Published in Scientific Papers. Series D. Animal Science, Vol. LXV, Issue 2
Written by Anca GHEORGHE, Mihaela HĂBEANU, Nicoleta Aurelia LEFTER, Lavinia IDRICEANU, Minodora TUDORACHE, Ioan CUSTURĂ
The study aimed to evaluate the effect of age on breeders’ performance, plasma proteins and total nitrogen content of excreta. The trial was conducted on 150 Ross 308 female breeders’ (21-week-old). During 6-weeks, the birds were reared in similar management conditions and fed with standard feeds according to age (21 to 24-weeks, and >25 weeks). At the end of weeks 22, 24 and 26, blood and fresh excreta were sampled for analysis. Plasma proteins were determined by dry chemistry using reagent strips. Total nitrogen from excreta was assessed according to the Kjeldahl method. As expected, age significantly affected body weight, feed intake, protein intake, and nitrogen intake of breeders (P<0.0001). A dynamic age-related change was noticed in breeders’ plasma proteins by increasing the total protein, albumin, albumin/globulin ratio, uric acid and urea nitrogen concentrations (P<0.05). The total nitrogen content of excreta registered a tendency to increase at 26-weeks compared to 22-weeks of age (P<0.06). Significant positive correlations were found between certain performance variables (feed intake, protein and nitrogen intake), plasma proteins and excreta total nitrogen.
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