The Effect of Colostrum Powder Supplementation on Performance, Intestinal Morphology, Blood Biochemical Parameters, Immunity and Antioxidant Status of Broilers

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different levels of colostrum powder supple-mentation on performance, blood biochemical parameters, immunity, and antioxidant status of broilers. Colostrum powder is only added in the first ten days of the broiler's breeding period in their diets. Colos-trum powder had significant effects on performance, carcass traits, intestinal cell morphology, blood bio-chemical parameters, immunity, and antioxidant status of broilers (P<0.05). The highest amount of weight gain in the starter period and the best feed conversion ratio were observed with 1.5 and 1% of colostrum powder. In the total period at 42 days, the lowest amount of feed intake was obtained with 1% of colostrum powder (P<0.05). The highest percentages of carcass and spleen belonged to the group fed with 2% of co-lostrum powder (P<0.05). The lowest level of blood total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and the highest level of total protein of blood were obtained with 1% and 1.5% of colostrum powder (P<0.05). Broilers had the best immunity reactions by adding 2% of colostrum powder to their diets (P<0.05). The highest levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) were resulted with adding 2% of colostrum powder in broilers diets (P<0.05). Colostrum powder had no significant effects on the intestinal morphology of broilers (P>0.05). The overall results showed that in broilers, using colostrum powder up to 1.5% of their diets in the starter period had beneficial effects on their performance, carcass traits, blood biochemical parameters, immunity, and antioxidant status.