Expediency of yeast derived β-glucans and mannan oligosaccharide on performance and immune modulation in broilers

An experiment was conducted on 240 broiler chicks up to 42 days on diets with or without ß-glucans and mannan oligosaccharide. The day-old chicks were randomly selected and divided into three dietary treatment groups viz., T1 group birds fed on basal diet, T2 group birds supplemented with antibiotic (combination of lincomycin and spectinomycin) @1kg/ton of feed, T3 group birds supplemented with combination of ß-glucans and mannon oligosaccharide @100g/ton of feed in pre-starter diet followed by 50g/ton of feed in starter and finisher diets. Results of the study recorded no significant effect on body weight, weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio. NDV HI titre showed significant (P<0.05) changes at antibiotic supplemented broilers on 21 days whereas cellular immunity remains unchanged. However, ß-glucans and Mannon oligosaccharide incorporation has positive effect on relative weight of lymphoid organs. From the results, it could be concluded that the combined ß-glucans and Mannon oligosaccharide cannot be replaceable to antibiotic as it did not show clear improvement on overall performance in broiler chicken.