Abd El-Hack Mohamed E, Aldhalmi Ahmed K, Ashour Elwy A, Kamal Mahmoud, Khan Mohammad M H, Swelum Ayman A
Poultry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt; Department of Industrial Pharmacy, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Drug Manufacturing, Misr University for Science and Technology (MUST) P.O. Box 77, Giza, Egypt.
College of Pharmacy, Al- Mustaqbal University 51001 Babylon, Iraq.
Poult Sci. 2025 Mar 21;104(6):105085. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2025.105085.
The purpose of this research was to assess the effects of formic acid (FORM) and an herbal mixture (HM) as antibiotic alternatives in broiler meals on growth efficiency, carcass criteria, blood parameters, and intestinal bacterial populations. A total of 360 one-day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks were assigned to six trial treatments using a totally randomized method. Each group consisted of 6 replicates, with 10 unsexed chicks per replicate. The groups were arranged as follows: NC (negative control, basal diet); PC (positive control, basal diet + 0.5 g Polymyxin E antibiotic/kg diet); Form2, Form4, HM3, and HM6 (basal diet supplemented with 2 or 4 ml formic acid, or 3 or 6 g herbal mixture/kg diet, respectively). The findings showed no substantial variations in "body weight (BW) or body weight gain (BWG)" among the formic acid and herbal mixture groups relative to the NC and PC groups. The HM 3 and 6 g/kg groups exhibited higher "feed intake (FI) and improved feed conversion ratio (FCR)" relative to the other treatments. Carcass characteristics were not substantially impacted by formic acid or herbal mixture supplementation, except for spleen weight, which was highest in the NC group. Significant changes in blood parameters were observed, with notable variations in ALT and AST activity and "urea, creatinine, total protein, globulin, and albumin" levels in the formic acid and herbal mixture groups. The supplementation of formic acid and herbal mixture also increased antioxidant levels (GPx, GST, and GSH) compared to the NC group while reducing MDA levels relative to the NC and PC groups. Additionally, formic acid supplementation significantly reduced harmful bacterial populations in cecal samples. Conversely, Lactobacilli counts greater than those in the NC and PC groups, although no significant variances in Clostridium populations were observed. In conclusion, supplementing broiler feed with formic acid and herbal mixtures positively influences blood parameters, antioxidant status, and intestinal microbiota.
本研究的目的是评估甲酸（FORM）和一种草药混合物（HM）作为抗生素替代品添加到肉鸡日粮中对生长效率、胴体指标、血液参数和肠道细菌种群的影响。总共360只1日龄的罗斯308肉鸡雏鸡采用完全随机方法分配到6种试验处理组。每组有6个重复，每个重复有10只未分性别的雏鸡。分组如下：NC（阴性对照，基础日粮）；PC（阳性对照，基础日粮 + 0.5 g多粘菌素E抗生素/千克日粮）；Form2、Form4、HM3和HM6（基础日粮分别补充2或4毫升甲酸，或3或6克草药混合物/千克日粮）。研究结果表明，相对于NC组和PC组，甲酸和草药混合物组的“体重（BW）或体重增加（BWG）”没有显著差异。相对于其他处理组，HM 3克/千克和6克/千克组的“采食量（FI）更高且饲料转化率（FCR）得到改善”。除脾脏重量外，胴体特征基本不受甲酸或草药混合物添加的影响，脾脏重量在NC组中最高。观察到血液参数有显著变化，甲酸和草药混合物组的ALT和AST活性以及“尿素、肌酐、总蛋白、球蛋白和白蛋白”水平有明显差异。与NC组相比，甲酸和草药混合物的添加还提高了抗氧化水平（GPx、GST和GSH），同时相对于NC组和PC组降低了MDA水平。此外，添加甲酸显著减少了盲肠样本中的有害细菌种群。相反，乳酸杆菌数量高于NC组和PC组，尽管梭菌种群数量没有显著差异。总之，在肉鸡饲料中添加甲酸和草药混合物对血液参数、抗氧化状态和肠道微生物群有积极影响。
