Poultry Science最新文献

{"title":"Corrigendum to “Butyric Acid from Ligilactobacillus animalis 2020MB Acts on Membrane BamA to Control Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli” [Poultry Science 2025 Apr 1;104(6):105119]","authors":"Haichang Yin , Zunhe Du , Xinjie Jiang , Yao Zhou , Zhenhua Jin , Feng Cong","doi":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105153","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105153","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20459,"journal":{"name":"Poultry Science","volume":"104 7","pages":"Article 105153"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143894541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Polysaccharides of Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz alleviate bursa of Fabricius involution in Magang geese by inhibiting the Wnt signaling pathway","authors":"Weijun Liang ,&nbsp;Zhuokun Liu ,&nbsp;Peixi Xie ,&nbsp;Luyi Cen ,&nbsp;Xiang Zhou ,&nbsp;Longsheng Hong ,&nbsp;Shuying Gong ,&nbsp;Wanyan Li ,&nbsp;Nan Cao ,&nbsp;Yunbo Tian ,&nbsp;Danning Xu ,&nbsp;Bingxin Li","doi":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105227","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105227","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Involution of the bursa of Fabricius (BF) with increasing age in avian species leads to decreases in lymphocyte counts and pathogen recognition, thereby compromising immune function and increasing susceptibility to infections. Polysaccharides of Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz (PAMK), a major component of the traditional Chinese medicine Atractylodes macrocephala, increase immunity. This study aimed to explore the impact of PAMK on the BF during involution in Magang geese. Following the prefeeding period, 54 four-month-old Magang geese were selected for the experiment. These geese were evenly divided into three groups. Each group consisted of three replicates, with six geese per replicate. One group was immediately euthanized to collect serum and BF samples. The remaining 36 geese were further divided into two groups: one group was maintained on a standard diet, and the other group was provided a diet supplemented with 400 mg/kg PAMK. One month later, serum and BF samples were collected for analysis. Morphological, organ index and histological observations indicate that PAMK can alleviate the significant reduction in the organ index of the BF during the involution process in Magang geese and mitigate the disorder of follicular arrangement and the decrease in the ratio of the cortical area to the medullary area in the BF. Immunoglobulin and oxidative stress results revealed that PAMK can increase the levels of immunoglobulins and reduce oxidative stress in involuting Magang geese. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that the Wnt signaling pathway plays a significant role in alleviating the involution of the BF in Magang geese. Further cellular studies revealed that the addition of PAMK inhibited apoptosis and promoted cell cycle progression into the S and G2 phases. In summary, PAMK effectively mitigates the involution of the BF in Magang geese by inhibiting the Wnt signaling pathway, thereby enhancing humoral immunity and improving antioxidant status.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20459,"journal":{"name":"Poultry Science","volume":"104 7","pages":"Article 105227"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143923580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ameliorative effects of E. cristatum fermented albino tea at the regreening stage on fat deposition of youth chicken","authors":"Tianjin Lin ,&nbsp;Weicheng Lu ,&nbsp;Xiaohui Zhou ,&nbsp;Xi Li ,&nbsp;Shengjian Zeng ,&nbsp;Shungeng Li ,&nbsp;Chaoyue Yan ,&nbsp;Renjie Zhu ,&nbsp;Guodong Cai ,&nbsp;Wanglong Zheng ,&nbsp;Hui Zou ,&nbsp;Zongping Liu ,&nbsp;Jianchun Bian","doi":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105240","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105240","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Youth chickens will gradually transition to a fat accumulation-based development stage in their growth. The prevention and resolution of the issue is still a focus in the field of poultry research. