title: Effects of feeding ervil (Vicia ervilia) seeds soaked in water or acetic acid on performance and internal organ size of broilers and production and egg quality of laying hens.
abstract: Experiment 1 was conducted to study the effects of feeding 60% untreated ervil seeds (UE) or ervil soaked in water at room temperature (RTWE) or at 40 degrees C (40WE) for 72 h with water change every 12 h on the performance and internal organ size of broilers. Isocaloric and isonitrogenous corn-soybean meal diet (control) and diets containing 60% UE, RTWE, or 40WE were fed to battery caged broilers in 4 replicates with 8 birds per replicate, from 8 to 49 d. Broilers consuming UE from 8 to 28 d gained less weight, used feed less efficiently, and had heavier liver, pancreas, and gall bladder weights (%BW) than the other treatments (P < 0.05). Compared with control birds, broilers on 40WE had similar relative organ weights, except for kidney, but lower BW gain at 49 d (P < 0.05). In experiment 2, ervil seeds were soaked in 1% acetic acid at room temperature (RTAAE) or at 40 degrees C (40AAE) for 24 h. A conventional diet and diets containing 60% UE, 40WE, RTAAE, or 40AAE were fed to individually caged laying hens in 4 replicates per treatment with 5 hens per replicate for 42 d. Hens on UE had the poorest performance followed by RTAAE, 40WE, and then 40AAE (P < 0.05). Compared with the control, all treated ervil diets resulted in lower shell thickness values but higher Haugh unit scores (P < 0.05). In experiment 3, 30% dietary UE and 40AAE at 10, 20, and 30% were fed to layers for 56 d. The general performance of hens on 30% 40AAE was comparable with that of the control except for BW and feed conversion (P < 0.05). Compared with UE, the performance of broilers and layers was improved by 40WE and that of hens was further enhanced by 40AAE. In addition, diets containing up to 20% 40AAE had no adverse effects on feed conversion, egg production, or quality of hens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, PO Box 11-0236, Riad EI-Solh, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon. mf02@aub.edu.lb
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Farran
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Halaby
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Barbour
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Uwayjan
authors.forename: F T
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Sleiman
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Ashkarian
mesh_terms: D019342:Acetic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002645:Chickens / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D004032:Diet; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004528:Egg Shell / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004531:Eggs / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D010058:Oviposition / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D010063:Ovum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry*; D031306:Vicia / Q000737:chemistry; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D028321:Plant Preparations; D014867:Water; D019342:Acetic Acid