Effect of Dietary Triticale Levels and Enzyme Supplementation on Performance, Gut Morphology and Blood Chemistry of Very Young Broiler Chicks

Document Type : Scientific - Research Articles

Authors

• Heydar Zarghi ¹
• Abolghasem Golian ²
• Hasan Kermanshahi ¹
• Ahmad Reza Raaji ³
• Alireza Heravi ¹

¹ Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

² Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

³ Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

10.22067/ijasr.v3i4.12484

Abstract

The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of different levels of triticale with/ without
enzyme cocktail (xylanase and β-glucanase) on performance of broiler chicks. Five hundred day old male broiler
chicks (Ross 308), assigned to a factorial arrangement (5×2) with a completely randomized design with 5
replicates of 10 chicks each. The factors included 5 levels of triticale (0, 8, 16, 24 and 32%) and 2 levels of
enzyme cocktail (0 and 0.05%). The experimental diets were isocalric and isonitrogenous and were fed adlibitum
from 0 to 10 d of age. The live body weight in 10 d and daily weight gain significantly decreased and
feed conversion ratio significantly increased with increase in the level of triticale up to 16% and more. The gut
viscosity, gastro intestinal tract organ relative weight were significantly increased with increase in triticale level
and in birds fed the diet with 32% level of triticale showed a shorter villi compared with the longer villi in those
fed the corn-soy diet. The exogenous enzyme supplementation significantly affects broiler performance and
reduced anti- nutrient effects of triticale. The use of different levels of triticale and enzyme supplementation did
not significantly affect on chicks blood chimistry. In conclusion, this study revealed that starter diets containing
up to 8% of triticale did not have an adverse effect on performance of broiler chicks

Keywords

• Chicks
• Enzyme supplementation
• Gut morphology
• Gut viscosity
• Performance
• Triticale

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