Nancy Nabil | Cairo University (original) (raw)

Papers by Nancy Nabil

Sustainability

The negative impacts of high stocking density on the commercial poultry industry compromise susta... more The negative impacts of high stocking density on the commercial poultry industry compromise sustainable birds’ productivity and welfare. Thus, we investigated the potential of colocynth seed (CC) supplementation in alleviating the negative impacts of high stocking density on broilers’ performance, immunity, inflammation, and redox status. A total of 648 one-day-old male Cobb 500 chicks were recruited and distributed into 2 × 2 factorial arrangements. The treatment groups were assigned based on stocking density as low stocking density (9 birds/m2; LSD) or high stocking density (19 birds/m2; HSD), and CC supplementation as without (0 g/kg feed; −CC) or with (1 g/kg feed; +CC) supplementation. Data were collected from week three to week five of age. Production performance was monitored and meat quality was assessed. Blood samples were collected to measure stress markers, humoral immune response, inflammatory cytokines, and antioxidant activity levels. The results indicated that HSD ind...

Advances in Animal and Veterinary Sciences

Agriculture

The chicken egg is one of the most globally-consumed animal protein sources with high-quality pro... more The chicken egg is one of the most globally-consumed animal protein sources with high-quality protein value. However, there is a growing concern about the association between excessive egg consumption and the increasing risk of cardiovascular disease incidence. Meanwhile, corn silk extract (CSE) is known to have hypo-lipidemic bioactive properties, as well as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Thus, the present study was designed to investigate the effect of feeding laying hens three different CSE levels on egg cholesterol content as well as egg production performance and oxidative stress marker levels. A total of 240, 40-week-old, Hy-Line Brown laying hens were divided into 4 symmetric groups (10 hens × 6 replicates). The control group was fed a basal diet while the other three groups were given the basal diet supplemented with 100 mg, 200 mg, or 400 mg CSE per kg feed, respectively. Egg production performance was monitored for eight successive weeks. Internal and external ...

Advances in Animal and Veterinary Sciences

Egyptian Poultry Science Journal, 2018

The present study aimed at the evaluation of growth performance, carcass characteristics and rela... more The present study aimed at the evaluation of growth performance, carcass characteristics and related physiological aspects of two different quail genotypes reared under different environmental conditions. A total of 180 quail birds, 8 days of age, of brown and white genotypes were used in this study and divided into two equal groups. Each genotype group was further divided into two subgroups; one subgroup of each genotype was subjected to cyclic heat stress (34˚C/8h, then 24˚C/16h), and the other subgroup was reared under control environment condition (24±1˚C) and served as the control. Feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio were determined and carcass characteristics were obtained. Blood samples were collected to measure total protein, albumin, cholesterol, triglycerides, AST, ALT, calcium, phosphorus, H/L ratio and total white blood cells. Also, tibia ash, calcium and phosphorus contents were determined. Rectal temperature was recorded. The effect of genotypic variation was noticed in all growth traits and carcass characteristics, revealing that white quail was higher in meat production. The results showed that heated stressed white quail had higher (P>0.01) initial and final body weight than brown quail. The effect of heat stress conditions on blood constituents was prominent. The effect of genotype on blood constituents was not observed, except for the total protein, calcium, AST and ALT. It can be concluded that the white quail genotype has the potential to deposit more meat, especially under high environmental temperature.

Animals

Spirulina platensisis (SP) is a blue-green microalgae with a high value for animal and poultry nu... more Spirulina platensisis (SP) is a blue-green microalgae with a high value for animal and poultry nutrition. The study employed 250 40-week-old, HY-Line W-36 commercial laying hens. The layers received one of five experimental diet substitutes in five groups for 10 consecutive weeks (five replicates of 10 hens each group); a soybean-corn basal diet formulation without SP (Control group) or the soybean partially substituted with 3% SP, 6% SP, 9% SP, and 12% SP (for the remaining four groups). The results showed that dietary SP treatment significantly (p < 0.05) improved the productive performance, egg quality, blood metabolites, and hematological parameters of laying hens. In addition, there were linear and quadratic effects for increasing the levels of SP inclusion into the layer diets; however, the highest values of most parameters were observed when using 9% SP (90 g/kg of the layer diets). Furthermore, the results showed that 4.7% of the soybean meal ingredient in the layer diet ...

