ABSTRACT The objective was to evaluate the effect of dietary 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25(OH)D3) or vitamin D3 (VitD3) and different total calcium (Ca) levels on the performance, carcass characteristics, blood, enzymatic, and bone biochemistry of broilers reared under heat stress between 1 and 42 days of age. A total of 504 male, Cobb 500, broiler chickens were distributed in a completely randomized design in a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement (VitD3 or 25(OH)D3 × four Ca levels (100, 90, 80 and 70% of the recommendations of Rostagno et al. (2011)), eight treatments, seven replicates and nine broilers per cage. Feed intake and feed conversion ratio did not (p>0.05) vary when levels of Ca were reduced and vitamin D3 sources were supplemented in the diets from 1 to 21 days for broilers chickens. 25 (OH)D3 increased weight gain results (p<0.05). From 1 to 42 d, no differences (p>0.05) were observed on performance, carcass yields and meat quality, bone deposition of Ca and P, and alkaline phosphatase concentration. Higher serum (p<0.05) concentrations of Ca and P were found in broilers fed with 25(OH)D3. The replacement of VitD3 with 25(OH)D3 and the Ca reduction of 30% in diets did not negatively affect performance, carcass characteristics, and Ca and P deposition in the tibia of broilers at 42 days of age, under heat stress.

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to determine the optimum standardized ileal digestible isoleucine to lysine (SID Ile:Lys) ratio for meat-type quails from 15 to 35 d of age. Three hundred fifty not-sexed meat-type quails (Coturnix coturnix coturnix) were randomly assigned into five treatments, with seven replicates of 10 quails each. An isoleucine-deficient corn-soybean meal-based diet was formulated and graded supplemented with L-isoleucine (99%) to obtain diets containing SID Ile:Lys ratios of 55,61, 67, 73, and 79%. Data were analyzed as one-way ANOVA and optimum SID Ile:Lys was estimated by polynomial (linear and quadratic) regression. Statistical differences were considered when p<0.05. Quail performance from 15 and 21 d and 15 and 28 d of age was not affected by the treatments. From 15 to 35 d of age, body weight gain and body weight exhibited a quadratic response to increasing dietary SID Ile:Lys ratios, and were optimized at 66 and 67% SID Ile:Lys, respectively. Feed conversion ratio was not influenced by SID Ile:Lys ratios in any of the phases assessed herein. Based on the results, the optimum SID Ile:Lys ratio for meat-type quails from 15 to 35 d of age is 67%.