Inclusion of Mannan-oligosaccharide and-Tocopherol in the Diet: Their Effect on Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Broiler Chicken

The present experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of supplementing prebiotic mannan-oligosaccharide (MOS) and α-tocopherol individually and in combination on the performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chicken. A total of 240, day-old Vencobb broiler chicks of either sex were randomly assigned to four dietary treatment groups with three replicates of 20 birds for 7 weeks. The chicks in all the groups were fed with the starter and finisher ration as per BIS recommendations, however, in treatments T₂, T₃ and T₄, the chicks were also provided with α-tocopherol @ 400 IU, mannan-oligosaccharide @ 0.4% and α-tocopherol @ 400 IU + mannan-oligosaccharide @ 0.4% of the feed, respectively. The basal diet served as treatment T₁. There was significant (P<0.05) gain in body weight, feed intake and FCR in experimental group fed combination of MOS and α-tocopherol compared to the control group. There was no significant difference in the carcass traits with respect to dressing percentage, eviscerate percentage, giblet or byproduct percentage. But, the immune organs (liver, spleen and bursa) showed higher (P<0.05) absolute weight. Therefore, supplementation of MOS and α-tocopherol could improve growth performance, carcass yield and immunity.