Animals, Apr 7, 2022

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Animals, 2021

There is an extensive search for natural products that can be introduced to broiler rations to im... more There is an extensive search for natural products that can be introduced to broiler rations to improve performance, especially during the unfavorable breeding conditions. Under heat-stress conditions, the immune response seriously deteriorates, which consequently impairs broiler production performance. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the potentials of Citrullus colocynthis seeds (CCs) supplementation to modulate the immune response of broilers subjected to chronic heat stress. A total of 300 Cobb-500 male broiler chickens aged 21 days were randomly divided into two equal groups and reared under either thermo-neutral condition (24 ± 1 °C) or subjected to cyclic heat stress (34 ± 1 °C for 8 h). Each group was further divided into two groups (5 replicate × 15 chicks) and was fed either the basal diet or the basal diet with 0.1% CCs supplementation. The results showed that heat stress impaired the production performance by lowering the final body weight and feed intake as w...

Article history: Received 28 September 2015 Accepted 15 December 2015 Available online 24 Decembe... more Article history: Received 28 September 2015 Accepted 15 December 2015 Available online 24 December 2015

Thirty six white New Zealand growing male rabbits 6 weeks old were used to investigate the influe... more Thirty six white New Zealand growing male rabbits 6 weeks old were used to investigate the influence of feeding increasing levels of DDGS on performance, carcass quality and meat fatty acids profile. Rabbits were allotted into 4 treatment groups of 9 rabbits each, and fed one of the experimental diets which contain 0, 10, 20 and 30 % dried distillers corn grains with solubles (DDGS) for 12 weeks after which 3 rabbits of each group were used to test coefficients of total tract apparent digestibility of the experimental diets. At the end of the experimental period, 3 rabbits of each group were slaughtered to determine carcass quality and fatty acids profile. Inclusion of graded levels of DDGS decreased feed intake and improved feed conversion. Coefficients of total tract apparent digestibility showed no difference between treatments for DM, OM, CP. However, EE digestion coefficients of the diets used increased by increasing DDGS level and the values of CF were inconsistent. Carcass we...

Antioxidants, 2020

Propolis (PR) is a resin product of bee colonies that has rich bioactive antioxidant and bacteric... more Propolis (PR) is a resin product of bee colonies that has rich bioactive antioxidant and bactericidal compounds. Endotoxin, a byproduct of bacterial growth, is reported to cause progressive induction of endogenous oxidative stress and has negative impacts on individual health and wellbeing. Hereby, we investigated the ability of PR to alleviate the oxidative stress and immunosuppression imposed by avian pathogenic Escherichia coli using laying hen as a based model. In this study, PR was dietary supplemented to hens for 4 weeks at a concentration of 0.1%. At the beginning of the 4th week of the experiment, hens from control and PR treatment were injected with E. coli (O157:H7; 107 colonies/hen) or saline. The results showed significant (p < 0.05) negative impact of E. coli challenge on antioxidant status, immune response and productive performance. PR supplementation reduced (p < 0.05) inflammation markers levels (tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and interleukin 1β (IL-1β)) and p...

Egyptian Journal of Nutrition and Feeds, 2018

roduction performance is closely related to feed intake and feed components. Heat stress has a di... more roduction performance is closely related to feed intake and feed components. Heat stress has a direct effect on feed intake and can impair productivity and immunological responses. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of feed restriction and vitamin C supplementation on broiler performance under heat stress conditions. A total of 180 one-day old Arbor Acres chicks were randomly assigned to four experimental groups with three replicates (15 birds of each). The experimental chicks were fed the basal diet ad libitum (Control), fed the basal diet supplemented with 250 mg/kg vitamin C (Vit. C) ad libitum, deprived of feed for 8h/day (FR), or received the basal diet supplemented with 250 mg/kg vitamin C with feed deprivation for 8h/day (FR+Vit. C). All the experimental groups were exposed to cyclic environmental heat stress of 33.5±1.5˚C for 8h/day starting from 21 to 42 days of age. The feed withdrawal was synchronized with the period of temperature elevation. Feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion were measured on 0, 21, 35 and 42 days of the experiment. At the end of the experiment, blood samples were collected for determining the H/L ratio and quantifying some relative plasma constituents. Antibody titers of Newcastle (ND), Infectious Bronchitis (IBD) and Avian Influenza (AID) diseases were quantified after three weeks of immunization. Data revealed that feed restriction caused a significant reduction in feed intake and weight gain of broilers during the first three weeks of life. Vitamin C supplementation improved feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion during the period from 22 to 35 days. Plasma total protein and albumin increased significantly, while transaminases (liver enzymes) activity and the H/L ratio were reduced significantly due to different treatments when compared to the control. Antibody titers for ND and IBD significantly increased due to the different treatments as compared to the control group. The data revealed that feed restriction under thermo-neutral condition reduces the broiler growth performance. But when birds were subjected to elevated environmental temperature, feed rustication with or without vitamin C supplementation improved the broiler performance, with no effect on carcass characteristics, and produced a substantial improvement in immune response of heat stressed broilers. Vitamin C supplementation at 250 mg/kg can be used to alleviate the negative effects of heat stress on broiler productive and immunological responses.

