Effect of Dietary Supplementation of a Non-antibiotic Growth Promoter on Growth Performance and Intestinal Histomorphology in Broilers

The current research trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of a non-antibiotic growth promoter on growth performance and histomorphology in broiler chickens. One hundred and twenty day-old broiler chicks were randomly distributed into four treatment groups with three replicates per treatment (10 chicks per replicate) under Completely Randomized Design. Four iso-nitrogenous and iso-caloric diets i.e. A, B, C and D were supplemented with a natural growth promoter (NGP) at the rate of 0 (control), 1.5, 3 and 4.5g/kg of feed, respectively. Feed consumption (FC) and weight gain (WG) were recorded to check the feed conversion ratio (FCR) on weekly basis. At the end of trial, two chicks from each replicate were randomly slaughtered to determine carcass traits. Samples of intestine (duodenum, jejunum, ileum) were collected to perform histomorphology. Results indicated that FC, WG and FCR were linearly improved (P 0.05) in B, C and D groups as compared with control (A group). Carcass characteristics and relative organs weight showed non-significant results (P 0.05). However, data obtained on live body weight and abdominal fat pad were significantly different (P<0.05) among all dietary treatments. Histomorphology of small intestine showed variations in intestinal wall width (IW), lumen area (LA), villi height (VH) and villi width (VW) with respect to supplementation of NGP. Maximum IW and VW was observed in duodenum and jejunum respectively, whereas greater LA and VH was noticed in ileum. In conclusion, supplementation of non-antibiotic NGP improved the performance and histomorphology of broiler chickens.