performance traits

Manganese is an essential trace element that acts as an activating component of many crucial enzymes such as alginase and pyruvate carboxylase. It is involved in carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism, as well as in vital biochemical reactions (Hassan et al., 2020). Additionally, manganese serves as a cofactor in the synthesis of chondroitin sulfate and plays a significant role in bone formation in broiler chickens (Mwangi et al., 2019). Moreover, manganese is vital for the antioxidant and immune systems of animals (Patra and Lalhriatpuii, 2020; Wang et al., 2018). In the production of broiler chickens, manganese sources commonly used include inorganic Mn (Mn sulfate, Mn carbonate and Mn oxide) and organic Mn (Mn chelated with amino acid and protein). Inorganic sources of manganese are cheaper, although they have low digestibility (Tufarelli and Laudadio, 2017; Yenice et al., 2015). Organic sources have excellent chemical stability and high absorption efficiency. They have not been widely used in poultry diet due to different quality levels of manufactured products, unpredictable effects and high cost (Tufarelli and Laudadio, 2017; Brooks et al., 2012). Therefore, it is important to assess new sources of manganese that have higher digestibility and lower cost. Manganese hydroxychloride is a group of minerals which solubility in water is minimal, but it becomes more soluble in acidic conditions in intestine (Wang et al., 2011). The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the different levels and sources of manganese in the diet of broiler chickens by investigating their effects on growth performance, immunity, the digestibility of different sources in different solvents, and the digestibility using the technique of Everted Gut Sacs. Manganese sulfate, organic manganese, and manganese Hydroxychloride were obtained from Ariana company. In order to measurement of the amount of dry matter and ash, one gram in four repetitions was sampled from each of the sources. They were dried at 105°C for 12 hours and dry matter was calculated through subtraction. Then samples were transferred to the oven at 550°C for 16 hours and their ash content was determined. Finally, they were digested in hydrochloric acid and passed through Whatman filter paper No. 42. After making up to volume with mili-Q water, they were read by an atomic absorption device at a wavelength of 520 to 560 nm (AOAC, 1995; Williams, 1972). In order to evaluate the solubility, three samples (0.1 g) were prepared and dissolved in 100 ml of 2% citric acid, 0.4% hydrochloric acid and deionized water (Watson et al., 1970). For assessment ability to absorb minerals by the technique of Everted Gut Sacs, 180 one-day-old broilers of the Ross 308 commercial strain were fed from one to twenty-one days old with corn and soybean based (2018). On the 22nd day to the 28th day, they were fed with a diet free of manganese and on 29th day, they were starved for one day and night. Chickens were grouped into three treatments with Hydroxychloride, organic and manganese sulfate sources with 6 replications and 10 pieces per replication. Three parts were selected from each replication for the test steps (Feng et al., 2006). Samples prepared from jejunum and ileum in two buffers, Mis-Krebs and Tris-Krebs. In order to determine the relative bioavailability of different manganese sources, an experiment was conducted with 12 treatments included four different levels of manganese (35, 70, 105 and 140 mg/kg) with three different sources including Hydroxychloride, organic and sulfate. The highest amount of dry matter of manganese was related to manganese sulfate (99.23%). The lowest was manganese hydroxychloride (92.58%). The highest ash percentage was related to manganese hydroxychloride with 86.14% and the lowest was related to organic manganese with 21.56%. The amount of manganese calculated after testing organic sources, hydroxychloride and sulfate was 5.64, 34.64 and 34.47% respectively. The organic form of manganese had the highest solubility in 2% citric acid and the lowest in deionized water with 96.12 and 34.14%, respectively. Manganese hydroxychloride also had the highest solubility in 2% citric acid solution. Manganese sulfate had the highest solubility in hydrochloric acid and the lowest solubility in deionized water. In general, manganese sulfate had the highest solubility in deionized water compared to the other two sources. Also, the highest solubility of organic manganese in 2% citric acid was 96.12% in the whole experiment. It has been reported in studies that binding minerals with proteins will be a weak chelate and when they are placed in solvents, their chelate breaks easily and dissolve (Cao et al., 2000). The results related to performance traits and primary and secondary response of antibody titer against sheep red blood cells (SRBC) showed that experimental treatments had no significant effect on them.  The results showed that the highest solubility of the organic form of manganese was in citric acid (96.12%) and the lowest was in deionized water (34.13%). Manganese hydroxychloride had the highest solubility in 2% citric acid, while manganese sulfate had the highest solubility in 0.4% hydrochloric acid. Overall, manganese exhibited the highest solubility in hydrochloric acid and the lowest in deionized water. The results of the technique of inverted intestinal segments showed that the most absorption of manganese occurs in the ileum, and these results were in line with the results of other researchers who had performed this experiment in vitro and in vivo Among the experimental treatments, the highest absorption in the technique of inverted intestinal segments was related to the organic source of manganese, and the lowest was related to the form of sulfate, 3.25% and 1.99%, respectively. At the end, the use of organic manganese in broiler diet is recommended due to its high absorption level.