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of <em>E. cristatum</em> fermented albino tea at the regreening stage (EFAT) on the fat deposition of youth chicken. In this study, a total of 120 Liyang chickens (age, 8 week) were randomly allocated into 6 groups (<em>n</em>=20): control group (basal diet), Dark tea group (basal diet supplemented with 1% dark tea), Green tea group (basal diet supplemented with 1% green tea) and I, II, III group (basal diet supplemented with 1 %, 2 % and 4 % EFAT, respectively). The feeding trial lasted 16 weeks. The results showed that EFAT supplementation improved the efficiency of feed resource utilization and reduced production costs by observing the growth data and calculating feed conversion ratio (FCR). It significantly reduced abdominal fat and intramuscular fat by observing the slaughter indicators and liver condition, and testing meat composition. EFAT supplementation significantly alleviated changes of biochemical parameters, including plasma triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), alanine Transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and glutamate aminotransferase (GGT). Moreover, EFAT supplementation markedly decreased content of malondialdehyde (MDA), and increased activities of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) by determining antioxidant activities. In conclusion, EFAT supplementation alleviated fat deposition, both abdominal fat and intramuscular fat by regulating growth and slaughter indicators, improving liver condition, blood biochemical profile and even antioxidant properties. This provides a scientific basis for the study of albino tea on high-fat chicken, which is of great significance to the development of the poultry industry.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20459,"journal":{"name":"Poultry Science","volume":"104 7","pages":"Article 105240"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143923594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Detection method for identifying duck hepatitis A virus 3 virulent and attenuated strains based on RPA CRISPR single-base recognition system","authors":"Lei Chen ,&nbsp;Qiaoli Zhang ,&nbsp;Wenbo Sun ,&nbsp;Michael G. Mauk ,&nbsp;Qingmei Li","doi":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105241","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105241","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Duck viral hepatitis is very common in China, causing significant impact and economic losses to the duck farming industry. Currently, DHAV-3 has become the main factor causing duck viral hepatitis in China. However, the existing DHAV-3 vaccines cannot completely rule out the potential risk of the vaccine strain becoming more virulent. Due to the high similarity in genomic sequences between wild strains and vaccine strains (with only a few base differences), traditional detection methods struggle to accurately differentiate them, severely interfering with disease control decisions. Therefore, simultaneously detecting both the virulent strain and the attenuated strain of DHAV-3 is crucial for evaluating vaccine efficacy, monitoring virus mutations, and optimizing control strategies. This study, using the DHAV-3 SD70 attenuated strain as an example, developed a highly sensitive and rapid detection method to identify and distinguish between the DHAV-3 virulent and SD70 attenuated strains, providing a new strategy for identifying both strains. Currently, there are no literature reports on the detection methods for the two strains. Therefore, we propose a single-base recognition system strategy based on RPA-CRISPR. DHAV-3 virulent and attenuated strains were specifically identified by this method based on only a few different base sequences. This method can detect two target genes as low as 10° copy/μL within 35 min. In addition, when this method was used for samples analysis, the results of this method, sequencing results, and the results provided by the company were compared and found to be consistent. This method has the advantages of fast speed, simple operation, high specificity and sensitivity, which can be used for the detection of DHAV-3 virulence strain and SD70 attenuated strain, and lays a technical foundation for disease control, vaccine evaluation and mutation monitoring.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20459,"journal":{"name":"Poultry Science","volume":"104 8","pages":"Article 105241"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144089003","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Do we need a standardized 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing analysis protocol for poultry microbiota research?","authors":"Joshua M. Lyte ,&nbsp;Mitiku M. Seyoum ,&nbsp;Diana Ayala ,&nbsp;Jannigje G. Kers ,&nbsp;Valentina Caputi ,&nbsp;Timothy Johnson ,&nbsp;Li Zhang ,&nbsp;Joshua Rehberger ,&nbsp;Guolong Zhang ,&nbsp;Sami Dridi ,&nbsp;Brett Hale ,&nbsp;Jean E. De Oliveira ,&nbsp;Daniel Grum ,&nbsp;Alexandra H. Smith ,&nbsp;Michael Kogut ,&nbsp;Steven C. Ricke ,&nbsp;Anne Ballou ,&nbsp;Bill Potter ,&nbsp;Monika