Effects of Dietary Supplementation with Bilberry Extract on Growth Performance, Immune Function, Antioxidant Capacity, and Meat Quality of Yellow-Feathered Chickens
Yibing Wang,
Xinyan Ma,
Jinling Ye,
Sheng Zhang,
Zhilong Chen,
Shouqun Jiang
Affiliations
Yibing Wang
State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Xinyan Ma
State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Jinling Ye
State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Sheng Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Zhilong Chen
State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Shouqun Jiang
State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
The experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of bilberry extract on growth performance, meat quality, antioxidant status, and immune function of yellow-feathered chickens. A total of 360 female hatchling Lingnan chickens were randomly allocated to three treatments with 6 replicates of 20 chickens per replicate. Birds were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0 (the control group), 100 (B100), and 400 (B400) mg/kg of bilberry extract for 63 d. Compared with the controls, (1) dietary supplementation with bilberry extract did not affect the growth performance of chickens from 1 to 63 d. (2) At 21 d, the relative weight of the bursa of Fabricius was increased (p p p p p p p p p p < 0.05); treatments did not affect inosinic acid or intramuscular fat contents. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of yellow-feathered chickens with bilberry extract enhanced the relative weight of the bursa of Fabricius, and broadly increased activities of antioxidant enzymes; indices of meat quality were improved without impact on growth performance. Considering the results in the current research, 100 mg/kg bilberry extract was recommended when supplemented in chickens.