Author/Authors :
Metwally Ali, Asmaa Department of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Management - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine - Cairo University, Giza, Egypt , El Agrab, Hassan Mostafa Department of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Management - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine - Cairo University, Giza, Egypt , Mamdouh Hamoud, Mohamed Departement of Poultry and Rabbit Disease - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine - Cairo University, Giza, Egypt , Mohamed Gamal, Abdelrhman Department of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Management - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine - Cairo University, Giza, Egypt , Refat Mousa, Mohamed Department of Pathology - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine - Cairo University, Giza, Egypt , Abo Elsoud Nasr, Shimaa Department of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Management - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine - Cairo University, Giza, Egypt , Hassan El Shater, Mohamed Ahmed Animal Health Research Institute, Dokki, Giza, Egypt , Elsaeed Laban, Samah Department of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Management - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine - Cairo University, Giza, Egypt , Kamel Zahran, Osama Department of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Management - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine - Cairo University, Giza, Egypt , Mohamed Ali, Mohamed Department of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Management - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine - Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
Abstract :
The usage of organic acids (OAs) in poultry industry as an alternative to antibiotic growth promoters has
been functioning since 2006 The aim of the current study is to evaluate the effect of prolonged usage of single or
mixture of different OAs to acidify the drinking water and monitor their effect on the broiler growth performance,
water consumption, feed conversion and intestinal histomorphology. A total of 450 commercial broiler chicks (Arbor
acres breed) were randomly divided into nine main groups (50 birds/each). Our results revealed that during the entire
growth period, the water was supplemented with acidified water with a pH range between 2.7- 3.7 that showed best
performance results. All broilers which given acidified water showed significant improvement in final body weight (P
≤ 0.05), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and villus high: crypt depth ratio (V:C ratio) for the intestinal mucosa compared
to non-treated control group (negative control). On the other hand, broiler chicks that supplied with acidified water
including formic acid (pH 2.5) revealed significant reduction in all tested parameters (P≤ 0.05) however, water
consumption was not affected by lowering the pH in all groups. In conclusions, our findings showed that continuous
supplementation of both single and mixture of organic acids can improve the broiler growth performance.
Keywords :
Organic acids , Acidified water , Single and mixture organic acid , Broiler performance , Intestinal mucosa
