EFFECT OF SUPPLEMENTING CERTAIN ORGANIC ACIDS TO BROILER DIETS ON SOME BLOOD PARAMETERS

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of adding certain organic acids to broiler feed mixtures on blood parameters. The experiment lasted for 40 days, using 150 one-day-old chicks of the (ROSS 308) hybrid, distributed into five treatments. Each treatment contained 30 birds distributed into three replicates, at a rate of 10 birds per replicate. The experiment was divided into three feeding phases. The control birds were fed a conventional diet without acid additives. Organic acids were added to the feed mixtures of the treatments at the following rates per 100 kg: Treatment 1 (0.75 kg acetic acid + 0.75 kg lactic acid), Treatment 2 (0.75 kg formic acid + 0.75 kg lactic acid), Treatment 3 (0.75 kg formic acid + 0.75 kg acetic acid), and Treatment 4 (0.5 kg lactic acid + 0.5 kg formic acid + 0.5 kg acetic acid). The results indicated that the addition of organic acids had a positive effect on improving blood parameters, thereby enhancing the health status of the birds. The differences were not significant regarding blood glucose concentration. Birds in Treatment 4 achieved the lowest blood cholesterol concentration among all treatments (114 mg/dL) with significant differences compared to the control treatment, which recorded the highest cholesterol concentration (146 mg/dL). Birds in Treatment 1 recorded the highest hemoglobin concentration (10.42 g/dL) with significant differences compared to the control, whose birds recorded the lowest hemoglobin concentration (9.17 g/dL).