Enhanced growth performance, immunity, antioxidants and zinc bioavailability in broiler chickens supplemented with zinc oxide nano particles Jena D.*, Sethy K., Mishra S.K., Swain R.K., Behera K.1, Pati S. Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, OUAT, Bhubaneswar-751003, India 1Dept. of Livestock Production and Management, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, OUAT, Bhubaneswar-751003, India *Corresponding author: jenadeba1994@gmail.com
Online Published on 28 November, 2022. Abstract Jena, D., Sethy, K., Mishra, S.K., Swain, R.K., Behera, K. and Pati, S. 2022. Enhanced growth, immunity, antioxidants and bioavailability in broiler chickens supplemented with zinc oxide nano particles. Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, 22: 553–562. The present experiment was aimed to determine the effect of nano zinc requirement in Red Cornish birds on growth, blood chemistry, immunity, antioxidant status and zinc concentration in vital organs. Two hundred day-old Red Cornish broiler chicks were randomly distributed into five dietary treatments with four replicates of 10 chicks each. The treatments were: T1 (Control group): basal diet; T2: basal diet with 20 ppm of nano-Zn; T3: basal diet with 40 ppm of nano-Zn, T4: basal diet with 60 ppm of nano-Zn, T5: basal diet with 80 ppm of nano-Zn. The experiment was carried out for 35 days in three phases: pre-starter phase (0–14 days), starter phase (15–21 days) and finisher phase (22–35 days) in deep litter system. The body weight and FCR of broiler chicken at 5th week were best observed in T4 and T5. The antibody titers against Ranikhet disease virus immunization and cutaneous basophilic hypersensitive response of 5th week broiler birds were significantly higher (P<0.05) in T3, T4 and T5. Erythrocytic catalase and superoxide dismutase activity were significantly (P<0.05) higher and lipid peroxidation values were significantly (P<0.05) lower in T4 and T5 than other nano-zinc treated groups at 5th week. The zinc levels in serum, liver, kidney and spleen were significantly (P<0.05) increased with increasing dietary nano-Zn. It may be concluded that supplementation of nano-zinc@ 60 ppm over and above the basal level is sufficient to improve the body weight, immunity, antioxidant enzymes activity and zinc bioavailability in Red Cornish broiler birds. Top Keywords Antioxidants, Broilers, Growth, Immunity, Nano zinc. Top |