Proszkowiec-Weglarz","doi":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105242","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105242","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Bacteria are the major component of poultry gastrointestinal tract (<strong>GIT</strong>) microbiota and play an important role in host health, nutrition, physiology regulation, intestinal development, and growth. Bacterial community profiling based on the 16S ribosomal RNA (<strong>rRNA</strong>) gene amplicon sequencing approach has become the most popular method to determine the taxonomic composition and diversity of the poultry microbiota. The 16S rRNA gene profiling involves numerous steps, including sample collection and storage, DNA isolation, 16S rRNA gene primer selection, Polymerase Chain Reaction <strong>(PCR</strong>), library preparation, sequencing, raw sequencing reads processing, taxonomic classification, α- and β-diversity calculations, and statistical analysis. However, there is currently no standardized protocol for 16S rRNA gene analysis profiling and data deposition for poultry microbiota studies. Variations in DNA storage and isolation, primer design, and library preparation are known to introduce biases, affecting community structure and microbial population analysis leading to over- or under-representation of individual bacteria within communities. Additionally, different sequencing platforms, bioinformatics pipeline, and taxonomic database selection can affect classification and determination of the microbial taxa. Moreover, detailed experimental design and DNA processing and sequencing methods are often inadequately reported in poultry 16S rRNA gene sequencing studies. Consequently, poultry microbiota results are often difficult to reproduce and compare across studies. This manuscript reviews current practices in profiling poultry microbiota using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and proposes the development of guidelines for protocol for 16S rRNA gene sequencing that spans from sample collection through data deposition to achieve more reliable data comparisons across studies and allow for comparisons and/or interpretations of poultry studies conducted worldwide.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20459,"journal":{"name":"Poultry Science","volume":"104 7","pages":"Article 105242"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143907862","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The protective effects of dietary resistant starch against post-antibiotic bone loss in meat ducks associated with the recovery of caecal microbiota dysbiosis","authors":"Y.Y. Huang ,&nbsp;S.M. Qin ,&nbsp;M.T. Nguyen ,&nbsp;W. Chen ,&nbsp;X.M. Si ,&nbsp;Y.Q. Huang ,&nbsp;H.Y. Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105238","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105238","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Compromised bone quality increases the risk of fractures in domesticate birds, resulting in pain and altered behaviour. Although dietary resistant starch (<strong>RS</strong>) supplementation show promise for improving inferior bone mass, the diet-mediated gut microbiota alterations as a potential mechanism underlying RS positive roles in bone remains uncertain. With a post-antibiotic model and faecal microbiota transplantation (<strong>FMT</strong>), this study investigated the effects of a RS diet on antibiotic-induced bone loss and gut microbial composition in meat ducks. Ducklings were assigned to 4 treatments with 6 replicate pens until 21 d, including the control group (Ctrl, feeding a basal diet) and the RS-fed group, and post-antibiotic treatment following the gavage of phosphate-buffered saline (Post-anti-PBS) or faecal microbiota transplantation (Post-anti-FMT). The RS diet increased the proportion of Firmicutes, improved intestinal integrity, and reduced inflammation-induced bone resorption, all of which contributed to an increase in tibial bone volume (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). Post-antibiotic treatment was found to reduce tibial quality by stimulating bone resorption and inhibiting bone formation, accompanied by gut microbiota dysbiosis, increased intestinal permeability (<em>P</em> = 0.059), and inflammatory flare compared to control birds. FMT from RS-fed ducks into the antibiotic-treated birds reversed bone loss by primarily blocking osteoclastic frequency and activity. Furthermore, FMT increased the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05) and suppressed the release of pro-osteoclastogenic cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor-α (<em>P</em> = 0.062) and interleukin-1β (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05) in the bone marrow. These results demonstrated the involvement of gut microbiota in improving bone quality of meat ducks by RS, and FMT of RS-fed birds corrected the imbalance of ceca microbiota and attenuated bone loss in meat ducks with enhanced bone resorption.