Egyptian Journal of Nutrition and Feeds, 2018

Increasing productivity, improving product quality and insuring animal welfare are general demand... more Increasing productivity, improving product quality and insuring animal welfare are general demands to animal breeders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of supplementing the diet with propolis and/or bee pollen on egg productivity and immunological responses of laying Japanese quail. A total of 200 female quail, 35 days old, were randomly allocated to four equal groups. The first group served as a control group and was fed a basal diet (C). The second group was fed the basal diet supplemented with propolis at 1g/kg diet (Pro). The third group was fed the basal diet supplemented with bee pollen at 2g/kg diet (Bp). The fourth group was fed the basal diet supplemented with both propolis (1g/kg diet) and bee pollen (2g/kg diet) (Pro+Bp). Feed intake, feed conversion, egg mass, shell thickness and yolk index were significantly improved due to different dietary supplementation. Blood total protein and albumin increased, whereas cholesterol and H/L ratio significantly decreased due to diet supplementation. A synergistic effect of Pro+Bp was noticed in blood albumin, calcium and H/L ratio. In conclusion propolis and bee pollen can be supplemented to the diet of laying quail to increase egg production, improve egg quality and enhance blood protein, lipid and immunological responses.

Egyptian Journal of Nutrition and Feeds, 2018

n poultry intensive production system, stoking density is an inevitable practice. Thus, this stud... more n poultry intensive production system, stoking density is an inevitable practice. Thus, this study was designed to investigate the negative effects of high stoking density on quail growth performance, blood constituents and gut microbial count, and whether vitamin E and selenium supplementations have potential effects on enhancing the bird performance under high stoking density. A total of 225 Japanese quail at eight days of age were randomly allocated to five experimental groups (45 chicks each), with three replicates per group (15 chicks each). The groups formed low stoking control group (80 birds/m 2) as the negative control (N-Control), the high stoking control group (100 birds/m 2) as the positive control (P-Control), and three groups having high stoking density (100 birds/m 2) and supplemented with either 200 mg vitamin E/kg diet or 0.3 mg selenium/kg diet or 100 mg vitamin E and 0.15 mg selenium/kg diet. High stoking density negatively affected body weight gain and feed conversion ratio compared to the low stoking density. Blood calcium, phosphorus and tibia ash and tibia calcium decreased significantly with high stoking density. The supplementation of diet with vitamin E and selenium separately or combined, under high stoking density, improved quail body weight gain and feed conversion. Blood calcium and phosphorus levels and tibia calcium and phosphorus contents significantly increased with different diet supplementations compared to the non-supplemented high stoking density control. Vitamin E and selenium supplementations significantly reduced ileum total microbial count and E-coli count. The result revealed that high stoking density impaired quail performance, but vitamin E and selenium and their combination can be used to improve quail performance under intensive production system.

Poultry science, Jan 5, 2017

Paraquat (PQ) is used as a herbicide in agriculture and causes oxidative and inflammatory damage ... more Paraquat (PQ) is used as a herbicide in agriculture and causes oxidative and inflammatory damage to animal tissues. The current study was conducted to investigate the positive effects of dietary propolis (PR), as a potent naturally produced antioxidant, on growth performance and immune function of turkey poults exposed to oxidative stress induced by PQ injection. Native male turkey poults (n = 120, 49-d-old) were randomly assigned into 4 groups: poults received a basal diet with a daily subcutaneous PQ injection of 5 mg/kg BW for 7 consecutive days (PQ group), an experimental diet containing 1 g/kg PR with a daily subcutaneous PQ injection for 7 days (PR+PQ group), or received the experimental PR diet with a daily subcutaneous injection of 0.5 mL sterile saline for 7 days (PR group); while the control poults received a basal diet with a daily subcutaneous saline injection for 7 consecutive days (C group). The productive performance in the PQ group showed a significant (P < 0.05) ...

