Effect of bee pollen on growth performance, intestinal morphometry and immune status of broiler chicks

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of supplementing a corn-soybean meal-based diet with bee pollen (BP) on growth performance, intestinal morphology, immune response and selected blood metabolites. A total of 160 Ross 308 male broiler chicks were assigned to 4 dietary treatments (0, 10, 15 and 20 g kg(-1) of BP feed inclusion), consisting of 4 pens of 10 birds each, and were fed experimental diets from 1 to 21 d of age. Then, all birds received a common finisher diet from 22 to 35 d of age. The antibody response to sheep red blood cells (SRBC) was measured at 35 d. In general, average daily feed intake, relative weight of gizzard, phosphorus concentration in serum and morphometric indices of duodenum were not affected by the dietary groups compared to the control birds (P> 0.05). Dietary supplementation increased (P< 0.01) body weight, average daily gain (ADG) and improved feed conversion ratio (FCR), whereas total serum cholesterol and triacylglycerides levels were minimized (P< 0.01) at 20 g kg(-1) of BP. Addition of BP to the diets increased (P< 0.01) relative weight of bursa, villus length, crypt depth and villus length to crypt depth ratio compared with the control diet. Relative pancreas, liver, intestine and spleen weights were significantly increased (P< 0.01) at 20 g kg(-1) of BP. Inclusion of 20 g kg(-1) of BP in the diet significantly increased (P< 0.01) antibody response against SRBC at 35 d of age. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that dietary supplementation with BP improved broiler growth performance, morphometric indices and immunity. Thus, BP may be used as alternative feed additives in the poultry industry to improve immune response of young broiler chicks.