Afsaneh Azdi; Nemat Ziaei; Sayyed Mehdi GHoreishi
Volume 19, Issue 4 , March 2018, , Pages 941-952
Abstract
This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different levels of borage (Echium amoenum) powder on performance,nutrient digestibility and some blood parameters in heat stressed broiler chickens. A total of 160, one-day-old male broiler chicken (Ross 308) were randomly allocated to 4 treatments ...
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This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different levels of borage (Echium amoenum) powder on performance,nutrient digestibility and some blood parameters in heat stressed broiler chickens. A total of 160, one-day-old male broiler chicken (Ross 308) were randomly allocated to 4 treatments with 4 replicates, 10 chicks each, in a completely randomized design. The dietary treatments consisted of: T1, basal diet (BD), T2, T3 and T4 were included BD plus 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kgBW boragepowder, respectively. The birds reared at the same condition till 24-day of age. The birds were kept at 34°C±2 (9.00am to 17.00; for 8 hours) from 25 to 42 days of age. Dietary supplementation of 1000 mg/kg body weight (BW) ofborage powder increased body weight gain and significantly improved FCR compared to that of basal diet (P<0.05). Inclusion of 1000 mg/kg BW borage powder significantly (P<0.05) increased protein digestibility. Addition of 500 or 2000 mg/kgBW borage powder significantly increased lipid digestibility (P<0.05). Supplementation of diet with 1000 mg/kgBW borage powder significantly reduced (P<0.05) heterophile to lymphocyte ratio and increased glutathione peroxidase activity (P<0.05). Inclusion of 1000 mg/kgBW borage powder significantly (P<0.05) reduced relative weight of bursa fabricious and pancreas in broiler chickens. It was concluded that supplementation of diet with 1000 mg/kgBW borage powder improved performance, protein and lipid digestibility and decrease negative impact of heat stress in broiler chickens.