Effect of different levels and sources of copper on growth performance, intestinal microbiota, immunity and tibial bone minerals in broiler chickens Daylami Malekmansour Khoshkhoy, Tabrizi Hamidreza Mohamadian*, Ankas Mahbobeh Rostami Islamic Azad University-Chalous Branch, Faculty of Agriculture Department of Animal Sciences-46615/397Chalous, Iran *Corresponding author: h.r.mohammadian@iauc.ac.ir
Online Published on 28 November, 2022. Abstract Daylami, M.K., Tabrizi, H.M. and Ankas, M.R. 2022. Effect of different levels and sources of copper on growth performance, intestinal microbiota, immunity and tibial bone minerals in broiler chickens. Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, 22: 627–640. This study was carried out with 600 one-day-old broiler chicks, which were used in a completely randomized design with 4x3 factorial arrangements. Factors include 4 levels (0, 10, 20 and 30 mg/kg) of copper (Cu) and 3 sources of Cu (Cu oxide, Cu oxide nanoparticles and Cu sulfate). Performance, immune responses and intestinal microbe population were studied. Broilers that received Cu nanoparticles had lower feed intake compare to Cu oxide and sulfate during 1 to 28 d (P<0.05). Effect of source of Cu on body weight gain during 1 to 28 d and 1 to 42 d was significant (P<0.01); and broilers that received Cu sulfate had highest body weight gain compared to other sources (P<0.05). Copper source significantly affected (P<0.01) the serum cholesterol concentration which decreased significantly (P<0.05) in broilers fed nano source compared to other sources. Coliforms population significantly (P<0.01) decreased simultaneously with the increase in copper levels (P<0.05). It could be demonstrated that, sources of Cu significantly affect the feed intake, serum cholesterol concentration as well as body weight gain in broilers. Increasing levels of Cu in diet improved the feed intake and reduced Coliforms count in the small intestine. Top Keywords Broilers, Coliforms, Copper, Immune, Microbiota, Nanoparticles. Top |