International journal of biometeorology, Jan 28, 2017

In tropical and semitropical regions, raising broiler chickens out of their thermal comfort zone ... more In tropical and semitropical regions, raising broiler chickens out of their thermal comfort zone can cause an added economic loss in the poultry industry. The cause for the deleterious effects on immunity and growth performance of broilers under high environmental temperatures is still poorly understood. Therefore, the aim of the current investigation was to evaluate the effect of heat stress on leukocytes protein synthesis and immune function as a possible direct cause of low performance in broiler chickens under such condition. In this study, 300 one-day-old male broiler chicks (Cobb500™) were randomly assigned into 2 groups with 5 replicates of 30 chicks each. From 21 to 42 days of age, one group was exposed to non-stressed condition at 24 °C and 50% relative humidity (control group), while the other group was exposed to heat stress at 35 °C and 50% relative humidity (HS group). At 42 days of age, blood samples were collected from each group to evaluate stress indicators, immune ...

Journal of Parasitic Diseases, 2015

Urinary schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma haematobium constitutes a major public health probl... more Urinary schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma haematobium constitutes a major public health problem in many tropical and subtropical countries. This study was conducted to evaluate circulating cathodic antigen cassette test and haematuria strip test for detection of S. haematobium in urine samples and to evaluate their screening performance among the study population. Microscopy was used as a gold standard. A total of 600 urine samples were examined by microscopy for detection of S. haematobium eggs, screened for microhaematuria using Self-Stik reagent strips and screened for circulating cathodic antigen (CCA) using the urine-CCA cassette test. The specificity of CCA, microhaematuria and macrohaematuria was 96.4, 40.6 and 31.2 % respectively while the sensitivity was 88.2, 99.3 and 100 % respectively which was statistically significant (P \ 0.001). These findings suggest that using of urine-CCA cassette test in diagnosis of urinary schistosomiasis is highly specific (96.4 %) compared with the highly sensitive haematuria strip test (100 %). The degree of agreement between microscopic examination and CCA detection was 99.3 % with highly statistically significant difference (P \ 0.001). The combination of two techniques could potentially use for screening and mapping of S. haematobium infection.

Animals, 2021

The modern broiler industry faces huge challenges to keep high production quality and quantity, e... more The modern broiler industry faces huge challenges to keep high production quality and quantity, especially under environmental heat stress conditions. The negative effect of heat stress on broiler productivity is mediated by oxidative stress induction. The blue-green alga (Spirulina platensis) has many applications in poultry nutrition with the high levels of bioactive antioxidant compounds, which can alleviate the oxidative stress damage induced by high ambient temperature. The current study was designed to investigate the effects of dietary Spirulina inclusion at different levels on growth performance, redox status, carcass traits, meat quality, blood hematology, and metabolites profile of broilers subjected to cyclic heat stress. A total of 300 one-day-old Cobb-500 broiler chicks were recruited. Starting from day 21 to 42 of age, birds were randomly divided into five treatment groups with 6 replicates × 10 birds per group, where the first one was provided with the basal diet and ...

The differences in the gross chemical composition of prepartum buffalo mammary gland secretion an... more The differences in the gross chemical composition of prepartum buffalo mammary gland secretion and colostrum were studied. Ten multiparous late pregnant buffalo cows were hand milked twice a week 30 days before the expected calving date and machine milked twice a day starting from parturition. Precolostrum and colostrum samples were taken to determine the changes in the chemical composition and electrical resistance over time. Blood plasma samples were collected weekly for progesterone (P4) determination. Precolostrum can be characterized as honey-like pale yellow sticky secretion high in protein low in fat and lactose which gradually turns to the colostrum form as parturition approached. Precolostrum yield has gradually increased as parturition approached as affected by high prepartum P4 level which decreased sharply at the day of parturition. Precolostrum mean percentages of fat, lactose and ash were lower, while protein percentage was higher compared to colostrum (P<0.001). Colostrum protein and fat percentages gradually decreased while lactose percentage gradually increased to reach their normal percentages that found in milk at the fourth day postpartum. Data revealed the presence of dramatic biochemical differences between the precolostrum and colostrum of buffalo cows as affected by the onset of lactogenesis.

