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Plantago ovata in broiler chicken nutrition: Performance, carcass criteria, intestinal morphology, immunity, and intestinal bacterial population
Author(s) -
Divani A.,
BagherzadehKasmani F.,
Mehri M.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.651
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1439-0396
pISSN - 0931-2439
DOI - 10.1111/jpn.12753
Subject(s) - broiler , biology , zoology , jejunum , feed conversion ratio , population , ileum , weight gain , body weight , endocrinology , medicine , environmental health
Summary In this experiment, the effect of dietary Plantago ovata (PO) on performance, carcass criteria, intestinal morphology, immunity, and intestinal bacterial population of broiler chickens was evaluated. A total of 250 one‐day‐old male broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to five treatments containing 0, 5, 10, 15, or 20 g/kg of PO with five replicate pens and 10 birds in each replicate. Dietary PO increased body weight gain and decreased feed conversion ratio in the finisher period, improving the performance index ( p < .05). Dietary treatments had no effects on carcass criteria, but breast meat percentage showed an increasing trend with incremental levels of PO in the diet ( p = .069). The length of small intestine, especially jejunum section, as well as the villus height, villus width, villus area, and goblet cell numbers were significantly increased with supplemental PO ( p < .05). Humoral and cellular immunity parameters, and oxidation stability of meat were improved due to use of dietary PO ( p < .05). Dietary PO decreased the CFU of Escherichia coli , whereas the Lactobacilli population was increased ( p = .001). Broken‐line regression revealed that dietary PO at the rate of 10 g/kg may results in the best performance in broiler chickens. This study showed that PO at the level of 10 g/kg could be considered as a beneficial feed additive in broiler diet.