Abstract
The effectiveness of the anti-stress drug “Hydro Rex Vital” in the rearing of broiler chickens during the transitional period of the year was studied. The study was conducted on broiler chickens of the “Arbor Acres” crossbreed at the farm of “Altynbek” LLP (Almaty region, Isayev village). Four groups (one control and three experimental) were formed using the analogy method at the age of one day. The chickens of all groups were kept in the same room (identical sections) on deep litter until the age of 42 days. The drug was not used in the control group 1, while in the experimental groups 2, 3, and 4, the dosage of the drug administered with drinking water was 200, 300, and 400 ml per 1 ton of water, respectively. The results of the study showed that the survival rate in groups 1 (control), 2, 3, and 4 was 90.0%; 93.3%; 96.7%; 96.7% respectively; live weight of chickens at the age of 42 days was 2.49; 2.60; 2.65; and 2.57 kg respectively; average daily weight gain was 58.3; 60.8; 62.0; and 60.0 g respectively; feed consumption per 1 kg of live weight gain was 1.85; 1.74; 1.69; and 1.57 kg respectively; the slaughter yield of eviscerated carcasses was 72.2; 74.9; 76.3; and 74.0% respectively; production profitability was 170; 263; 313; and 308% respectively. It is recommended to give the anti-stress drug “Hydro Rex Vital” to broiler chickens with water at a dosage of 300 ml per 1 ton of water from the age of one day until the end of the rearing period to improve viability and productivity, reduce feed costs per unit of product, and meat production cost, and increase production profitability. In research, it is advisable to use the Russian production efficiency index instead of the European productivity index to quickly determine the winning group.
Keywords:
broiler chickens; stress; anti-stress feed additives; “Hydro Rex Vital”; survival rate; productivity; feed costs; economic efficiency
Resumo
Foi estudada a eficácia do medicamento antiestresse “Hydro Rex Vital” na criação de frangos de corte durante o período de transição do ano. O estudo foi realizado em frangos de corte do cruzamento Arbor Acres na fazenda de Altynbek LLP (região de Almaty, vila de Isayev, Cazaquistão).. Quatro grupos (um controle e três experimentais) foram formados utilizando o método de analogia com a idade de um dia. As galinhas de todos os grupos foram mantidas na mesma sala (seções idênticas) em cama profunda até a idade de 42 dias. O fármaco não foi utilizado no grupo controle 1, enquanto, nos grupos experimentais 2, 3 e 4, a dosagem do fármaco administrado com água potável foi de 200, 300 e 400 mL por uma tonelada de água, respectivamente. Os resultados do estudo mostraram que a taxa de sobrevivência nos grupos 1 (controle), 2, 3 e 4 foi de 90,0; 93,3; 96,7, e 96,7%, respectivamente; o peso vivo das galinhas aos 42 dias foi de 2,49; 2,60; 2,65, e 2,57 kg, respectivamente; o ganho de peso médio diário foi de 58,3; 60,8; 62,0, e 60,0 g, respectivamente; o consumo de ração por 1 kg de ganho de peso vivo foi de 1,85; 1,74; 1,69, e 1,57 kg, respectivamente; o rendimento de abate das carcaças evisceradas foi de 72,2; 74,9; 76,3, e 74,0%, respectivamente; a rentabilidade da produção foi de 170; 263; 313, e 308%, respectivamente. Recomenda-se administrar o medicamento antiestresse “Hydro Rex Vital” a frangos de corte com água na dosagem de 300 mL por uma tonelada de água a partir de um dia de idade até o final do período de criação para melhorar a viabilidade e a produtividade, reduzir os custos de alimentação por unidade de produto e o custo de produção de carne, e aumentar a lucratividade da produção. Na pesquisa, mostrou-se aconselhável usar o índice russo de eficiência de produção em vez do índice europeu de produtividade para determinar rapidamente o grupo vencedor.
Palavras-chave:
frangos de corte; estresse; aditivos alimentares antiestresse; “Hydro Rex Vital”; taxa de sobrevivência; produtividade; custos da ração; eficiência econômica
1. Introduction
Poultry farming is a driving force in the production of cheap animal protein for human nutrition and makes a significant contribution to ensuring the food security of any country. The further development of broiler poultry farming and the improvement of its competitiveness largely depend on the improvement of existing and the development of new technologies for feeding and keeping broiler chickens and parent stock poultry (Fisinin, 2019; Fisinin and Kavtarashvili, 2016; Buyarov et al., 2017). Scientists worldwide are working on increasing the genetic potential of the productivity of modern poultry crosses. At the same time, the sensitivity of poultry to negative environmental factors is increasing, which is the reason for the reduced viability and incomplete realization of the poultry's productivity potential (Soleimani et al., 2011; Bureau et al., 2009; Wasti et al., 2020). The immune, digestive, and reproductive systems of poultry are the most sensitive to stress factors (Okolelova et al., 2021). It has been established that stresses cause a wide range of behavioral, physiological, and immunological changes, which can lead to the development of pathological processes in the poultry's body, and as a result, slower growth, increased morbidity, reduced product quality, and ultimately, economic production efficiency (Kavtarashvili and Kolokolnikova, 2010; Fisinin and Kavtarashvili, 2015a, b; Bogolyubova et al., 2022; Grigorieva et al., 2017).