Sustainability

The negative impacts of high stocking density on the commercial poultry industry compromise susta... more The negative impacts of high stocking density on the commercial poultry industry compromise sustainable birds’ productivity and welfare. Thus, we investigated the potential of colocynth seed (CC) supplementation in alleviating the negative impacts of high stocking density on broilers’ performance, immunity, inflammation, and redox status. A total of 648 one-day-old male Cobb 500 chicks were recruited and distributed into 2 × 2 factorial arrangements. The treatment groups were assigned based on stocking density as low stocking density (9 birds/m2; LSD) or high stocking density (19 birds/m2; HSD), and CC supplementation as without (0 g/kg feed; −CC) or with (1 g/kg feed; +CC) supplementation. Data were collected from week three to week five of age. Production performance was monitored and meat quality was assessed. Blood samples were collected to measure stress markers, humoral immune response, inflammatory cytokines, and antioxidant activity levels. The results indicated that HSD ind...

Advances in Animal and Veterinary Sciences

Agriculture

The chicken egg is one of the most globally-consumed animal protein sources with high-quality pro... more The chicken egg is one of the most globally-consumed animal protein sources with high-quality protein value. However, there is a growing concern about the association between excessive egg consumption and the increasing risk of cardiovascular disease incidence. Meanwhile, corn silk extract (CSE) is known to have hypo-lipidemic bioactive properties, as well as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Thus, the present study was designed to investigate the effect of feeding laying hens three different CSE levels on egg cholesterol content as well as egg production performance and oxidative stress marker levels. A total of 240, 40-week-old, Hy-Line Brown laying hens were divided into 4 symmetric groups (10 hens × 6 replicates). The control group was fed a basal diet while the other three groups were given the basal diet supplemented with 100 mg, 200 mg, or 400 mg CSE per kg feed, respectively. Egg production performance was monitored for eight successive weeks. Internal and external ...

Advances in Animal and Veterinary Sciences

Egyptian Poultry Science Journal, 2018

The present study aimed at the evaluation of growth performance, carcass characteristics and rela... more The present study aimed at the evaluation of growth performance, carcass characteristics and related physiological aspects of two different quail genotypes reared under different environmental conditions. A total of 180 quail birds, 8 days of age, of brown and white genotypes were used in this study and divided into two equal groups. Each genotype group was further divided into two subgroups; one subgroup of each genotype was subjected to cyclic heat stress (34˚C/8h, then 24˚C/16h), and the other subgroup was reared under control environment condition (24±1˚C) and served as the control. Feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio were determined and carcass characteristics were obtained. Blood samples were collected to measure total protein, albumin, cholesterol, triglycerides, AST, ALT, calcium, phosphorus, H/L ratio and total white blood cells. Also, tibia ash, calcium and phosphorus contents were determined. Rectal temperature was recorded. The effect of genotypic variation was noticed in all growth traits and carcass characteristics, revealing that white quail was higher in meat production. The results showed that heated stressed white quail had higher (P>0.01) initial and final body weight than brown quail. The effect of heat stress conditions on blood constituents was prominent. The effect of genotype on blood constituents was not observed, except for the total protein, calcium, AST and ALT. It can be concluded that the white quail genotype has the potential to deposit more meat, especially under high environmental temperature.

Animals

Spirulina platensisis (SP) is a blue-green microalgae with a high value for animal and poultry nu... more Spirulina platensisis (SP) is a blue-green microalgae with a high value for animal and poultry nutrition. The study employed 250 40-week-old, HY-Line W-36 commercial laying hens. The layers received one of five experimental diet substitutes in five groups for 10 consecutive weeks (five replicates of 10 hens each group); a soybean-corn basal diet formulation without SP (Control group) or the soybean partially substituted with 3% SP, 6% SP, 9% SP, and 12% SP (for the remaining four groups). The results showed that dietary SP treatment significantly (p < 0.05) improved the productive performance, egg quality, blood metabolites, and hematological parameters of laying hens. In addition, there were linear and quadratic effects for increasing the levels of SP inclusion into the layer diets; however, the highest values of most parameters were observed when using 9% SP (90 g/kg of the layer diets). Furthermore, the results showed that 4.7% of the soybean meal ingredient in the layer diet ...

