• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.597-600
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• 1993

An experiment was conducted using 160 Arbor Acres broiler strain of chickens to evaluate the effects of partial replacement of soyabean meal with feather meal on the diets of broiler chickens raised from day old to 8 weeks of age. Feathers, obtained from a local poultry processing plant, were boiled in water for 30 minutes, sun-dried and ground using a 2 mm sieve for inclusion into the experimental diets at 0, 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5% levels at the expense of soyabean meal. The feather meal was assayed and found to contain 86.5% crude protein and to be low in lysine, methionine and histidine amino acids. The inclusion of such processed feather meal up to 3% in the diet did not (p>0.05) affect growth or feed conversion ratio. However, the highest level of inclusion of feather meal in the diet, 4.5%, significantly reduced both growth rate and feed conversion ratio of the birds. The results of this experiment showed that up to 3% of water-boiled feather meal, which represents 12% of dietary protein, the equivalent of 6% level of use of soyabean meal in the diet, can be successfully included as a protein source in the diets of broiler chickens.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.367-371
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• 1993

The feeding value of maize cob meal was investigated in a trial involving one hundred and forty Arbor Acre day-old chicks raised to eight weeks of age. The maize cob meal which contained 32.5% fibre, 2.5% protein and had a gross energy value of 2,550 kcal/kg, was incorporated into the experimental diets at either 0, 2.9, 5.8, 11.6 or 23.2% level. All diets were formulated to contain 3,200 kcal/kg of metabolizable energy and approximately 22% protein by varying the proportions of maize and whole cooked soyabean meal in the diets. The inclusion of maize cob meal up to 11.6% in the diet did not significantly (p>0.05) affect body weight gains, feed consumption and utilization, as well as carcass yield and dressing percentage. However, at the 23.2% level of maize cob meal inclusion, body weight gains, feed utilization and carcass yields were significantly (p<0.05) reduced. The use of maize cob meal reduced feed cost for raising birds and either maintained or improved gross profit returns with up to 11.6% level of inclusion in the diet. It was concluded that maize cob meal can be included up to 11.6% in the diet of broiler chickens provided dietary energy concentration is maintained at 3,200 kcal of metabolisable energy per kilogramme of feed by using high energy density feed ingredient such as boiled whole seed soyabean meal.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.638-644
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• 2006

Sixteen adult male buffaloes (average body weight $443{\pm}14kg$) were equally distributed into four groups in an experiment to study the effect of supplementary protein sources on energy utilization efficiency in buffaloes fed a wheat straw-based diet. The animals in the control group were offered a basal diet composed of 700 g deoiled ground nut cake and ad libitum wheat straw. Animals of other groups were offered 1.8 kg of soyabean meal (SBM), linseed meal (LSM) or mustard cake (MC) along with the basal diet. Protein supplementation increased the digestibility of DM (p<0.01), OM (p<0.01) CP (p<0.01) and CF (p<0.05). Maximum CP digestibility was observed on SBM, followed by LSM and MC when compared to the control. Total DMI and DOMI was significantly (p<0.01) higher in protein supplemented groups with no differences between treatment groups. Digestible crude protein (DCP) intake and N balance were significantly (p<0.01) different between the groups; maximum response was obtained with SBM supplementation, followed by LSM and MC. Faecal energy was significantly (p<0.01) lower in SBM and LSM groups in comparison to other groups. Methane production (% DEI) was significantly (p<0.05) lower on the SBM treatment. Metabolizable energy (ME) intake increased significantly due to protein supplementation. Metabolizable energy intake (MEI) of animals in the MC group was less than LSM and SBM. Energy balance was increased significantly (p<0.01) due to protein supplementation and within supplement variation was also significant with maximum balance in SBM followed by LSM and MC groups. Protein supplementation significantly (p<0.05) increased the digestibility and metabolizability of energy from whole ration. Metabolizable energy (ME) content (Mcal/kg DM) of SBM, LSM and MC was 4.49, 3.56 and 2.56, respectively. It was concluded that protein supplementation of wheat straw increased intake, digestibility and metabolizability of energy and maximum response could be obtained when soybean meal was used as a supplement.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.1272-1277
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• 2000

The present study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of feeding neem kernel meal (NKM) containing diet to growing Japanese quails, which was incorporated into a standard quail diet at 0, 50, 75 or 100 g/kg in place of soyabean meal and deoiled rice bran. Each diet was offered to 30 quail chicks housed in battery cages from day one to five weeks of age. The chicks fed NKM diets gained 123.3, 122.6 and 121.6 g mean body weight, respectively, and which were significantly (p<0.05) lower than that of 129.9 g gained by those of birds fed the control diets. The feed intake and feed conversion ratio of birds in different dietary groups were not significantly altered due to dietary variations. Mean values for retention of dietary energy, N and Ca were found to insignificantly differ (p>0.05) among the treatment groups but P retention was significantly (p<0.01) lower for quails fed 100 g/kg NKM than those in other groups. Blood biochemical constituents, carcass characteristics and organoleptic test for meat also were not found to vary significantly (p>0.05) due to dietary treatments. The histopathology of liver and kidney tissues from NKM fed quails revealed mild degenerative changes. It could be concluded that inclusion of NKM in quail diet reduced the growth besides inducing mild pathological changes in liver and kidney tissues.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.217-233
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• 1998

