Effect of dietary supplementation of graded levels of butyric acid on growth performance and nutrient utilization in broiler chicken Doneria Raina1, Dubey Meenu1, Gendley M.K.2, Pathak Rupal3,*, Parmar M.S.4, Dinani O.P.3, Ramteke R.C.3 1Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science & Animal Husbandry, Anjora, DSVCKV, Durg, Chattisgarh491001 2Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science & Animal Husbandry, Anjora, DSVCKV, Durg, Chattisgarh491001 3Integrated Livestock Farm Complex, College of Veterinary Science & Animal Husbandry, Anjora, DSVCKV, Durg, Chattisgarh491001 4Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Veterinary Science & Animal Husbandry, Anjora, DSVCKV, Durg, Chattisgarh491001 *Correspondence: rupal.pathak3@gmail.com
Online published on 9 September, 2022. Abstract Butyric acid, a short- chain fatty acid is considered as a potential alternative to antibiotic growth promoter in poultry feed. The present study investigated the effect of feeding graded levels of butyric acid on the performance of broiler chickens. Day-old broiler chicks (n=180) were divided into 6 groups with 3 replicates of 10 chicks in each. The diets were formulated using conventional feed ingredients. Six diets were formulated for pre starter, starter and finisher phases. Diet I was NC (T0), diet II contained antibiotic bacitracin @ 50 mg/kg (T1) and diets III,IV,V and VI contained butyric acid at graded levels i.e. 0.2,0.4,0.6 and 0.8% in groups T2 to T5 respectively. The average body weight during the 4th and 5th weeks of study increased significantly (P<0.01) in T3 as compared to other groups. The weekly feed intake at 4th week was significantly (P<0.01) lower in birds of supplemented groups (T1, T2, T3, T4, T5) as compared to NC(T0). The cumulative feed conversion ratio was significantly (P<0.01) better in T3 as compared to T1, T2 and T5,however no significant difference was observed between T3 and T4. The dry matter and crude protein metabolizability were significantly (P<0.01) higher in all the treatment groups as compared to negative control(T0).Among the treatment groups the per cent retention of phosphorus was significantly higher in supplemented groups as compared to NC. It is concluded that butyric acid @ 0.4% could be a better alternative to antibiotic bacitracin, which is widely used in commercial broiler feed regimens to improve performance. Top Keywords Broiler Chicken, Butyric acid, Growth, Nutrient utilization. Top |