Animals, Apr 7, 2022

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Animals, 2021

There is an extensive search for natural products that can be introduced to broiler rations to im... more There is an extensive search for natural products that can be introduced to broiler rations to improve performance, especially during the unfavorable breeding conditions. Under heat-stress conditions, the immune response seriously deteriorates, which consequently impairs broiler production performance. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the potentials of Citrullus colocynthis seeds (CCs) supplementation to modulate the immune response of broilers subjected to chronic heat stress. A total of 300 Cobb-500 male broiler chickens aged 21 days were randomly divided into two equal groups and reared under either thermo-neutral condition (24 ± 1 °C) or subjected to cyclic heat stress (34 ± 1 °C for 8 h). Each group was further divided into two groups (5 replicate × 15 chicks) and was fed either the basal diet or the basal diet with 0.1% CCs supplementation. The results showed that heat stress impaired the production performance by lowering the final body weight and feed intake as w...

Article history: Received 28 September 2015 Accepted 15 December 2015 Available online 24 Decembe... more Article history: Received 28 September 2015 Accepted 15 December 2015 Available online 24 December 2015

Thirty six white New Zealand growing male rabbits 6 weeks old were used to investigate the influe... more Thirty six white New Zealand growing male rabbits 6 weeks old were used to investigate the influence of feeding increasing levels of DDGS on performance, carcass quality and meat fatty acids profile. Rabbits were allotted into 4 treatment groups of 9 rabbits each, and fed one of the experimental diets which contain 0, 10, 20 and 30 % dried distillers corn grains with solubles (DDGS) for 12 weeks after which 3 rabbits of each group were used to test coefficients of total tract apparent digestibility of the experimental diets. At the end of the experimental period, 3 rabbits of each group were slaughtered to determine carcass quality and fatty acids profile. Inclusion of graded levels of DDGS decreased feed intake and improved feed conversion. Coefficients of total tract apparent digestibility showed no difference between treatments for DM, OM, CP. However, EE digestion coefficients of the diets used increased by increasing DDGS level and the values of CF were inconsistent. Carcass we...

Antioxidants, 2020

Propolis (PR) is a resin product of bee colonies that has rich bioactive antioxidant and bacteric... more Propolis (PR) is a resin product of bee colonies that has rich bioactive antioxidant and bactericidal compounds. Endotoxin, a byproduct of bacterial growth, is reported to cause progressive induction of endogenous oxidative stress and has negative impacts on individual health and wellbeing. Hereby, we investigated the ability of PR to alleviate the oxidative stress and immunosuppression imposed by avian pathogenic Escherichia coli using laying hen as a based model. In this study, PR was dietary supplemented to hens for 4 weeks at a concentration of 0.1%. At the beginning of the 4th week of the experiment, hens from control and PR treatment were injected with E. coli (O157:H7; 107 colonies/hen) or saline. The results showed significant (p < 0.05) negative impact of E. coli challenge on antioxidant status, immune response and productive performance. PR supplementation reduced (p < 0.05) inflammation markers levels (tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and interleukin 1β (IL-1β)) and p...

Egyptian Journal of Nutrition and Feeds, 2018

roduction performance is closely related to feed intake and feed components. Heat stress has a di... more roduction performance is closely related to feed intake and feed components. Heat stress has a direct effect on feed intake and can impair productivity and immunological responses. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of feed restriction and vitamin C supplementation on broiler performance under heat stress conditions. A total of 180 one-day old Arbor Acres chicks were randomly assigned to four experimental groups with three replicates (15 birds of each). The experimental chicks were fed the basal diet ad libitum (Control), fed the basal diet supplemented with 250 mg/kg vitamin C (Vit. C) ad libitum, deprived of feed for 8h/day (FR), or received the basal diet supplemented with 250 mg/kg vitamin C with feed deprivation for 8h/day (FR+Vit. C). All the experimental groups were exposed to cyclic environmental heat stress of 33.5±1.5˚C for 8h/day starting from 21 to 42 days of age. The feed withdrawal was synchronized with the period of temperature elevation. Feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion were measured on 0, 21, 35 and 42 days of the experiment. At the end of the experiment, blood samples were collected for determining the H/L ratio and quantifying some relative plasma constituents. Antibody titers of Newcastle (ND), Infectious Bronchitis (IBD) and Avian Influenza (AID) diseases were quantified after three weeks of immunization. Data revealed that feed restriction caused a significant reduction in feed intake and weight gain of broilers during the first three weeks of life. Vitamin C supplementation improved feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion during the period from 22 to 35 days. Plasma total protein and albumin increased significantly, while transaminases (liver enzymes) activity and the H/L ratio were reduced significantly due to different treatments when compared to the control. Antibody titers for ND and IBD significantly increased due to the different treatments as compared to the control group. The data revealed that feed restriction under thermo-neutral condition reduces the broiler growth performance. But when birds were subjected to elevated environmental temperature, feed rustication with or without vitamin C supplementation improved the broiler performance, with no effect on carcass characteristics, and produced a substantial improvement in immune response of heat stressed broilers. Vitamin C supplementation at 250 mg/kg can be used to alleviate the negative effects of heat stress on broiler productive and immunological responses.

