Evaluation of fatty acid metabolism and innate immunity interactions between commercial broiler, F1 layer × broiler cross and commercial layer strains selected for different growth potentials

Background： The broiler industry has undergone intense genetic selection over the past 50 yr. resulting in improvements for growth and feed efficiency, however, significant variation remains for performance and growth traits. Production improvements have been coupled with unfavourable metabolic consequences, including immunological trade-offs for growth, and excess fat deposition. To determine whether interactions between fatty acid（FA） metabolism and innate immunity may be associated with performance variations commonly seen within commercial broiler flocks, total carcass lipid %, carcass and blood FA composition, as wel as genes involved with FA metabolism, immunity and cel ular stress were investigated in male birds of a broiler strain, layer strain and F1 layer × broiler cross at d 14 post hatch. Heterophil：lymphocyte ratios, relative organ weights and bodyweight data were also compared.Results： Broiler bodyweight（n = 12） was four times that of layers（n = 12） by d 14 and had significantly higher carcass fat percentage compared to the cross（n = 6; P = 0.002） and layers（P = 0.017） which were not significantly different from each other（P = 0.523）. The carcass and whole blood FA analysis revealed differences in the FA composition between the three groups indicating altered FA metabolism, despite al being raised on the same diet. Genes associated with FA synthesis andβ-oxidation were upregulated in the broilers compared to the layers indicating a net overal increase in FA metabolism,which may be driven by the larger relative liver size as a percentage of bodyweight in the broilers. Genes involved in innate immunity such as TLR2 and TLR4, as wel as organel e stress indicators ERN1 and XBP1 were found to be nonsignificant, with the exception of high expression levels of XBP1 in layers compared to the cross and broilers. Additional y there was no difference in heterophil： lymphocytes between any of the birds.Conclusions： The results provide evidence that genetic selection may be associated with altered metabolic processes between broilers, layers and their F1 cross. Whilst there is no evidence of interactions between FA metabolism, innate immunity or cel ular stress, further investigations at later time points as growth and fat deposition increase would provide useful information as to the effects of divergent selection on key metabolic and immunological processes.

A Survey of Hatchery Waste Management Practices

A survey of major chicken meat hatcheries in Australia was undertaken in 2008 to identify how hatchery waste is currently managed. A weekly average of 10.4 tonnes of waste is produced by chicken meat hatcheries. The cost of disposal （average $127/tonne） and availability of disposal sites is an emerging issue. The majority of hatchery waste is sent to land fill or for composting, with some rendered for use as pet food. Hatchery wastewater is mostly used for irrigation or disposed directly into the sewer. Most of the hatcheries have no environmental issues with hatchery waste on site but some report odour problems. Some hatcheries would like to treat the waste on site so that it could be sold as a commodity or to use methods to separate liquid from solid waste and recycle water.

Ultrastructure of the gastro intestinal tract of healthy Japanese quail(Coturnix japonica) using light and scanning electron microscopy

The Japanese quail(Coturnix japonica) are popular both as an alternative protein source and as a model of choice for scientific research in several disciplines. There is limited published information on the histological features of the intestinal tract of Japanese quail. The only comprehensive reference is a book published in 1969. This study aims to fill that niche by providing a reference of general histological features of the Japanese quail, covering all the main sections of the intestinal tract. Both light and scanning electron microscope(SEM) images are presented. Results showed that the Japanese quail intestinal tract is very similar to that of the chicken with the exception of the luminal koilin membrane of the gizzard. Scanning electron microscopic photomicrographs show that in the Japanese quail koilin vertical rods are tightly packed together in a uniform manner making a carpet-like appearance. This differs in chicken where the conformations of vertical rods are arranged in clusters.