The Effect of Using Organic Acid as an Alternative to Antibiotics Drugs on Productive and Physiological Performance of Broilers Ross 308

Abstract

H igh levels of production and efficient feed conversion are the need of the modern poultry industry, which to a certain extent could be achieved by the use of specific feed additives. Antibiotic feed additives as growth promoters have long been supplemented to poultry feed to stabilize the intestine microbialflora, improve the general performances and prevent some specific intestinal pathology (Hassan et al., 2010). However, due to the emergence of microbes resistant to antibiotics which are used to treat human and animal infections, the European Commission (EC) decided to phase out, and ultimately ban (1 January 2006), the marketing and use of antibiotics as growth promoters in feed (EC Regulation No.1831/2003. Consumer pressure is pushing the poultry industry to rear birds without antibiotics (Castanon, 2007). Such a situation has compelled the researchers to explore the utility of other non-therapeutic alternatives like organic acids, enzymes, probiotics, prebiotics, herbs, essential oils and immune stimulants as feed additives in poultry production. The European Union allowed the use of organic acids and their salts in poultry production because these are generally considered safe (Adil et al., 2010). The use of organic acids has been reported to protect the young chicks by competitive exclusion (Mansoub et al., 2011), enhancement of nutrient research Article Abstract | An experiment was conducted to study the effect of graded levels of butyric acid (butyrate) on performance, gastrointestinal tract health and carcass characteristics in young broiler chickens. Control starter (0-3 wk.) and finisher (4-6wk.) diets were formulated to contain 2,900 kcal ME/kg and 23% CP, and 3,100 kcal ME/kg and 21% CP, respectively. Subsequently, four groups of diets were formulated as following (T1: Positive Control contain 0.05% antibiotic maudramycin), (T2 : Negative Control without maudramycin), (T3 : T2 + 0.3% butyric acid) and (T4 : T2 + 0.6% butyric acid). Each diet was fed at random to 4 replicates of 30 chicks each throughout the experimental period (0-6wk). The results showed that 0.3% and 0.6% butyrate in the diet was improvement the body weights more than other treatments, and superior for feed conversion ratio. Feed intake were not influenced by the dietary treatments. A reduction in pH of the upper GI tract (crop, proventiculus and gizzard) was observed by inclusion of butyrate in the diets of broilers compared to either control or antibiotic-fed group. Butyrate at 0.6% was more effective in reducing the pH than 0.3%. Within the lower GI tract, 0.6% butyrate was effective in lowering pH in the jejunum, but no effect was found in either the duodenum or ileum. Dressing percentage was higher in all the butyrate treatment groups compared to the positive control or negative group also Increasing of histomorphological response. The best rate of villi length was recorded in the fourth and third treatments compared to the lowest length of treatment in the second and first treatment. From these findings, it is concluded th...

Meta-Analysis of Butyric Acid: a Performance-Enhancing Additive to Replace Antibiotics for Broiler Chickens

“…Some studies have demonstrated the efficiency of butyric acid as an antimicrobial additive against pathogens that cause major losses in poultry production, such as Eimeria spp. (Ali et al, 2014;Song et al, 2017), Salmonella (Van Immerseel etal., 2004Fernandez-Rubio et al, 2009;Menconi et al, 2013;Cerisuelo et al, 2014), and Clostridium (Timbermont et al, 2010;Mohamed et al, 2014).…”

The Effect of Propionic Acid Addition in Poultry Diets on the Internal Organs of Broiler Chickens

“…The gizzard weight obtained, however, is lower than that reported by Malik et al (2016) in broiler chickens fed with 0.05% probiotic, 0.20% acidifier, and their combination, namely 2.37% to 2.56%. Ali et al (2018) also reported higher gizzard weight (2.06%) in broilers fed with organic acids as a substitute for antibiotics.…”