Effect of citric acid, avilamycin, and their combination on the performance, tibia ash, and immune status of broilers

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the supplementation of an organic acid (citric acid), antibiotic growth promoter (avilamycin), and their combination for a period of 35 d on the growth, feed efficiency, carcass yield, tibia ash, and immune status of broilers. One hundred sixty 1-d-old broiler chicks (Hubbard Classic) were randomly distributed into 4 groups with 4 replicate cages having 10 birds in each. A corn-soybean-based diet was used as the basal diet (control). The basal diet was supplemented with an organic acid (citric acid, 0.5%), an antibiotic growth promoter (avilamycin, 0.001%), and their combination in other groups. The highest BW was attained in citric acid-fed chicks (1,318 g), which was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than control chicks (1,094 g) or avilamycin-fed chicks (1,217 g). The combination-fed chicks showed similar weight (1,246 g) as citric acid- or avilamycin-fed chicks (P > 0.05). Total feed intake was higher in citric acid-fed chicks compared with antibiotic-supplemented chicks. The addition of citric acid improved feed conversion efficiency (g of weight gain/ kg of feed intake) significantly (P < 0.05) compared with control chicks or its combination with avilamycin. Higher carcass weights were found in chicks fed the combination diet. Supplementation of citric acid increased tibia ash percentage significantly (P < 0.05) compared with controls. Addition of citric acid reduced the pH of the formulated diets. An improvement of immune status was detected by densely populated immunocompetent cells in the lamina propria and submucosa of cecal tonsils and ileum and also in the cortex and medulla of bursa follicles in citric acid-supplemented chicks. Supplementation of citric acid at 0.5% in the diet had positive effects on growth, feed intake, feed efficiency, carcass yield, bone ash, and immune status of broilers. Therefore, citric acid might be a useful additive instead of antibiotic growth promoters such as avilamycin, considering performance and health status of broilers.

Phytogenic additives and organic acids in broiler chicken diets

“…The higher carcass yield enables to infer that the antibiotic promoted reduced sanitary challenges for these broilers, which is reflected in the higher performance and yield. This result corroborates the results of Samanta et al (2008) and Chowdhury et al (2009), who evaluated the use of acidifiers in broiler diets.…”

Comparison of the effects of basil (&lt;i&gt;Ocimum basilicum&lt;/i&gt;) essential oil, avilamycin and protexin on broiler performance, blood biochemistry and carcass characteristics

“…In another previous experiment, Abbas (2010) reported that organ weights and carcass characteristics were not affected by supplementing diet with 3 g kg −1 basil seed. This result is in agreement with the results of Ceylan and Ciftci (2003), Chowdhury et al (2009) and Eseceli et al (2010), who reported that there was no significant effect on carcass weight in broiler chicks fed a diet supplemented with avilamycin. Similarly, Saleh (2014) reported that supplementation with avilamycin did not significantly affect the liver weight of broilers.…”

Intestinal integrity and performance of broiler chickens fed a probiotic, a prebiotic, or an organic acid

“…The diet with organic acid resulted in worse FCR (p<0.05) compared with the control treatment. On the other hand, Viola & Vieira (2007), and Chowdhury et al (2009) reported better FCR in broilers fed organic acids relative to the control diet between one and 35 days of age.…”