EFFECT OF ACIDIFIER SUPPLEMENTATION TO LOW CRUDE PROTEIN DIET ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND BLOOD CHEMISTRY OF BROILER FINISHER CHICKENS

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of graded levels of acidifier (AF) supplementation to low crude protein diet (LCPD) on growth performance, cost-benefit, and blood chemistry of broiler finisher chickens (21 to 49 days old). A total of 200, 21-day-old Arbor acre broiler chicks were randomly distributed into five dietary treatments of four replicates with 10 birds each in a completely randomized design. Five isocaloric diets were formulated to comprise: 1) Positive Control (PC, 20% CP), 2) Negative Control (LCPD, 16% CP), 3) LCPD + 100 mg/kg AF, 4) LCPD + 200 mg/kg AF, and 5) LCPD + 300 mg/kg AF. Data collected on performance and serum biochemistry were statistically analysed using one-way ANOVA by the SPSS statistical package and treatment means differences were compared using Duncan’s multiple range tests. The result showed that average final weight (AFW), average weight gain (AWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly (p<0.05) affected by AF supplementation to LCPD. Birds fed PC diets and LCPD+3% AF diets recorded higher (p<0.05) AFW and AWG with lower FCR than those fed LCPD diets. Cost/kg gain was significantly lower (p<0.05) in birds fed LCPD without and with addition of AF than PC diet. Increasing level of AF at 300 mg/kg in SDPD resulted to higher (p<0.05) concentration of total protein and globulin with corresponding decrease (p<0.05) in urea nitrogen concentration compared to those fed LCPD. Therefore, it could be concluded that dietary reduction of CP level from 20% to 16% with acidifier supplementation up to 300 mg/kg positively influenced performance and blood biochemical indices, at lower cost/kg gain for broiler finisher chickens.