Falowo Andrew Bamidele, Oloruntola Olugbenga David, Atiba Oluwaseyi Israel, Ayodele Ojurereoluwa Adebimpe, Olarotimi Olumuyiwa Joseph, Gbore Francis Ayodeji
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, PMB 001, Ondo State, Nigeria.
Transl Anim Sci. 2025 May 2;9:txaf047. doi: 10.1093/tas/txaf047. eCollection 2025.
Feed restriction is effective in reducing feed costs, however it may have adverse effects on growth performance. Phytogenic feed additives has been explored for their potential to enhance digestion and support growth in poultry. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of avocado seed meal on growth performance, carcass quality, immune response, haematological indices, and production economics of broiler chickens under feed restriction. One hundred and twenty 1-day-old Cobb 500 broiler chicks were assigned to a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement comprising two feeding regimens (ad libitum and 8-hour time-restricted feeding) and two avocado seed meal (ASM) levels (0 mg/kg and 3000 mg/kg), resulting in four treatments with 12 replicates during 42-day feeding trial. Feed restriction significantly () decreased final body weight (11.42%), weight gain (11.60%), feed intake (11.10%), slaughter weight (12.24%), and dressing percentage (3.13%) but increased relative organ weights (lung, liver, heart, spleen, gizzard, and pancreas) of the broiler chicken compared to unrestricted group. Supplementation of ASM had no significant effect () on growth performance and carcass traits except for relative heart and pancreas weights of the broiler chickens. Economic analysis showed that feed-restricted broilers had lower feed costs (N3376.39) but reduced revenue (N6866.87) and income over feed costs (N3490.48) compared to the ad libitum group, while ASM inclusion did not significantly () affect economic outcomes. Feed-restricted broilers exhibited lower red (2.68 × 10/L)) and white blood cell counts (3.20 × 10/L), while ASM supplementation maintained normal haematological parameters. Immune responses showed elevated IgG (313.75mg/dL) and IgM (153.17mg/dL) levels in feed-restricted broilers, with ASM inclusion affecting IgM levels but not IgG concentrations. The influence of feed restriction × ASM supplementation interaction was not significant () on final body weight, body weight gain, feed intake, cost of feed intake, revenue, and income over feed cost per bird across treatments. However, a feed restriction × ASM supplementation interaction occurred on feed conversion ratio, dressing percentage, liver, heart, gizzard, pancreas weights and IgM levels across treatments. The study concludes that supplementation of ASM at 3000 mg/kg could minimize the negative influence of feed restriction on growth performance, carcass traits, and economic returns during production.
限饲在降低饲料成本方面是有效的，然而它可能对生长性能产生不利影响。植物源饲料添加剂已被探索用于提高家禽消化和促进生长的潜力。因此，本研究旨在评估在限饲条件下鳄梨籽粕对肉鸡生长性能、胴体品质、免疫反应、血液学指标和生产经济效益的影响。120只1日龄的科宝500肉鸡雏鸡被分配到一个2×2析因设计中，包括两种饲喂方案（自由采食和8小时限时饲喂）和两个鳄梨籽粕（ASM）水平（0毫克/千克和3000毫克/千克），在42天的饲喂试验中形成四种处理，每种处理12个重复。与不限饲组相比，限饲显著（）降低了肉鸡的终末体重（11.42%）、体重增加（11.60%）、采食量（11.10%）、屠宰体重（12.24%）和屠宰率（3.13%），但增加了相对器官重量（肺、肝、心、脾、肌胃和胰腺）。除了肉鸡的相对心脏和胰腺重量外，添加ASM对生长性能和胴体性状没有显著（）影响。经济分析表明，与自由采食组相比，限饲肉鸡的饲料成本较低（3376.39尼日利亚奈拉），但收入减少（6866.87尼日利亚奈拉），饲料成本收益（3490.48尼日利亚奈拉）降低，而添加ASM对经济结果没有显著（）影响。限饲肉鸡的红细胞（2.68×10/L）和白细胞计数（3.20×10/L）较低，而添加ASM可维持正常的血液学参数。免疫反应显示限饲肉鸡的IgG（313.75毫克/分升）和IgM（153.17毫克/分升）水平升高，添加ASM影响IgM水平但不影响IgG浓度。限饲×添加ASM的交互作用对各处理间每只鸡的终末体重、体重增加、采食量、采食量成本、收入和饲料成本收益没有显著（）影响。然而，限饲×添加ASM的交互作用在各处理间的饲料转化率、屠宰率、肝脏、心脏、肌胃、胰腺重量和IgM水平上出现。研究得出结论，添加3000毫克/千克的ASM可以最大限度地减少限饲对生产期间生长性能、胴体性状和经济回报的负面影响。