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20459,"journal":{"name":"Poultry Science","volume":"104 8","pages":"Article 105238"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144134397","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Chicken IL-17 as a potent adjuvant enhances IBDV VP2 DNA vaccine immunogenicity and protective efficacy","authors":"Jianlou Zhang ,&nbsp;Wenyan Li ,&nbsp;Shanshan Huo ,&nbsp;Xiaojing Xin ,&nbsp;Liyue Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105247","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105247","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is an important immunosuppressive virus in chickens, which caused an acute and highly contagious infectious disease and resulted in considerable economic losses in the world poultry industry. Although IBDV VP2 DNA vaccine has been extensively proved only partial protection, the efficacy of DNA vaccines against IBDV can be augmented by choosing potential molecular adjuvants. To investigate whether chicken IL-17 (chIL-17) is qualified for the molecular adjuvant, we constructed chIL-17 gene vector, co-immunized chickens with chIL-17 gene vector and IBDV VP2 DNA vector, and analyzed the effect of IL-17 gene on the immunogenicity of VP2 DNA vaccine. Results showed that co-administrated chIL-17 gene and VP2 DNA vaccine significantly increased IBDV-specific serum antibody titer, and promoted lymphocyte proliferation and interference-γ (IFN-γ) production. Mechanically, chIL-17 reduced virus titer in bursa of fabricius tissue and mortality of IBDV-infected chicken. More importantly, chIL-17 gene significantly enhanced the protection induced by the VP2 gene against virulent IBDV infection.These data show that chIL-17 is a promising immunoadjuvant to facilitate humoral as well as cellular immunity in a vaccine setting against IBDV, and suggest that it should be evaluated as a new DNA vaccine adjuvant in strategies for other poultry diseases.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20459,"journal":{"name":"Poultry Science","volume":"104 8","pages":"Article 105247"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143922386","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Feed supplementation with a mixture of C1 to C12 monoacylglycerides increases chicken resistance to Salmonella Enteritidis infection","authors":"Marcela Faldynova ,&nbsp;Jiri Volf ,&nbsp;Daniela Karasova ,&nbsp;Hana Prikrylova ,&nbsp;Alena Sebkova ,&nbsp;Adela Mullerova ,&nbsp;Renata Kucerova ,&nbsp;Sylvie Skalickova ,&nbsp;Ivan Rychlik","doi":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105244","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105244","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Chickens represent one of the most important sources of animal protein for the human population. However, chickens also represent one of the most important reservoirs of <em>Salmonella</em> for humans. Measures to decrease the <em>Salmonella</em> incidence in chickens are therefore continuously sought. In this study, we tested feed supplementation with a mixture of C1 to C12 monoacylglycerides. At 0.7 and 1.5 kg per ton of feed, such supplementation significantly decreased <em>Salmonella</em> counts in the caecum but not in the liver. The chickens were infected on day 4 and the protective effect in the caecum was recorded on day 22 and 23 of life. Supplementation also decreased the inflammatory response of chickens to <em>Salmonella</em> infection determined by avidin, SAA, ExFABP, MMP7, IL1β, IL4I and MRP126 gene expression but did not affect immunoglobulin expression in the caecum. C1 to C12 monoacylglycerides can be used as a feed supplement which, if continuously provided in feed, decrease <em>Salmonella</em> counts in chickens just prior slaughter.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20459,"journal":{"name":"Poultry Science","volume":"104 7","pages":"Article 105244"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143898583","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Indigenous broilers in crossbreeding: impacts on meat quality and candidate gene screening","authors":"Jiahao Li ,&nbsp;Zhen Zhou ,&nbsp;Zhaofeng Zhang ,&nbsp;Xinyi Zheng ,&nbsp;Yu Sun ,&nbsp;Siyu Guo ,&nbsp;Yaohua Li ,&nbsp;Xin Yang ,&nbsp;Shaofen Kong ,&nbsp;Danfeng Cai ,&nbsp;Duo Lin ,&nbsp;Yu Mo ,&nbsp;Bolin Cai ,&nbsp;Qinghua Nie","doi":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105245","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105245","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the fierce market competition, high-quality chicken products often stand out. There are significant differences in meat quality between yellow and white feathered chickens. However, the underlying mechanisms that lead to the differences in their meat quality remain unclear. