Effect of Pelleting Temperature, Probiotic and Wheat Grain on Growth Performance, Blood Biochemical Variables, Immune Responses and Mucin 2 Gene Expression of Broiler Chicks

Conditioning is a major stage in the pelleting process for feeds. Probiotics are known to have the ability for improvement of the immune system and growth performance. Wheat can be used as a replacement for corn. Thus, the present study was conducted to investigate the effects of pelleting temperature, probiotics and wheat grain on growth performance, blood biochemical variables, immune responses and mucin 2 gene expression of broiler chicks. Eight-hundred 1-d-old broiler chicks were assigned into 8 treatments with 4 replicates (n=25 chicks). A completely randomized design in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement was used with two levels of wheat (0 and 500 g/kg), two levels of probiotic (0 and 200 mg/kg) and two levels of con-ditioning temperature (70 or 85 °C). Growth performance, immune responses, blood biochemical variables, and mucin 2 gene expression were evaluated. Main and interaction effects were not significant on growth performance, immune responses and blood biochemical variables (P 0.05). Wheat and corn-based diets containing probiotic up-regulated mucin 2 gene expression (P 0.05). Wheat can be used as an alternative for corn