Honey bees need nutrients such as protein, carbohydrates, lipids, minerals, and vitamins. Among nutrients, vitamins are particularly important for their roles in brood rearing, hypopharyngeal gland development, ovary development, longevity, bee immunity, bee weight, and flight muscle development. The vitamins stored in the body of the bees are vitally important in strengthening the immune system, normal growth, and development of broods, producing royal jelly, longevity of bees, and especially wintering quality of honey bees. Among the vitamins required by the honey bees, the most important are thiamine and riboflavin. Pollen quality depends on the supply of vitamins required by honey bees. Most pollen grains are poor and deficient in thiamine and riboflavin. This study aimed to investigate the effect of thiamine and riboflavin on population growth, functional traits, and fat and protein reserves of the bee body in Iranian honey bee colonies.

An experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four treatments and seven repetitions from April 2022 to September 2023 in the climatic conditions of Kurdistan province, Iran. Experimental treatments included the sugar syrup (control), thiamine (1500 ppm), riboflavin (1500 ppm), and the combination of thiamine and riboflavin (1500 ppm). From the beginning of 14 April 2023, experimental treatments were fed with the mentioned concentrations of vitamins thiamine, riboflavin, and their combination of 0.5 liters every other day for 45 days and 15 days without feeding. Then, traits such as honey production, pollen collection, population (adults and broods), and protein and fat content of carcass were measured in experimental treatments.

The results of the effect of thiamine, riboflavin, and their combination on the population of adult bees showed that the addition of thiamine and riboflavin in the bees' nutrition was significantly effective in the increase of adult bees' population in the investigated periods as well as the average of the entire period (P<0.05). A comparison of the averages of the experimental treatments revealed that the highest and lowest adult bee populations were associated with the treatments fed the vitamin combination and the control group, respectively. The results of the effect of thiamine, riboflavin, and their combination on the population of broods showed that the addition of thiamine and riboflavin in the diet of bee colonies during the studied periods did not have a significant effect on the increase in the population of newborns, but it showed a significant effect on the average of the entire period (P<0.05). The results of the mean comparison showed that the highest population of broods in the studied honey bee colonies was related to the treatments fed with the combination of thiamine and riboflavin, and the lowest population of broods was related to the control treatment. The results of the effect of thiamine and riboflavin on honey and pollen production traits showed that the use of vitamins and their combination in honey bee nutrition caused a significant increase in honey and pollen production traits of experimental treatments (P<0.05). The results of the mean comparison showed that the highest and lowest amounts of honey and pollen production of the studied honey bee colonies were observed in the treatment fed with the combination of vitamins and the control group, respectively. The effect of thiamine and riboflavin on the carcass protein and fat showed that the use of thiamine, riboflavin, and their combination in feeding the colonies had a significant effect on the amount of carcass protein and fat (P<0.01). A comparison of treatments showed that honey bees in the treatment fed the vitamin combination had the highest carcass protein and fat, and honey bees in the control treatment had the lowest carcass fat and protein.

Based on the results of the present experiment, it could be concluded that the use of thiamine and riboflavin, and their combination in feeding honey bees had a positive effect on population growth, functional traits, and fat and protein reserves of the bees' body in the colonies and improved the performance and increased the economic efficiency of the colony.

Genetic evaluation of sport horses using various methods is commonly carried out in many countries, except for Iran. Accurate estimation of genetic parameters for functional traits in horses has always been a subject of interest among livestock breeders. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic parameters of athletic performance traits in Iranian jumping horses. Traits include race completion time (RCT), rank at the end of the competition (REC), and number of errors in the competition (NEC). The study were conducted based on Equestrian Federation of Iran (FEI) athletic performance records of 1498 horses (10–23 years old). The genetic parameters were estimated by using Restricted Maximum Likelihood (REML) procedures and airemf90 software. The statistical model included fixed effects of birth year, sex, age, breed, height of obstacles, date/city, level of difficulty of the event and random effects of rider, permanent environment and an additive genetic effect. Heritability of RCT, REC and NEC traits were estimated 0.03, 0.11 and 0.09 and their repeatability were 0.16, 0.25 and 0.13, respectively. Genetic and phenotypic trends of RCT, REC and NEC traits were estimated -0.002, 0.0091, 0.0003 and -0.7057, 0.2575, -0.0807, respectively. According to this result, the performance traits are highly affected by environmental factors, especially the effect of the rider, but among the studied traits, selection based on rank traits can lead to more genetic progress. It can be concluded that we can apply these parameters to improve the genetic potential of show jumping performance records and design the appropriate breeding strategies for horse jumping population in Iran.

