Vitamin premix reduction in broiler chickens' diet negatively impacts growth, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, small intestine growth, and health
Description
Vitamin and mineral premix are the most expensive poultry diet ingredients and can account for nearly 3-6% of the total diet cost. To reduce the production cost, this study aimed to investigate the impact of reduced levels of vitamin premix below the strain guide in the broiler chickens' diet on their performance, internal organ weight, intestinal growth and health, blood lipid profile, and liver enzyme activity. 200 Ross 308 one-day-old broilers, arranged into five treatments with four replicates, each with ten chicks in a completely randomized manner. The diet was based on corn-soybean meal and given in pellets. The experimental groups were supplemented with a 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 g/kg vitamin premix. The reduced vitamin premix level in the broilers' diet led to a linear decline in feed intake (FI), weight gain (WG), and body weight at all rearing phases significantly (P<0.05) and increased feed conversion ratio at starter and grower phases. Also, the mortality rate increased linearly with a reduced vitamin premix level in the diet insignificantly (P>0.05). However, internal organ weight and length were not influenced by the reduction in the level of vitamins except for jejunum, and ceca length and ileum weight were increased linearly (P<0.05). In addition, intestinal histomorphology, serum lipid profile, liver enzymes, glucose, and uric acid levels were not significantly affected by the reduced vitamin levels in the broilers' diet (P>0.05). In conclusion, reducing vitamin premix levels in the broilers' diet does not adversely affect relative organ weight, intestinal health, and sera biochemical parameters. However, reducing vitamin levels in the broilers' diet to lower than the strain guide led to a decline in FI, WG, and performance of the broiler chickens and an increased mortality rate.