EFFICACY OF MEDIUM CHAIN FATTY ACIDS AND SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF BROILER

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the effect of medium chain fatty acids and Saccharomyces cerevisiae on performance in broiler birds. A field trial was carried out on 200 broiler chicks ((Lohman) dividing them into four treatment groups each having 50 birds such as treatment group 1 (T₁), treatment group 2 (T₂), treatment group 3 (T₃), and a control group (C). The treatment group 1 (T₁) was supplied with a standard feed containing medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae type boulardii 2.0x10¹⁰ CFU/gm).Treatment group 2 (T₂) was supplied with a standard feed rich in medium chain fatty acids (MCFA). Treatment group 3 (T₃) was supplied with a standard feed having Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae type boulardii 2.0x1010 CFU/gm. MCFA and S. cerevisiae lacked standard feed was given to the control group(C).  The inclusion rate of MCFA per kilogram of feed was 2 gm for 10 days, 1.5 gm for successive 10 days and 1gm for next 8 days, and of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was 0.2gm for 10 days, 0.15 gm for successive 10 days and 0.10 gm for next 8 days during the study period of 4 weeks. Weekly weight gain and, at the end of the study, body weight, feed consumption, FCR and mortality rate were recorded. Analysis of data revealed that the final average body weight and average weight gain of the birds belonging to the groups T₁, T₂ and T₃ were higher (p< 0.01) than the control group. FCR was 1.36, 1.37, and 1.38 for the treatment group T₁, T₃ and T₂ respectively which were better than (p<0.05) control group. There was no significant difference between the treatment group T₂ and T₃ but there was significant difference between the treatment group and control group (p<0.10) in terms of feed consumption. In case of livability, there was significant difference among bird groups T₁, T₂, T₃ and control group (p<0.01). Data analyses regarding organ weight showed that the addition of MCFA and SC in the diet of treatment group one (T₁) significantly increased (p<0.01) the weight of intestine with chymus, intestine without chymus, gizzard, head and neck by 41%, 17%, 5%, 8%  and 11% respectively compared with  control group. No significant differences were observed among the experimental groups for the weight of liver, spleen, and pancreas.