Egyptian Journal of Nutrition and Feeds, 2018

Increasing productivity, improving product quality and insuring animal welfare are general demand... more Increasing productivity, improving product quality and insuring animal welfare are general demands to animal breeders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of supplementing the diet with propolis and/or bee pollen on egg productivity and immunological responses of laying Japanese quail. A total of 200 female quail, 35 days old, were randomly allocated to four equal groups. The first group served as a control group and was fed a basal diet (C). The second group was fed the basal diet supplemented with propolis at 1g/kg diet (Pro). The third group was fed the basal diet supplemented with bee pollen at 2g/kg diet (Bp). The fourth group was fed the basal diet supplemented with both propolis (1g/kg diet) and bee pollen (2g/kg diet) (Pro+Bp). Feed intake, feed conversion, egg mass, shell thickness and yolk index were significantly improved due to different dietary supplementation. Blood total protein and albumin increased, whereas cholesterol and H/L ratio significantly decreased due to diet supplementation. A synergistic effect of Pro+Bp was noticed in blood albumin, calcium and H/L ratio. In conclusion propolis and bee pollen can be supplemented to the diet of laying quail to increase egg production, improve egg quality and enhance blood protein, lipid and immunological responses.

Egyptian Journal of Nutrition and Feeds, 2018

n poultry intensive production system, stoking density is an inevitable practice. Thus, this stud... more n poultry intensive production system, stoking density is an inevitable practice. Thus, this study was designed to investigate the negative effects of high stoking density on quail growth performance, blood constituents and gut microbial count, and whether vitamin E and selenium supplementations have potential effects on enhancing the bird performance under high stoking density. A total of 225 Japanese quail at eight days of age were randomly allocated to five experimental groups (45 chicks each), with three replicates per group (15 chicks each). The groups formed low stoking control group (80 birds/m 2) as the negative control (N-Control), the high stoking control group (100 birds/m 2) as the positive control (P-Control), and three groups having high stoking density (100 birds/m 2) and supplemented with either 200 mg vitamin E/kg diet or 0.3 mg selenium/kg diet or 100 mg vitamin E and 0.15 mg selenium/kg diet. High stoking density negatively affected body weight gain and feed conversion ratio compared to the low stoking density. Blood calcium, phosphorus and tibia ash and tibia calcium decreased significantly with high stoking density. The supplementation of diet with vitamin E and selenium separately or combined, under high stoking density, improved quail body weight gain and feed conversion. Blood calcium and phosphorus levels and tibia calcium and phosphorus contents significantly increased with different diet supplementations compared to the non-supplemented high stoking density control. Vitamin E and selenium supplementations significantly reduced ileum total microbial count and E-coli count. The result revealed that high stoking density impaired quail performance, but vitamin E and selenium and their combination can be used to improve quail performance under intensive production system.

Poultry science, Jan 5, 2017

Paraquat (PQ) is used as a herbicide in agriculture and causes oxidative and inflammatory damage ... more Paraquat (PQ) is used as a herbicide in agriculture and causes oxidative and inflammatory damage to animal tissues. The current study was conducted to investigate the positive effects of dietary propolis (PR), as a potent naturally produced antioxidant, on growth performance and immune function of turkey poults exposed to oxidative stress induced by PQ injection. Native male turkey poults (n = 120, 49-d-old) were randomly assigned into 4 groups: poults received a basal diet with a daily subcutaneous PQ injection of 5 mg/kg BW for 7 consecutive days (PQ group), an experimental diet containing 1 g/kg PR with a daily subcutaneous PQ injection for 7 days (PR+PQ group), or received the experimental PR diet with a daily subcutaneous injection of 0.5 mL sterile saline for 7 days (PR group); while the control poults received a basal diet with a daily subcutaneous saline injection for 7 consecutive days (C group). The productive performance in the PQ group showed a significant (P < 0.05) ...

