Impact of Multienzymes Dose Supplemented Continuously or Intermittently in Drinking Water on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, and Blood Constituents of Broiler Chickens

Abstract

The aim of this work was to study the continuous or intermittent impact of a multienzyme supplement on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and blood metabolites of broilers, and to evaluate production index of dietary supplementation. A total of 315 unsexed day-old Arbor Acres broiler chicks were randomly distributed to seven treatments groups, keeping initial body weights similar, in 35-floor pens (replicates) of nine chicks per replicate (pen) and five experimental units per treatment. All experimental groups were fed the same basal diet and administered seven multienzyme treatments: the 1st group (control) did not receive any enzyme supplementation; the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th groups were administered multienzymes at 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mL/L drinking water, respectively. Each enzyme supplemented-group was divided into two subgroups, with additives being applied either continuously (24 h/day) or intermittently (12 h/day) from 1 to 35 days old. Regardless of administration method, multienzyme supplements at 1.0 mL/L water along with a corn-soybean meal diet increased the body weight gain (BWG) by 7.8% compared to 0.5 mL/L water during days 1–21 of age. In addition, 1.5 mL/L water significantly improved BWG by 5.1% of broilers compared to 0.5 mL/L water during days 1–35 of age. Enzyme supplementation at 1.5 mL/L water significantly enhanced feed conversion ratio (FCR) by 4.3% during days 1–21 of age, and FCR by 5.2% and European production index (EPI) by 10.4% during days 1–35 of age compared to the group on 0.5 mL/L water. For the whole period, there were improvements of beneficial consideration in BWG (4.0%), FCR (4.0%), and European production index (8.2%) due to continuous multienzyme supplementation at 0.5 mL/L water compared to the same dose added intermittently. A similar trend was observed due to intermittent multienzymes at 1 mL/L drinking water that resulted in increased BWG by (6.4%) and improved FCR by (6.7%) and EPI by (12.7%). Intermittent administration significantly increased feed intake of broilers during 22–35 days of age compared to continuous supplementation. Multienzymes at different doses did not significantly affect the digestibility of nutrients, blood serum biochemical constituent, inner body organs, and markers of functions of liver and renal organs. In conclusion, the highest BWG and the best FCR and EPI for the whole period were from broilers given continuous 1 and 1.5 mL/L drinking water or intermittent multienzyme supplementation at 1.5 mL/L drinking water. Furthermore, intermittent supplementation of enzymes at 1 mL/L drinking water and continuous supplementation at 0.5 mL/L drinking water can be investigated in further experiments as a tool to improve broiler growth performance and economic traits and to decrease the cost of enzyme application.

Sunflower Meal Inclusion Rate and the Effect of Exogenous Enzymes on Growth Performance of Broiler Chickens

“…Our choice of enzymes was informed much by literature about the common substrates found in SFM (arabinoxylans, pectins, beta-glucans etc) [11,40]. Improved BWG and FCR were observed in birds grown of 1-21 d suggesting that more benefits are achieved at the early starter phase [39]. However, these studies administered their enzymes in drinking water whereas enzymes in the current study enzymes were administered in the feed and we observed benefits at the post finisher phase.…”

“…Xylanase showed significant improvements (p < 0.05) for all studied parameters in the post finisher phase. Enzyme effects differ according diet composition (target substrate), the age of the chickens and the dose of the enzymes [39]. Our study did not analyze the fractions of the substrates; hence, we could not ascertain the specific enzymes to target predominant substrates.…”

“…Successful use of enzymes in broiler diets is restricted by the cost-benefit ratio [39]. However, such analysis was not the basis for our study.…”

Effects of a combination of phytase and multi-carbohydrase enzymes in low-density corn–soybean meal based diets on growth performance and ileal nutrients digestibility of male broilers

“…Some researchers have indicated that by using multi-carbohydrase and phytase enzyme complexes, it is possible to reduce dietary AME and amino acids that make feed formulation cost-effective, while preserving optimum poultry performance (Cowieson et al 2006;Francesch and Geraert 2009;Attia et al 2020). Results from previous studies typically show the need for the use of multi-carbohydrase enzymes in broilers, however, researchers pointed out the need to balance nutritional requirements with the potential capacity of the supplemented enzyme to hydrolyse the cell wall and release the needed nutrients (Adeola and Cowieson 2011).…”

“…In poultry diets, particularly those based on wheat and barley, the use of carbohydrases (e.g. b-glucanase and xylanase) has also been shown to have benefits, including hydrolysing non-starch polysaccharides (NSP), decreasing digesta viscosity and releasing entrapped nutrients and improving nutrient utilisation and growth performance (Masey-O'Neill, Smith, et al 2014;Attia et al 2020). However, in low viscosity corn-soybean meal-based diets (C-SBM diets), also carbohydrases may be desired to ensure breakdown the cell wall matrix, and release nutrients encapsulated in the cell wall of the corn and SBM (Slominski 2011).…”