PMID- 37933958 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20231115 LR - 20231115 IS - 1525-3163 (Electronic) IS - 0021-8812 (Print) IS - 0021-8812 (Linking) VI - 101 DP - 2023 Jan 3 TI - Dietary 25-hydroxy-cholecalciferol and additional vitamin E improve bone development and antioxidant capacity in high-density stocking broilers. LID - 10.1093/jas/skad369 [doi] LID - skad369 AB - This study aimed to investigate the effects of diets supplemented with 25-hydroxycholecalciferol [25-(OH)D3] and additional vitamin E on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, bone development, and carcass characteristics at different stocking densities on commercial broiler farms. A total of 118,800 one-day-old Arbor Acres broilers were assigned to a 2 x 2 factorial treatment consisting of two dietary vitamin levels (5,500 IU vitamin D3 and 60 IU vitamin E: normal diet, using half 25-(OH)D3 as a source of vitamin D3 and an additional 60 IU of vitamin E: 25-(OH)D3+VE diet) and two stocking densities (high density of 20 chickens/m2: HD and 16 chickens/m2: LD). The experiment lasted for 42 d. The results showed that high-density stocking negatively affected the growth performance of broilers during the first four weeks, whereas the vitamin diet treatment significantly improved the feed conversion ratios (FCR) during the last 2 wk. Vitamin diets increased catalase at 14 and 42 d, and the glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px) levels at 42 d in high-density-stocked broilers. The interaction showed that serum vitamin E levels were significantly improved at 28 d of age in high-density-stocked broilers as a result of the vitamin diets. Stocking density and dietary treatments were found to significantly affect bone development, with the vitamin diet significantly increasing metatarsal length and femoral bone strength in broilers from high-density stocking density at 28 d of age. High stocking density increased the proportion of leg muscles and meat yield per square meter. In general, 25-(OH)D3 and additional vitamin E suppressed oxidative stress and ameliorated the negative effects of high-density stocking on bone development in a commercial chicken farm setting. Vitamin diets improved the FCR of broilers, while high-density stocking resulted in better economic outcomes. CI - (c) The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Animal Science. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com. FAU - Xiao, Chuanpi AU - Xiao C AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-5416-097X AD - Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Non-grain Feed Resources, Department of Animal Science, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong 271000. China. AD - Precision Livestock and Nutrition Unit, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liege, Gembloux 5030, Belgium. FAU - Zhu, Qijiang AU - Zhu Q AD - Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Non-grain Feed Resources, Department of Animal Science, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong 271000. China. FAU - Comer, Luke AU - Comer L AD - Nutrition and Animal Microbiota Ecosystems lab, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Leuven 3000, Belgium. FAU - Pan, Xue AU - Pan X AD - Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Non-grain Feed Resources, Department of Animal Science, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong 271000. China. FAU - Everaert, Nadia AU - Everaert N AD - Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Non-grain Feed Resources, Department of Animal Science, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong 271000. China. FAU - Schroyen, Martine AU - Schroyen M AD - Precision Livestock and Nutrition Unit, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liege, Gembloux 5030, Belgium. FAU - Song, Bochen AU - Song B AD - Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Non-grain Feed Resources, Department of Animal Science, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong 271000. China. FAU - Song, Zhigang AU - Song Z AD - Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Non-grain Feed Resources, Department of Animal Science, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong 271000. China. LA - eng PT - Journal Article PL - United States TA - J Anim Sci JT - Journal of animal science JID - 8003002 RN - P6YZ13C99Q (Calcifediol) RN - 0 (Antioxidants) RN - 1406-18-4 (Vitamin E) RN - 0 (Vitamins) RN - 1C6V77QF41 (Cholecalciferol) SB - IM MH - Animals MH - *Calcifediol/pharmacology MH - *Chickens/physiology MH - Antioxidants MH - Vitamin E/pharmacology MH - Diet/veterinary MH - Dietary Supplements MH - Vitamins/pharmacology MH - Cholecalciferol MH - Bone Development MH - Animal Feed/analysis PMC - PMC10642724 OAB - High-density stocking is often associated with animal welfare risks in broilers, mainly in terms of oxidative stress and bone development. Nevertheless, farming at too low a density remains for the most part economically unviable. Modulation of antioxidant capacity and bone development by nutritional strategies in high-density-farmed broilers has proven an effective tool in developing countries. Therefore, the present study investigated the effects of applying diets with a higher biological potency of vitamin D3 25-hydroxycholecalciferol [25-(OH)D3] and a higher concentration of vitamin E on broiler production performance, antioxidant capacity and meat production performance at different densities of stocking under commercial farming conditions. The results indicated that the vitamin dietary treatments suppressed oxidative stress and ameliorated the negative effects of high-density farming on bone development. OABL- eng OTO - NOTNLM OT - 25-hydroxy-cholecalciferol OT - broiler OT - oxidative stress OT - stocking density OT - vitamin E EDAT- 2023/11/07 12:47 MHDA- 2023/11/15 06:42 PMCR- 2024/11/02 CRDT- 2023/11/07 08:54 PHST- 2023/09/12 00:00 [received] PHST- 2023/11/01 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2024/11/02 00:00 [pmc-release] PHST- 2023/11/15 06:42 [medline] PHST- 2023/11/07 12:47 [pubmed] PHST- 2023/11/07 08:54 [entrez] AID - 7337643 [pii] AID - skad369 [pii] AID - 10.1093/jas/skad369 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - J Anim Sci. 2023 Jan 3;101:skad369. doi: 10.1093/jas/skad369.