DefinePK

Abstract

Dietary modifications of broiler feed aimed at improving chicken performance, lowering antibiotic use, and reducing feed costs. The study examined the effects of adding Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast fermentate (XPC) and xylanase enzyme to a low-energy diet on broiler chicken growth performance, serum metabolites, intestinal morphology, as well as litter quality. A total of 450 Ross-308, day-old chicks were randomly allotted to 3 diet treatments for 35 days. Group 1 (Gp1) received a basal diet, Gp2 received a low-energy diet (-120kcal/kg), while Gp3 received a low-energy diet (-120kcal/kg) supplemented with both XPC (0.625kg/ton) and xylanase (500g/ton). Following the experiment, chickens were sampled for their intestinal tissues, blood, and cloacal swabs, to determine intestinal morphological indices, serum chemistry, antibody titers, and microbiological counts, respectively. Samples of litter were taken to perform chemical and microbiological analysis. Dietary supplementation with XPC and xylanase to the low-energy broiler diet significantly increased the final body weights, carcass traits, and improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P<0.05). Additionally, the microbiota of the birds’ gut, intestinal morphology and blood biochemical indicators were improved. On an environmental level, the use of dietary XPC and xylanase enhanced nitrogen and phosphorous utilization by the birds and lowered their excretion in broiler manure. Additionally, the microbial load of the litter was reduced (P<0.05). We found that feeding XPC and xylanase to broilers fed a low-energy diet (-120kcal/kg) improved broiler performance and enhanced litter quality.