Growth Performance and Histological Alterations of Intestinal Villi in Broilers Fed Dietary Mixed Minerals

摘要

To investigate the growth performance and histological intestinal alterations of broilers fed on dietary mixed minerals (MM), 7 day old broiler chicks were divided into 4 groups, with 4 replicates of 12 male chicks. They were fed ad libitum for 49 days with a basal commercial mash diet supplemented with MM at 0, 0.5 and 1 g kg~(-1) throughout the experiment (control, 0.5 g kg~(-1) MMS, 1 g kg~(-1) MMS) and 0.5 g kg~(-1) during the finisher period (0.5 g kg~(-1) MMF). Mineral supplementation did not influence the growth performance of broilers during the first 3 weeks, but tended to show higher growth and feed efficiency for the MM groups than for the control group at week 7. In light microscopic observation, values of the intestinal villus height, villus area and cell mitosis numbers were higher (p<0.05) in the 0.5 g kg~(-1) MMS and 0.5 g kg~(-1) MMF groups than those of the control in the duodenal segment. In scanning electron microscopic observation, all MM groups showed more protuberant epithelial cells on the villus apical surface of the duodenum. The present histological intestinal alterations in broilers fed the MM diet demonstrate that intestinal function could be stimulated in the duodenum, resulting in improved growth performance. The results obtained in this study have revealed that minerals may need to be supplemented during the finisher period of broiler production at a higher content than the feed manufacturer recommendation, to allow optimal performance.