Factors causing stress in poultry are conventionally divided into environmental – deviations from the optimal temperature and humidity in the room, ventilation disturbances, dustiness, gas pollution, disruption of the light regime, noise, violation of stocking density, feeding and drinking fronts, etc.; feed-related – mycotoxins and other xenobiotics, oxidized fats, imbalance of energy, amino acids, vitamins and minerals in the feed and the poultry's body, low-quality drinking water, lack of feed and interruptions in feeding, frequent ration changes, underfeeding of poultry, lack of or use of very cold water, etc.; technological and social – catching, transportation, and placement of poultry, debeaking, transfer of poultry from the young stock area to the adult stock area, redistribution of stock and formation of communities, establishment of hierarchical order (dominant-subordinate relationships) in the newly formed community, etc.; biological – reaching the peak of productivity, vaccinations, infectious and invasive diseases, non-infectious diseases, forced molting of poultry, dysbacteriosis in the intestines (Okolelova et al., 2021; Surai and Fisinin, 2016a, b; Surai, 2018).
Research over the past two decades convincingly shows that at the cellular level, most poultry stresses are caused by oxidative stress due to an excess of free radicals or insufficient antioxidant protection (Surai et al., 2019; Sies et al., 2017; Estévez, 2015; Mishra and Jha, 2019; Pomatto and Davies, 2018).
Various approaches are used to reduce and prevent stress in poultry (Okolelova et al., 2021; Fisinin and Kavtarashvili, 2015b; Bogolyubova et al., 2022). Anti-stress feed additives play an important role in this, helping to strengthen immunity and reduce stress reactions in birds. Additionally, they help to normalize metabolic processes in the body, improve poultry survival and productivity indicators (Surai, 2016; Surai and Fisinin, 2012, 2016c; Miftakhutdinova et al., 2020).
“Hydro Rex Vital” is one such anti-stress feed additive, including a vitamin-amino acid complex. One ml of the drug contains: 18,000-22,000 IU of vitamin A, 4,500-5,500 IU of vitamin D3, 85-95 mg of vitamin E, 45-55 mg of vitamin B1, 9-11 mg of vitamin B2, 28-32 mg of vitamin B6, 0.028-0.032 mg of vitamin B12, 47-53 mg of vitamin C, 45-55 mg of vitamin K3, 0.9-1.1 mg of vitamin B9, 18-22 mg of vitamin B3, 95-105 mg of vitamin B5; 14-15 mg of aspartic acid, 26-26.8 mg of glutamic acid, 62-66 mg of threonine, 64-68 mg of serine, 11-12 mg of proline, 15-15.6 mg of glycine, 17-17.8 mg of alanine, 12-13 mg of cystine, 109-113 mg of methionine, 95-101 mg of isoleucine, 20-20.2 mg of leucine, 75-79 mg of phenylalanine, 66-7 mg of tyrosine, 20-21.4 mg of lysine, 54-58 mg of histidine, 138-144 mg of arginine, 35-38 mg of tryptophan, 0.245-0.255 g of polysorbate 80, and distilled water.
“Hydro Rex Vital” is a water-soluble drug, making it convenient to use. It is compatible with all feed ingredients, medications, and other feed additives.
The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using the anti-stress drug “Hydro Rex Vital” in rearing broiler chickens during the transitional period of the year.
2. Materials and Methods
The experiment was conducted on broiler chickens of the “Arbor Acres” crossbreed at the farm of “Altynbek” LLP (Almaty region, Isayev village). Four groups (one control and three experimental) were formed using the analogy method at the age of one day. The chickens of all groups were kept in the same room (identical sections) on deep litter from day one to 42 days of age. The rearing and feeding conditions, except for the studied factor, were the same for all groups and corresponded to the recommendations for rearing broiler chickens of the “Arbor Acres” crossbreed. The research scheme is presented in Table 1.
3. Results and Discussion
The main results of rearing broiler chickens are presented in Table 2.