Milk yield and its composition is governed by level of nutrition and the composition of diet. Higher concentrate input improves milk yield, whereas its input at moderate levels improves yield of milk fat. High level of dietary protein improves dry matter intake and milk production, however, CP content above 14% has less advantage. Milk yield is enhanced by the feeding of cottonseed and soyabean meal, whereas milk fat increases by the supplementation of cottonseed. Dietary fat increases energy intake, production of milk and milk fat. Quality and quantity of feeds consumed affect fermentation patterns in rumen. Among the rumen metabolites, volatile fatty acids (VFA) content and propionate proportion have been related positively with milk yield, whereas proportion of acetate and butyrate have been related positively with milk fat content. Dietary carbohydrates through the source of sugar, starch, roughage and fibre affect VFA concentration in rumen. Therefore, concentration of volatile fatty acids could be altered to the advantage of consumer through judicious manipulation of diet.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.939-946
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• 2012

Antibiotic production with Streptomyces sindenensis MTCC 8122 was optimized under submerged fermentation conditions by artificial neural network (ANN) coupled with genetic algorithm (GA) and Nelder-Mead downhill simplex (NMDS). Feed forward back-propagation ANN was trained to establish the mathematical relationship among the medium components and length of incubation period for achieving maximum antibiotic yield. The optimization strategy involved growing the culture with varying concentrations of various medium components for different incubation periods. Under non-optimized condition, antibiotic production was found to be $95{\mu}g/ml$, which nearly doubled ($176{\mu}g/ml$) with the ANN-GA optimization. ANN-NMDS optimization was found to be more efficacious, and maximum antibiotic production ($197{\mu}g/ml$) was obtained by cultivating the cells with (g/l) fructose 2.7602, $MgSO_4$ 1.2369, $(NH_4)_2PO_4$ 0.2742, DL-threonine 3.069%, and soyabean meal 1.952%, for 9.8531 days of incubation, which was roughly 12% higher than the yield obtained by ANN coupled with GA under the same conditions.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.1789-1794
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• 2003

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of substituting different levels of hazelnut kernel oil meal (HKOM) for dehulled soyabean meal (DSBM) in diets for Japanese quail. Five diets in which HKOM was replaced with 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% of DSBM protein in a growing diet for a 5 week period using 450 Japanese quails of initial age of 1 week and in a layer diet for a 112 days period using 180 Japanese laying quails of initial age of 7 week were examined in experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Hence, treatment groups were: control (0 HKOM), 0.25 HKOM, 0.50 HKOM, 0.75 HKOM and 1HKOM. In the experiment 1, 1 HKOM decreased BWG compared with the 0 HKOM and 0.25 HKOM, while it increased FCR compared with the 0HKOM at day 21 (p<0.05). Compared with the other groups, 0.75 HKOM and 1 HKOM decreased BWG (p<0.01) at day 28. While the FCR of 1 HKOM was higher (p<0.01) than that of 0 HKOM, 0.25 HKOM and 0.50 HKOM, respectively, that of 0.75 HKOM was higher than that of 0 HKOM and 0.25 HKOM diets at day 28. However, at day 42 of age, BWG, FCR and the feed intake (FI) were not affected (p>0.05) by inclusion of HKOM. Mortality rate, carcase yield and liver, heart and gizzard weight (% of body weight) were not affected (p>0.05) by inclusion of HKOM to the diet. In the experiment 2, egg production was decreased (p<0.05) by the 1 HKOM diet compared with the 0.50 HKOM diet. While FCR increased by the 1 HKOM diet compared with the 0.25 HKOM and 0.50 HKOM diets (p<0.05). Feed intake for quails fed with the 0 HKOM diet was higher (p<0.05) than for quails fed with 0.50 HKOM diet. The egg yolk weight for 0 HKOM diet group was lower (p<0.05) than for quails in 1 HKOM diet group. In conclusion, the results indicate that DSBM can be replaced by HKOM in diets for growing and laying Japanese quails. However 50% HKOM has higher laying performance than 100% HKOM in the laying period.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.1157-1163
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• 2005

