Assessment of Growth Performance, Immune Response and Mineral Retention in Colour Broilers as Influenced by Dietary Iron

• Published in: Animal nutrition and feed technology Vol. 11; no. 1
• Main Authors: Kulkarni, R.C, Shrivastava, H.P, Mandal, A.B, Deo, C, Deshpande, K.Y, Singh, R, Bhanja, S.K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2011
• Subjects: BROILER CHICKENS; FER; GROWTH RATE; HIERRO; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_16130; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_3799; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_3950; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_5274; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_9435; IMMUNE RESPONSE; INDICE DE CRECIMIENTO; IRON; NUTRIENTES; NUTRIENTS; POLLO DE ENGORDE; POULET DE CHAIR; REPONSE IMMUNITAIRE; RESPUESTA INMUNOLOGICA; SUBSTANCE NUTRITIVE; TAUX DE CROISSANCE
• ISSN: 0972-2963

An experiment was undertaken to evaluate the relative efficacy of chelated or organic ferrous aminoate (FeA) vis-a-vis inorganic ferrous sulphate (FeS) at each 120, 140 and 160 mg Fe/kg diet in broiler chickens. Six test diets, in factorial design (2 sources x 3 levels), and one control (Fe unsupplemented basal diet) were offered ad libitum to quadruplicate groups of 8 straight-run colour broiler chicks each, giving total number of 32 chicks per treatment, from 0_6 weeks of age split into starter (03 weeks) and finisher (3_6 weeks) phases. The response criteria included growth performance, immune response and mineral retention. The supplementation of FeS yielded significantly higher body weight gain (BWG) with improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) as compared to FeA. Among the levels, 120 mg/kg Fe accrued significantly higher BWG with improved FCR as compared to other levels. The immune response remained comparable due to different dietary sources or levels of Fe. Significantly higher bursal was seen at 120 and 140 mg Fe/kg diet from FeA than in control group. Carcass traits including relative weight of giblet remained comparable amongst dietary treatments. The Fe sources and levels did not affect retention of Ca, Cu and P, but had significantly better Fe retention in FeA fed groups than FeS. It was concluded that dietary supplementation of iron as organic ferrous aminoate yielded better immune status, while for better growth performance inorganic form as ferrous sulphate was superior. It is concluded that the mineral utilization was not affected due to the source of iron.