International journal of biometeorology, Jan 28, 2017

In tropical and semitropical regions, raising broiler chickens out of their thermal comfort zone ... more In tropical and semitropical regions, raising broiler chickens out of their thermal comfort zone can cause an added economic loss in the poultry industry. The cause for the deleterious effects on immunity and growth performance of broilers under high environmental temperatures is still poorly understood. Therefore, the aim of the current investigation was to evaluate the effect of heat stress on leukocytes protein synthesis and immune function as a possible direct cause of low performance in broiler chickens under such condition. In this study, 300 one-day-old male broiler chicks (Cobb500™) were randomly assigned into 2 groups with 5 replicates of 30 chicks each. From 21 to 42 days of age, one group was exposed to non-stressed condition at 24 °C and 50% relative humidity (control group), while the other group was exposed to heat stress at 35 °C and 50% relative humidity (HS group). At 42 days of age, blood samples were collected from each group to evaluate stress indicators, immune ...

Journal of Parasitic Diseases, 2015

Urinary schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma haematobium constitutes a major public health probl... more Urinary schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma haematobium constitutes a major public health problem in many tropical and subtropical countries. This study was conducted to evaluate circulating cathodic antigen cassette test and haematuria strip test for detection of S. haematobium in urine samples and to evaluate their screening performance among the study population. Microscopy was used as a gold standard. A total of 600 urine samples were examined by microscopy for detection of S. haematobium eggs, screened for microhaematuria using Self-Stik reagent strips and screened for circulating cathodic antigen (CCA) using the urine-CCA cassette test. The specificity of CCA, microhaematuria and macrohaematuria was 96.4, 40.6 and 31.2 % respectively while the sensitivity was 88.2, 99.3 and 100 % respectively which was statistically significant (P \ 0.001). These findings suggest that using of urine-CCA cassette test in diagnosis of urinary schistosomiasis is highly specific (96.4 %) compared with the highly sensitive haematuria strip test (100 %). The degree of agreement between microscopic examination and CCA detection was 99.3 % with highly statistically significant difference (P \ 0.001). The combination of two techniques could potentially use for screening and mapping of S. haematobium infection.

Animals, 2021

The modern broiler industry faces huge challenges to keep high production quality and quantity, e... more The modern broiler industry faces huge challenges to keep high production quality and quantity, especially under environmental heat stress conditions. The negative effect of heat stress on broiler productivity is mediated by oxidative stress induction. The blue-green alga (Spirulina platensis) has many applications in poultry nutrition with the high levels of bioactive antioxidant compounds, which can alleviate the oxidative stress damage induced by high ambient temperature. The current study was designed to investigate the effects of dietary Spirulina inclusion at different levels on growth performance, redox status, carcass traits, meat quality, blood hematology, and metabolites profile of broilers subjected to cyclic heat stress. A total of 300 one-day-old Cobb-500 broiler chicks were recruited. Starting from day 21 to 42 of age, birds were randomly divided into five treatment groups with 6 replicates × 10 birds per group, where the first one was provided with the basal diet and ...

The differences in the gross chemical composition of prepartum buffalo mammary gland secretion an... more The differences in the gross chemical composition of prepartum buffalo mammary gland secretion and colostrum were studied. Ten multiparous late pregnant buffalo cows were hand milked twice a week 30 days before the expected calving date and machine milked twice a day starting from parturition. Precolostrum and colostrum samples were taken to determine the changes in the chemical composition and electrical resistance over time. Blood plasma samples were collected weekly for progesterone (P4) determination. Precolostrum can be characterized as honey-like pale yellow sticky secretion high in protein low in fat and lactose which gradually turns to the colostrum form as parturition approached. Precolostrum yield has gradually increased as parturition approached as affected by high prepartum P4 level which decreased sharply at the day of parturition. Precolostrum mean percentages of fat, lactose and ash were lower, while protein percentage was higher compared to colostrum (P<0.001). Colostrum protein and fat percentages gradually decreased while lactose percentage gradually increased to reach their normal percentages that found in milk at the fourth day postpartum. Data revealed the presence of dramatic biochemical differences between the precolostrum and colostrum of buffalo cows as affected by the onset of lactogenesis.