Al-Tamimi Hosam, Mahmoud Kamel, Al-Dawood Amani, Nusairat Basheer, Bani Khalaf Hussam
Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid 22110, Jordan.
Department of Applied Biology, College of Sciences, Tafila Technical University, Tafila 66110, Jordan.
Animals (Basel). 2019 Sep 29;9(10):742. doi: 10.3390/ani9100742.
The present study aimed to assess the effect of dietary betaine (B) and/or creatine (C) on performance and thermoregulatory responses of broiler chicks. Indian River broiler chicks, fitted with compact thermosensors, were reared to market age (five weeks). The chicks were randomly distributed into four treatment groups, in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments-basal control diet (Control group: CONT; B-/C-); 1 g betaine/kg feed (Betaine group: BETA; B+/C-), 1.2 g creatine monohydrate/kg feed (Creatine group: CRET; B-/C+), and combination (Betaine and Creatine group: COMB; B+/C+) of both supplements. At 31 days of age, 20 chicks from each group were exposed to acute heat stress (A-HS) for 3 h (34.45 ± 0.20 °C), and hemogramic profiles were screened before and after. Performance parameters (feed intake, body weight gain, and feed conversion ratio) were reported on a weekly basis, and carcass meat quality was evaluated at the end of experiment. Redness of breast was higher due to B and C treatments separately than the CONT group (B by C interaction; < 0.05). Compared to the CONT, dietary supplements alleviated hyperthermia responses, with B alone being more efficient than C or COMB treatments. The mitigation of hyperthermia is likely mediated by enhancement of water balance indicators. Although not efficient in improving growth performance, dietary B and/or C are efficient in improving thermophysiological performance and survival of finishing broiler chicks under A-HS.
本研究旨在评估日粮中添加甜菜碱（B）和/或肌酸（C）对肉仔鸡生产性能和体温调节反应的影响。给印度河肉仔鸡安装紧凑型温度传感器，饲养至上市日龄（5周）。将雏鸡随机分为四个处理组，采用2×2析因设计，处理包括基础对照日粮（对照组：CONT；B-/C-）；每千克饲料添加1克甜菜碱（甜菜碱组：BETA；B+/C-），每千克饲料添加1.2克一水肌酸（肌酸组：CRET；B-/C+），以及两种添加剂的组合（甜菜碱和肌酸组：COMB；B+/C+）。在31日龄时，每组20只雏鸡暴露于急性热应激（A-HS）3小时（34.45±0.20℃），并在应激前后筛查血液学指标。每周报告生产性能参数（采食量、体重增加和饲料转化率），并在实验结束时评估胴体肉质。单独使用B和C处理时，胸肉红色度均高于CONT组（B与C的交互作用；<0.05）。与CONT组相比，日粮添加剂减轻了热应激反应，单独使用B比C或COMB处理更有效。热应激的减轻可能是通过增强水平衡指标来介导的。虽然日粮中添加B和/或C对提高生长性能无效，但在A-HS条件下，它们能有效改善育肥肉仔鸡的热生理性能和存活率。
