ANIMAL NUTRITION AND FEED TECHNOLOGY

Zammit, V.A. and Park, S. O. 2020. Effect of smart poultry on growth performance, blood biochemical parameters, caecal fermentation indices of broiler chickens. Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, 20: 419–432.

This study was conducted to assess the effect of a smart poultry feeding system on growth performance of broiler chickens. A total of 2,000 one-day-old mixed-sex broiler chicks (Ross-308) were assigned randomly into two treatments namely, conventional (CON) and smart poultry (SP) feeding system; each replicated 5 times, 200 birds per replicate in a completely randomized design and reared for 35d. Results indicated that the BW gain and feed intake were higher (P<0.05) for broiler chickens in the SP group than those in the CON group. However, FCR was lower (P<0.05) in the SP group. Eviscerated carcass, breast, thigh, spleen, and bursa of Fabricius yields were higher in the SP group whereas abdominal fat was lower in the SP group than that in the CON group (P<0.05). Blood H/L ratio, ALT, AST, and PCO₂ were lower in the SP group than those in the CON group whereas pH, glucose, electrolytes (Na⁺, K⁺, Cl), RBC, HCT, Hb, PLT, PCT, PO₂ and HCO₃ were higher in the SP group (P<0.05). The number of Lactobacillus was higher in the SP group whereas numbers of E. coli, total aerobic bacteria, and coliform bacteria were higher in the CON group than those in the SP group (P<0.05). Total short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), acetic acid, and propionic acid were higher in the SP group than those in the CON group while butyric acid, isobutyric acid, valeric acid, and isovaleric acid were higher in the CON group (P<0.05). These results suggested that the productivity of broiler chickens with the smart poultry feeding system was higher than that with the conventional rearing through improvements in metabolic status.