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (<strong>SNP</strong>) are effective molecular markers that can be utilized in marker-assisted breeding programs targeting chicken meat quality traits. Our research findings indicated that the bloodline of yellow-feathered chickens can significantly alter the meat quality traits of chickens, especially in terms of the shear force and meat color of the breast muscle. Additionally, through metabolomic, lipidomic, and RNA-seq, we identified differentially expressed metabolites, lipids, and genes that influence meat quality. Furthermore, we discovered a key gene, the purinergic receptor P2 × 5 (<strong><em>P2RX5</em></strong>), which significantly contributes to meat quality traits. We identified five SNP sites within the <em>P2RX5</em> gene and conducted genotyping. Three of these SNP sites were found to be significantly associated with meat quality traits in chickens, such as the a*value and cooking loss. These results indicated that our findings provide potential molecular markers for changing meat quality traits in chickens. However, due to our small sample size and the absence of testing on males, the generalizability of the results may be insufficient.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20459,"journal":{"name":"Poultry Science","volume":"104 7","pages":"Article 105245"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143922367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Estimation of heterosis, combining ability and reciprocal effects for body weight in four genetic groups of chicken from a full diallel cross","authors":"Philimon Teshome ,&nbsp;Gebeyehu Goshu ,&nbsp;Wondmeneh Esatu ,&nbsp;Tadelle Dessie","doi":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105232","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psj.2025.105232","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study aims to estimate the heterotic effects (<strong>H^e</strong>), general combining abilities (<strong>GCA</strong>), specific combining abilities (<strong>SCA</strong>), and reciprocal effects (<strong>RE</strong>) for body weight (<strong>BW</strong>) in a 4 × 4 full diallel cross involving Improved Horro (<strong>H</strong>), commercial Sasso (<strong>S</strong>), Potchefstroom Koekoek (<strong>K</strong>), and Dz-white feathered (<strong>D</strong>) chickens. A total of 960 purebred and F1 hybrid chickens were used in this study, comprising sixteen genetic groups. The birds were reared from hatch to 14 weeks (<strong>wk</strong>) of age in a deep litter floor house partitioned with wire mesh. Chickens of different genotypes were randomly assigned to three pens per genetic group in a completely randomized design. BW measurements were recorded at hatch, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 wk of age. Heterosis estimates indicated that crosses between S males with K and D females (including their reciprocal crosses) exhibited the strongest H^e for BW from early to late ages. In contrast, crosses between H males and K females (and their reciprocals) showed positive but low H^e, which increased slightly at later ages. Meanwhile, the cross between K males and D females displayed negative H^e across all ages, whereas its reciprocal cross had low but positive H^e. GCA effects were high (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.0001) among purebreds, which shows the importance of additive gene effects on BW. SCA highly (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.0001) influenced BW at hatch, wk 2, 4, and 10, highlighting the role of non-additive genetic variance at the early age of BW inheritance. RE was generally non-significant except at hatch (<em>p</em> = 0.002), wk 2 (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.0001), and wk 10 (<em>p</em> = 0.036), indicating potential maternal or paternal contributions during these early developmental stages. In conclusion, the results indicated that breeding strategies should prioritize selecting parents with superior GCA to ensure consistent and predictable gains in BW. Furthermore, developing a broiler line from S sires crossed with the K and D dams and H sires with S dam lines should also be considered.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20459,"journal":{"name":"Poultry Science","volume":"104 8","pages":"Article 105232"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143935562","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}