Dietary Effects of Natural and Modified Clinoptilolite Supplementation on Growth Performance, Fat Deposition and Carcass Characteristics of Broilers

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of natural and modified clinoptilolite in broiler chicks' diets on growth performance, fat deposition and carcass characteristics. For the stated purpose, two hundred forty, 1 day old Arbor Acres broiler chicks of mixed sex were randomly divided into four treatment groups and eight replications on the basis of randomized complete block design for a period of 42 days. The broilers were fed control diet and the same diet added with 2% Natural Clinoptilolite (NCLI) and Modified Clinoptilolite (MCLI), respectively. Based on the results obtained, natural and modified clinoptilolite did not affect the growth performance of broiler chickens, the relative weight of breast, thighs and spleen, abdominal fat, subcutaneous fat thickness, intermuscular fat width and the meat quality of breast and thigh muscle. However, heart as haematopoietic organ, the addition of NCLI and MCLI can significantly reduced the relative weight of heart in broiler chicks (p<0.01). Furthermore, there is significant difference was observed for gizzard index and pH h of breast muscle for modified clinoptilolite treatment (p<0.05). It seemed that natural and modified clinoptilolite did not have any major impact on the growth performance, fat deposition and carcass characteristics has a certain impact on the relative weight of organs.