This experiment was conducted to investigate the interaction effects of ginger root and red pepper powders in wheat based diet on performance and immune response of layer hens. In this experiment 288 hy-line W-36 laying hens in post-molting phase (78 weeks) were assigned to 36 groups in a factorial arrangement with nine treatments and four replicates based on completely randomized design. The experimental factors were included three levels of red pepper (0, 1 and 2% of diet) and three levels of ginger root powder (0, 1 and 2% of diet). Results showed that pepper levels were significantly increased egg production and egg mass of birds (P

The experiment was carried out using 200 Ross 308 broiler chickens in a completely randomized design with 5 treatment and 4 replicates. The experimental diets were consisted of a control free hulls diet and four diets containing 0.75 or 1.5 percent rice hulls with particle sizes of less than 1 mm or between 1-2 mm. The performance traits were determined through 42 d experimental period and carcass traits were expressed as a ratio of live weight. The digestibility coefficients of nutrients of the experimental diets were also determined. At grower phase, the diets contained 1.5% rice hulls regardless of their particle size, improved weight gain compared to the group fed the diets with 0.75% rice hulls (P

This experiment was carried out using 200 Ross 308 broiler chickens in a completely randomized design with 5 treatments and 4 replicates. The true metabolisable energy of the barley hulls were determined using cecectomized roosters.The dry matter, true metabolisable energy, ash, ether extracts, crude protein, crude fiber, NDF, ADF, Ca and total P content of barely hulls were: 92%, 978 kcal/kg, 3.53%, 4.26%, 12.26%, 12.6%, 52.1%, 23.5%, 0.9% and 0.6%, respectively. The experimental diets were consisted of a control hulls free diet and four diets containing 0.75 or 1.5 percent barley hulls with particle sizes of less than 1 mm or between 1-2 mm. The barley hulls improved weight gain and feed conversion ratio and particularly the diet contained 1.5 percent barley hulls with particle size of 1-2 mm was more effective in this respect (P

In the current study, major gene segregation for body weight at 8 weeks of age (BW8), age at sexual maturity (ASM), average egg weight during 84 days of laying (EW) and number of eggs laid during egg production period (EN) traits were evaluated using data which was collected from Fars Native Breeding Center. Cox Box transformation was applied for all traits except for EN. Major gene detection was achieved by using highest posterior density region for genetic variance of major gene in the population. Therefore, a Bayesian segregation analysis model including non-genetic effects (generation-hatch, sex as fixed and laying period as covariate) and genetic effects (polygenic and biallelic major gene locus as random and fixed ones, respectively) was fitted on the data. The marginal posterior distribution of the model parameters were obtained by Gibbs sampling using iBay software. Based on diagnostic tests for each trait, two large chains were considered. For each chain, the number of Gibbs samples, burn in, and thining interval were equal to 500000, 50000 and 50, respectively. The Bayesian segregation analysis revealed the evidence for major gene segregation for ASM. For other traits there were not the same results. It is also recommended that the laboratory methods should be applied to verify the present results as well as additional methods for major gene detection for variety of traits in the same population.

