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ARS Home » Midwest Area » West Lafayette, Indiana » Livestock Behavior Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #312761
Title: The effect of Brazilian Propolis on leg health in broilers reared under heat stress

Author
item MAHMOUD, USAMA - Assuit University
item ABDEL-RAHMAN, MOOTAS - Assuit University
item DARWISH, MADEHA - Assuit University
item APPLEGATE, TODD - Assuit University
item Cheng, Heng-Wei

Submitted to: International Poultry Scientific Forum
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/20/2014
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Exposing broiler chickens to heat stress increases leg abnormalities and Gait Score, also it reduced the time of Latency to Lie Test. This experiment was conducted to examine the effect of dietary supplemention with green Brazilian propolis on Latency to Lie Test for leg strength and leg abnormalities in broiler chickens exposed to chronic heat stress (from 15 to 42 days). A total of 504, 15 d old, male broiler chickens (Ross 708) were randomly allocated to 6 treatments, each with 4 replicates per treatment, 21 chickens per pen. The dietary treatments were basal diet (control) and 5 different concentrations of propolis (100, 250, 500, 1000, and 3000 mg/kg diet, respectively). The average temperature and relative humidity during the day time was (31.7±0.3°C and 56±4%) while at night were (28.8±0.4°C and 58±3%) respectively. At 42 days of age all chickens were scanned for leg abnormalities, while 10 birds/pen were randomly gait scored (0 - 2) and 5 bird/pen were submitted to a Latency to Lie Test. The data were analyzed by SPSS 22.00 Software using the general linear models (GLM) followed by simple regression model procedure. Supplementation of broiler chickens diets with 250 mg/kg-1 propolis significantly (p = 0.031) reduced the percentage of leg abnormalities, and significantly (P = 0.046, regression linear P = 0.05) increased Latency to Lie Time, but without significant effects (P = 0.122) on the gait score, in comparison to the control group. Other doses had no effect on the measured parameters compared to controls. In conclusion, the results indicate that dietary supplementation with 250 mg/kg-1 green Brazilian propolis improves the leg health of broilers reared under heat stress condition.