Performance and intestinal histomorphometry of broiler chickens at 1 to 21 days of age fed growth promoters

The objective of this work was to evaluate the performance and intestinal histomorphometry of small intestine segments in broiler chickens in 1 to 21-day of age period, fed diets with different growth promoter additives: control diet (without growth promoter); control diet + antibiotic (colistin and zinc bacitracin); control diet + probiotic (Protexin); control diet + prebiotic (Bio moss); control diet + probiotic + prebiotic. The birds were distributed in a random block design, with five treatments and four replications. It was evaluated variables of performance, feed intake, weight gain and feed conversion and the morphometric characteristics, height, circumference and depth of the villus of small intestine segments in 1 to 21-day of age period. Performance and morphometric traits of small intestine did not present differences among groups. The use of probiotic, prebiotic, probiotic + prebiotic and antibiotic in diets for broiler chickens in 1 to 21-day of age period, in conditions of low health challenge, does not interfere in the performance and in the histomorphometric characteristics of the segments of the small intestine.