Effects of grape residue supplementation in diet on Liangfeng chicken growth performance, nutrient metabolism and blood biochemistry.

Grape residue prepared from red wine has been reported as an effective antioxidant against chemical-induced toxicity and to attenuate oxidative stress. This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of grape residue supplement in diet on growth performance, nutrient digestion, blood biochemical and antioxidant parameters of chicken. A total of 180, 30-day-old healthy Liangfeng chicken with paired body weight were randomly allocated into 6 groups with 5 replicates per group and 6 chickens per replicate. Control group (group I) was fed with a basal diet, while other groups were further supplemented with grape residue at 0.5% (group II), 1% (group III), 2% (group IV), 4% (group V) and 8% (group VI) respectively. All the diets were regulated in equal formula protein, metabolic energy, methionine and lysine content basic. After 49 days of the experiment, data showed that dietary supplementation with grape residue improved the growth performance of Liangfeng chicken and significantly enhanced the antioxidant capacity, and the supplementation at the level of 4% was recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]