLM + E-based diets. Conclusion: Dietary inclusion of GLM at 15% of the diet did not have a negative effect on the rabbits postweaning period (35-63 days) but will require multi-enzyme supplementation to enhance growth indices at finishing period (63-91 day) without precipitating negative effect on the rabbits' health status.