As shown in Table 2, the use of the anti-stress drug “Hydro Rex Vital” in experimental groups 2-4 allowed for a 3.3-6.7% increase in broiler chicken survival over the 42-day rearing period compared to the control group 1 (without the drug). Among the experimental groups, the highest rate was in groups 3 and 4 – when the drug was administered at 300 and 400 ml per 1 ton of drinking water.
Using the anti-stress drug “Hydro Rex Vital” in experimental groups 2-4 allowed for a 2.9-6.4% increase in live weight, including males by 3.5-4.9% (p<0.05-0.01) and females by 1.9-8.0% (p<0.05-0.01, except for group 4) compared to the control group 1. As a result, the average daily live weight gain of broilers in experimental groups 2, 3, and 4 was higher than in the control group by 4.2%, 6.3%, and 2.9%, respectively. It should be noted that the use of “Hydro Rex Vital” had a greater impact on the live weight of females (except for group 4) than males.
The experimental groups 2-4 significantly (p<0.05-0.01) outperformed the control group in terms of the weight of eviscerated broiler carcasses. The highest value of this indicator was in the experimental group 3 – 2021.5 g, which is 3.9-12.3% more than in the other groups. Since the weight of eviscerated broiler carcasses in all experimental groups was higher than in the control group, the slaughter yield in experimental groups 2-4 was 1.8-4.1% higher compared to the control. The highest slaughter yield – 76.3% was observed in broilers of the experimental group 3.
The highest average daily feed consumption (102.3 g) was observed in broilers of the experimental group 3 – 1.5-10.7% higher than in the other groups. The lowest value of this indicator was in the experimental group 4 (92.4 g). As a result, the best feed conversion ratio was noted in this group. The feed costs per 1 kg of live weight gain in the experimental group 4 were 7.1-15.1% lower than in groups 1-3. The highest value of this indicator (1.85 kg) was in the control group 1. There was a trend towards a decrease in feed costs per 1 kg of live weight gain with an increase in the dosage of the anti-stress drug from 200 to 400 ml per 1 ton of drinking water.
The European Productivity Index [(Survival rate, % x Live weight of 1 ind., kg) / (age at slaughter, days × feed conversion ratio, kg)] in experimental groups 2-4 was 42.8-87.5 units higher than in the control group 1. Among the experimental groups, the highest value of this indicator (376.3 units) was registered in group 4.
To more accurately assess the best dosage of the anti-stress drug “Hydro Rex Vital” in rearing broiler chickens based on the experiment results, economic efficiency was calculated for a poultry house measuring 18 × 96 m, as well as the Russian production efficiency index (Kavtarashvili, 2015) according to the Formula 1:
where: Msl – total meat yield in slaughter weight (kg); Cm – average selling price of 1 kg of meat (rub.); Ftc – total feed cost (rub.); Sf – feed share in meat cost price (in slaughter weight) (%).
The results are presented in Table 3.
Economic efficiency of using the anti-stress drug “Hydro Rex Vital” in rearing broiler chickens during the transitional period of the year (for a poultry house 18 × 96 m).
The results in Table 3 show that the use of the anti-stress drug “Hydro Rex Vital” in experimental groups 2-4 in a poultry house measuring 18 × 96 m, compared to the control group 1, allowed for a reduction in meat production cost by 7.3-10.9% and an increase in production profitability by 9.3-14.3%, with a total economic effect of 4902.85-7841.75 thousand tenge or 153.21-245.05 tenge per initial individual. The highest production profitability (31.3%) and total economic effect (7841.75 thousand tenge) were achieved in the experimental group 3, which corresponds exactly to the Russian production efficiency index indicator, where a value above 100 corresponds to profitability, and below – indicates unprofitability (Kavtarashvili, 2015). It should be noted that the best experimental group 3, according to the European Productivity Index, was inferior to the experimental group 4 (360.9 against 376.3).
4. Conclusion
Thus, based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that the use of the anti-stress drug “Hydro Rex Vital” in rearing broiler chickens during the transitional period of the year allowed for a 3.3-6.7% increase in survival rate, a 2.9-6.4% increase in live weight, an 1.8-4.1% increase in the slaughter yield of eviscerated carcasses, and a 5.9-15.1% reduction in feed costs per 1 kg of live weight gain. The best results across a range of indicators were achieved in the experimental group 3. It is recommended to give the anti-stress drug “Hydro Rex Vital” to broiler chickens with water at a dosage of 300 ml per 1 ton of water from the age of one day until the end of the rearing period to improve viability and productivity, reduce feed costs per unit of product, and meat production cost, and increase production profitability. In research, it is advisable to use the Russian production efficiency index instead of the European productivity index to quickly determine the winning group.
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Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
31 Jan 2025 -
Date of issue
2024
History
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Received
07 Aug 2024 -
Accepted
24 Oct 2024
