The current study aimed to investigate the influence of dietary zinc nanoparticles (ZnNPs),curcumin nanoparticles (CurNPs), andBacillus licheniformis(Bl) on the growth, carcass, blood metabolites,and the count of some cecal microorganisms of Indian River (IR) broilers. Chicks were allotted intoseven experimental groups: control group, 1st, 2nd and 3rd groups were given diets enriched withZnNPs, CurNPs and Bl (3.0, 5.0 and 2.0 cm3/kg diet, respectively). The 4th, 5th and 6th groups weregiven diets supplemented with ZnNPs (3.0) + Bl (2.0) (ZP); ZnNPs (3.0) + CurNPs (5.0) (ZC) and ZnNPs(3.0) + CurNPs (5.0) + Bl (2.0) (ZCP) cm3/kg diet, respectively. The results revealed that ZnNPs andCurNPs exhibited a considerable antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Theyalso inhibited the growth of microbes in a range of 50–95μg/mL. The diet supplemented with ZnNPs,CurNPs, and Bl increased the body weight compared to the control after five weeks of age. Additionally,values of daily feed intake increased in these groups; however, the feed conversion ratio decreased. Allvalues of carcass traits were better than that of the control. The treatments led to decreased abdominallipids compared to the control. The activity of liver enzymes and malondialdehyde (MDA) activitydecreased in the treated groups. In a converse trend, the levels of oxidative enzymes, amylase, protease,lipase and immunoglobulin were higher than that of the control. Meat quality properties were improvedand cecal microbial counts were decreased. In conclusion, the ZnNPs, CurNPs, and Bl improved thebroiler’s weights, carcass traits, meat quality traits, as well as some blood indices and cecal microbialload. Therefore, the inclusion of ZnNPs, CurNPs, or Bl is recommended for broiler feeding regimens toimprove the performance and health status.Animals2021,11, 1878. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11071878https://www.mdpi.com/journal/animals Similar research Effects of dried okra fruit (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) powder on growth, carcass characteristics, blood indices, and meat quality of stored broiler meat Article Full-text available April 2020Poultry Science Elwy AshourMay Nasser Bin-JumahEman T. Abou Sayed-Ahmed[...] Mohamed E. Abd El-Hack The present study investigated the impacts of dried okra fruit powder (DOFP), used as a natural feed supplement, on growth, carcass, blood, and meat quality parameters of broilers. A total of 240 unsexed, one-week-old chicks were randomly allotted to four equal groups with six replicates in each group (i.e., 10 birds/ replicate). The dietary treatments consisted of the basal diet as control, and three DOFP groups, supplemented with 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 g DOFP/kg feed, respectively. The results showed that the highest values of live body weight and body weight gain) were observed in the group with 1.0 g DOFP/kg feed during the fifth week of age and between 1–5 weeks of age, respectively. During 1–3 weeks of age, daily feed consumption of chicks fed DOFP supplemented diets increased numerically with increasing DOFP levels. Dietary treatments significantly depressed liver, thigh, and dressing fat percentages. Chicks fed the diet containing 1.0 g DOFP/kg feed had the lowest values for serum urea and creatinine compared with the other treatment group. In addition, the concentration of liver enzymes decreased with increasing DOFP levels, except for the groups fed 3.0 and 1.0 g DOFP/kg diet. Oxidative rancidity of broiler meat samples containing DOFP in their diets was lower than that of the control samples, throughout the storage period. It can be concluded that DOFP is a useful phytogenic additive, which can lower the percentage of abdominal fat of the carcass, as well as alanine aminotransferase, urea, and creatinine in the blood. Furthermore, all sensory characteristics of the meat were improved by the addition of DOFP to broiler diets. It could be concluded that DOFP can be used as a natural supplement in broiler diets for improving growth performance, reducing abdominal fat, blood creatinine, and urea. 487 Reads9 Citations