In a study the effect of different levels of Pomegranate seed pulp (PSP) on performance traits and some blood parameters of broilers were determined. Pomegranate seed pulp was used in 0, 1, 2,, , 5 and 6 % of feed from days 1 to 42. Two hundreds and eighty one day old Ross male broilers with a completely randomized design were assigned to 7 treatments, with 4 replicates of 10 birds each. In the end of experimental period, after skin removal, carcass weight, edible and inedible internal organs weights were measured. On day 42, two birds from each replicate were killed and blood samples for determining triglyceride, cholesterol, LDL and HDL concentrations were obtained. The results showed that there were no significant differences between treatments on feed intake, weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR), carcass weight, edible and inedible internal organs. Also, there were no significant differences between treatments for triglyceride, cholesterol and LDL (P>0.05). The weight percentage of gizzard for treatment having 5 PSP % (2.63 mM) showed to be significantly different from that of the control (2 mM) (P<0.05). Based on the results obtained addition of Pomegranate seed pulp to diet had no significant effect on performance traits of broilers; therefore, this byproduct, particularly where available, can be used up to 6 % in broiler's diet.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of thyme essence on the performance traits, mortality, pH and changing of intestinal bacterial population of broiler chicks. A total number of 500 one day old Ross-308 male broiler chickens were allocated randomly to 4 treatments. Replicates were 5 for each treatment with 25 chicks per each unit using a CRD statistical plan. Duration of experiment was 42 days and diets were similar with respect of Energy, Protein and other nutrients for all treatments. Treatments including plane water without thyme essence as control group and levels of 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2 percent of drinking thyme essence as experimental groups. Performance traits were included daily feed intake, gain and feed conversion ratio at the whole of experimental period. The gut pH at the ileum area was measured, also the selected intestinal bacterial population including Coli form, G- (gram negative bacteria) and Lactobacillus (lactic acid bacteria), counted and determined via gut samples at the age of 21 and 42 days. According to the results, the highest feed intake belonged to treatment of 0.2% (87.29 g/day) and lowest to control group (84.99 g/day) (p<0.05). The highest daily gain belonged to treatments 0.2 and 0.15% respectively (52 and 51.30 g/day), and lowest to control group (48.11 g/day) (p<0.05). The lowest feed conversion ratio belonged to treatment 0.15% (1.67) and then to treatments 0.2 and 0.1% respectively (1.70 and 1.71), and highest to control group (1.77) (p<0.05). The lowest mortality percentage belonged to treatment 0.1% (p<0.05). Gut pH of thyme essence treatments were significantly (p<0.05) lower than control group at both 21 and 42 days of age. The results of counting the intestinal bacterial populations at both ages showed that the lowest Coli forms and gram negative bacteria, in contrast, the highest Lactobacillus number were belonged to thyme essence treatments (p<0.05).

In this study, the effect of maternal additive genetic and environment on body weight at 6 weeks (BWT6W), breast width (HBRS), carcass weight (CARCWT), breast weight (BRSWT), blood hematocrit value (HEM), residual feed intake (RFI), daily feed intake (DFI) and average daily gain (ADG) were investigated in a commercial broiler dam line. With and without maternal effects, six different animal models were taken into account, and the most appropriate model chosen as based on likelihood ratio test. Data were analysed through animal model, DMU software. As for BWT6W, HBRS, RFI, DFI and ADG, direct and maternal additive genetic effects with direct-maternal additive genetic covariance and maternal environmental effects (model 8) were significant (P<0.01). Based on this model, direct and maternal heritabilities along with maternal environmental variance as a proportion of phenotypic variance were 0.328, 0.026, and 0.029 for BWT6W, 0.366, 0.039 and 0.029 for HBRS, 0.309, 0.018 and 0.023 for RFI, 0.319, 0.017 and 0.026 for DFI and 0.257, 0.026 and 0,025, for ADG, respectively. As for CARCWT and BRSWT, the important effects were direct additive genetic, maternal additive genetic and covariance between direct and maternal additive effects (model 4). Under this model, estimates of direct and maternal heritabilities were 0.326 and 0.073 for CARCWT vs. 0.485 and 0.036 for BRSWT, respectively. For HCT, none of the maternal effects were significant (P>0.05).The results indicated that ignoring maternal effects in the analysis tended to overestimate direct additive genetic variances as well as their corresponding heritabilities for all the traits.

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of drinking thyme essence on growth performance and some blood parameters in broiler chickens. A total number of 500 one day old Ross-308 male broiler chicks were randomly allocated to 4 treatments at 5 replicates using a CRD design. Diets were similar with respect of energy, protein and other nutrients for all treatments. Treatments arranged as different levels of drinking thyme essence including: plane water (control group) and levels of 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2percent of drinking thyme essence. Growth performance traits and blood parameters were measured. Blood samples obtained from two birds in each pen at 21 and 42 days of age. According to the results, the highest total live weight (2.18 kg) and the lowest feed conversion ratio (1.99) belonged to group containing of 0.2 % dietary thyme essence. With increasing thyme essence, at 21 and 42 days serum total cholesterol and triglyceride decreased, but glucose concentration was significantly increased (p<0.05). The highest total serum protein concentration was 41.52 g/lit for the level of 0.1% at 21 days. For all thyme essence treatments albumin concentration was significantly (p<0.05) higher compare to the control group. Serum globulin concentration at 42 days was significantly (p<0.05) different at the level of 0.1 % compare to the control group. The albumin to globulin ratio only at 21 days of age was significantly (p<0.05) higher in all groups compared to control group. As a final result, inclusion of thyme essence in drinking water of broiler chickens improved performance traits and blood parameters.