Date of Graduation

5-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Animal Science

Advisor/Mentor

Alrubaye, Adnan

Committee Member

Rogers, Lauren

Second Committee Member

Erf, Gisela

Abstract

Bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO) lameness, the most predominant locomotive illness in fast-growing broilers, causes substantial animal well-being issues and affects broiler production, leading to huge financial losses. Several strategies, including feed supplementations using organic trace minerals, vitamin D, probiotics, and prebiotics, have been utilized to alleviate BCO lameness incidences in broiler chickens. Previous studies have indicated that feeding an additive of Panbonis®-G-1,25(OH)2D3 from Solanum glaucophyllum containing 1 µg/kg G-1,25(OH)2D3 to broilers for the first 28 days of their production cycle reduced BCO lameness by more than 50%. In this study, we investigated the impact of using the 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 supplementation on the concentration of total antibodies to further understand the mode of action of the 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 supplementation in safeguarding the birds from BCO disease. We measured IgA and IgM antibody concentration in the tracheal mucus and blood circulation, respectively.

A total of 800 birds were divided into four treatment groups with four replicate pens per treatment: T1 - a negative control diet, T2 - feeding 1 µg/kg of G-1,25(OH)2D3 for 14 days, T3 - feeding 1 µg/kg of G-1,25(OH)2D3 for 21 days, and T4 - feeding 1 µg/kg of G-1,25(OH)2D3 for 28 days. 100 birds were placed on two wire floor pens as BCO seeders to induce a BCO lameness outbreak in the research barn. Tracheal mucus and blood from 5 birds per treatment were collected on d12, d14, and d28 for further antibody measurement using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test (ELISA). P-value was determined by using One-Way Anova. ELISA tests demonstrated that IgA concentration from tracheal mucus and IgM concentration from blood circulation increased from d14 to d28, where T4 produced the highest IgA (2.41x103 ng/mL) and IgM (2.84 x105 ng/mL) concentration on d28 without significant statistical difference (P > 0.05) from T1. Overall, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 supplementation confers a modest effect on IgA and IgM production. Further bone strength analysis is warranted to unravel the mechanism of action for 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 supplementation in protecting broiler chickens from BCO lameness.

Keywords

Poultry Science; Broiler Immunity; Vitamin D3; Bacterial Chondronecrosis

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