The aim of this study was to evaluate the prebiotic effects of mannan-oligosaccharide (MOS) and βglucan (BG) combination (MOS-BG prebiotics) on feather pecking behavior, some physiological aspects and brain histology in Mule ducks. A total of 48 Mule ducks (15 days of age) were assigned to 3 treatments; 4 control (C) groups of ducks fed a basal diet only, 4 low-dose AGRIMOSR (LA) (1.5 g/kg diet) groups, and 4 high-dose AGRIMOSR (HA) (3 g/kg diet) groups. The experiment lasted for 6 weeks. Feather pecking behavior was recorded by direct observation for altogether 1 hour/pen/week. Blood samples and brain tissues were collected from 2 ducks per pen (8 ducks per treatment group) at the end of the experiment. Feather pecking frequency and feather scores of the wings, back, and vent regions were significantly lower in HA compared to C groups, but higher in LA groups. Dopamine levels were highest in LA groups, followed by C and HA groups, and serotonin levels showed an opposite outcome pattern. Iron levels were highest in LA groups and vitamin C levels highest in HA groups. A dose-dependent increase in both magnesium level and superoxide dismutase activity was observed in LA and HA groups. Both LA and HA groups showed similarly increased zinc, copper and vitamin E levels, glutathione peroxidase activity and total antioxidant capacity as well as decreased total peroxide levels and oxidative stress indices were found. This, points to a possible welfare enhancing effect of MOS-BG prebiotics in ducks. However, no clear association between feather pecking behavior and antioxidant capacity was apparent. Additionally, the extent of feather pecking behavior was not reflected by any histological or cytological changes in the brain tissues or neurons, respectively. Considering the low sample size and the unexplainable result of more feather pecking when fed with low doses of prebiotics further investigations are needed. However, the study indicates that utilization of MOS-BG prebiotics at the high dose may attenuate feather pecking behavior and enhance the oxidative stability and trace element reserve

The current experiment was designed to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementations of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZONPs) on some behavioural, performance, welfare and
histopathological changes in broilers exposed to multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)-induced footpad dermatitis (FPD). Eighty-four male Indian River (IR) broilers were randomly allotted to six different dietary treatments as follows: C−ve, C+ve, 10, 20, 30 and 40 ppm ZONPs from 7 to 49d of age. At day 28, broilers (n = 70) were sub-cutaneously injected with 0.5 ml of saline containing 5.3 × 107 CFU/ml of S. aureus (MRSA) in each metatarsal foot pad. Control (non-infected) broilers were given 0.5 ml of saline (n = 14). Results clarified that non-infected birds and ZONPs-fed birds had significantly higher standing and feeding activities and lower resting activities in comparison with the infected group. Also, the S. aureus infected group had significantly lower body weight gain (BWG) and higher feed conversion ratio (FCR) than the non-infected group. In addition, the noninfected birds and ZONPs groups had significantly lower object crossing and tonic immobility times (TI) and gait scores (GS) in comparison with the S. aureus group. Only ZONPs 30, 40 ppm and non-infected groups had a significantly higher latency to lie time (LLT) and lower serum cortisol level in comparison with the S. aureus group. Moreover, there were significant changes in the gross lesion score and histopathological lesions between the different groups. In conclusion, the dietary supplementation of ZONPs can reduce S. aureus induced negative effects of FPD in broilers.

The potential public health risk through utilizing of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) in food constitutes the major obstacle to the expansion of nanoparticle (NP) in food industry. Liver histology, bone marrow and liver genotoxicity, immunity, and oxidant status were investigated upon long-term ZnO NPs feed supplementation. One hundred and sixty male IR (Indian River) chicks were randomly allocated to one of the four dietary treatments: control, ZnO NPs at 10, 20, or 40 mg/kg for 42 days. This study revealed non-significant hepatic histopathological alterations and DNA damage and the treatment had no influence on body and organ weights, liver enzymes, lipid peroxidation (MDA), IgG, IgM, and interferon gamma (IFN-c). This study suggests that low-dose (< 40 mg/kg diet) long-term ZnO NPs supplementation to broiler chicks has no observed potential adverse effects on normal histology of the liver, blood physiology, immune system, and DNA damage of liver and bone marrows, which are critical features for validating ZnO NPs for use in food. Further studies are required to evaluate the probable withdrawal period of ZnO NPs before approval as a dietary supplement in broiler or livestock diets.

The current study investigated the effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZONPs) and oxytetracycline (OTC) supplementation on broilers’ behavior, performance, carcass quality, biochemical parameters, and intestinal microbial populations and birds’ response
to Newcastle disease (ND) vaccine. A total of 336 seven-day-old IR broiler chicks were randomly allotted to six dietary treatments containing 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 ppm ZONPs or 50 ppm OTC. Each diet was fed to 7 replicates (8 birds/pen). The
results clarified that 10 ppm ZONPs significantly improved the body weight gain and feed conversion in comparison to the control. No changes in behavior were recorded. The 10 ppm and 30 ppm ZONPs and OTC significantly reduced the gizzard weight in comparison to the control. While, 10 ppm ZONPs significantly increased the spleen weight, and all ZONPs doses  increased bursa weight in comparison to the control and OTC groups. 20 ppm ZONPs increased the eviscerated yield and edible yield in comparison to the control and OTC groups. 40 ppmZONPs increased pH, reducedmeat color and overall acceptability in comparison to the control. In addition, results revealed that the 20 ppm ZONPs increased Calcium (Ca), High density low cholesterol (HDL-C), reduced urea (UA) and triglyceride (TG). Also, 40 ppm ZONPs and OTC increased creatinine (Cr) and
reduced ND-HI titer in comparison to the control. For microbial population, OTC group was significantly lower than ZONPs  groups in the total anaerobic, aerobic and lactobacilli count. In conclusion, the dietary inclusion of ZONPs can be applied as
antibiotic growth promoter substitutions in broilers’ diet. However, further investigations are still needed.