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of replacing soyabean meal (SBM) at 50 and 100% with conventional (CMC) and low glucosinalate mustard cakes (LGMC) in iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous diets in broiler chickens. All these diets contained 0.1% choline chloride with a purity of 50% (w/w). Another diet was prepared by replacing SBM in toto with CMC with no supplemental choline to find out the possible role of supplemental choline in mustard cake (MC) based diets. Two hundred and seventy day-old broiler chicks were distributed randomly in 54 stainless steel battery brooder pens of five chicks in each pen. Each experimental diet was allotted at random to nine battery brooders and offered ad-libitum from day 2 through 42 days of age. Body weight gain was significantly depressed by total replacement of SBM with either LGMC or CMC at 21 days of age. Non-supplementation of choline significantly depressed the growth compared to those fed CMC 100% with supplemental choline. However, at 42 days of age, such an effect was seen only with CMC. Replacement of SBM with CMC 100% with or without choline supplementation depressed the body weight gain. The concentrations of cholestorol and tryglicerides in serum and the relative weights of ready to cook yield, giblet and gizzard decreased by incorporation of mustard cakes in broiler diets. The trend in fat and protein contents in breast and thigh muscles and liver was not clearly attributable to the treatment effect. Based on the results, it is concluded that SBM can be replaced in toto with LGMC (535.0 and 466.5 g/kg starter and finisher diets, respectively) or up to 50% (215.0 and 186.7 g/kg starter and finisher diets, respectively) with CMC in commercial broiler chicken diets. Choline supplementation at 0.1% level in broiler diets containing CMC was found to be beneficial during starter phase.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.237-244
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• 2007

An experiment was conducted to study the growth performance, bone mineralization and mineral excretion in broiler starter chicks fed high levels of cholecalciferol (CC) at sub-optimal levels of calcium (Ca) and non-phytate phosphorus (NPP). Five hundred and sixty day-old Vencobb female broiler chicks were housed in raised wire floor stainless steel battery brooder pens ($24"{\times}30"{\times}18"$) at the rate of five chicks per pen. A maize-soyabean meal basal diet was supplemented with dicalcium phosphate, oyster shell powder and synthetic CC to arrive at two levels each of Ca (0.50 and 0.60%), and NPP (0.25 and 0.30%) and four levels of CC (200, 1,200, 2,400 and 3,600 ICU/kg) in a $2{\times}3{\times}4$ factorial design. Each diet was fed ad libitum to chicks in 7 pens from 2 to 21days of age. Body weight gain, feed intake and bone weight increased (p<0.05) with increase in level of CC at both the Ca and NPP levels tested. The CC levels required to obtain significant improvement in body weight gain and feed intake reduced (2,400 ICU/kg vs. 1,200 ICU/kg) with increase in levels of P in diet (0.25% vs. 0.3%, respectively). The feed conversion ratio was significantly improved (p<0.05) with increase in level of CC from 200 to 1,200 ICU/kg diet at 0.5% Ca, while at 0.6% Ca, the level of CC in diet did not influence the feed efficiency. Tibia mineralization (density, breaking strength and ash content) and Ca and P contents in serum increased significantly (p<0.05) with increase in levels of CC in diet. The CC effect on these parameters was more pronounced at lower levels of Ca and NPP (0.5 and 0.25%, respectively). The data on body weight gain and feed intake indicated that NPP level in diet can be reduced from 0.30 to 0.25% by increasing CC from 200 to 2,400 ICU/kg. Similarly, the bone mineralization (tibia weight, density and ash content) increased non-linearly (p<0.01) with increase in CC levels in diet. Concentrations of P and Mn in excreta decreased (p<0.01), by increasing CC level from 200 to 2,400 ICU/kg diet. It can be concluded that dietary levels of Ca and NPP could be reduced to 0.50 and 0.25%, respectively by enhancing the levels of cholecalciferol from 200 to 2,400 ICU/kg with out affecting body weight gain, feed efficiency and bone mineralization. Additionally, phosphorus and manganese excretion decreased with increase in levels of CC in broiler diet.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.817-823
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• 2000

Four groups of six growing gilts each were fed ad libitum diets composed of cereals and soyabean (SBM) or rapeseed (RSM) meal and containing two levels of crude protein: high - 18.0% (RSM-H) and 16.9% (SBM-H) or low - 15.6% (RSM-L) and 15.1% (SBM-L). The diets were balanced by supplementation with crystalline amino acids and contained apparent ileal digestible lysine, methionine, threonine and tryptophan in proportions (1.00:0.32:0.57:0.18) according to CVB (1995). Voluntary feed intake, weight gain and slaughter and chemical body composition of animals were assessed. Protein and energy balances from 25 to 70 kg body weight were calculated by the comparative slaughter method. Protein source had a significant effect on voluntary feed intake; it was 0.12 kg/d lower in pigs fed the SBM than RSM-diets. Pigs fed on the SBM-L diet consumed the least amount of feed (2.17 kg). Daily gain (average, $900{\pm}12.59g$) and feed conversion ratio ($2.54{\pm}0.04kg/kg$) were not statistically affected by source (SMB and RSM) and protein level (high and low). In empty body similar amounts (g/kg) of protein (163 g), water (635 g) and ash (28 g) were found. However, pigs fed the RSM-L diet were fatter than those fed the SBM-L diet (188 vs. 161 g/kg). No statistical differences were observed in daily protein deposition, which on average amounted to $142{\pm}11g$, or carcass characteristics. An improvement of crude protein utilization by 6.3 percentage units was found by decreasing the protein concentration in the diets. Heat production in the body was not significantly affected by the treatments.