Production Performance of Broiler Chicken as Affected by Supplementation of Salts of Organic Acids

A total of 300, day old commercial broiler chicks were randomly distributed into five treatments having six replicates consisting of ten birds each to assess the efficacy of salts of organic acids as feed additives on growth performance of broiler chicken. A maize-soybean based diet was used as the basal diet (Control group). The basal diet was supplemented with sodium butyrate and calcium propionate @ 0.5 and 1% each. Addition of calcium propionate at 1% level resulted in higher (P<0.05) body weight gain during sixth week of the growth period as compared to the control. Total feed intake was higher in the 1% sodium butyrate supplemented group than other groups. Supplementation of 1% sodium butyrate in the basal diet improved (P<0.05) the FCR as compared to the control group. Inclusion of 1% sodium butyrate and 1% calcium propionate in the basal diet increased (P<0.05) DM metabolizability as compared to control group. Nitrogen retention and gross energy metabolizability were the highest in the group supplemented with 1% sodium butyrate. Hence, addition of 1% sodium butyrate in the diet improved nutrient utilisation and growth performance of broiler chicken.