Effects of Dietary Inclusion of Enzymes and Probiotic on Organ Weights and Intestinal Morphology of Broiler Chickens

The present experiment was conducted to examine the effect of Enzymes (Enzymex) and Probiotic (Yeamark) on organ weights and intestinal histomorphology parameters in Ven Cobb⁴⁰⁰ broilers. Three hundred and sixty chicks were divided into eight groups viz. control (T₁) in which no supplement was added to the feed, while in treatments T₂, T₃ and T₄ cocktail of enzymes was provided as 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 g per kg of feed, respectively, in treatment T₅ probiotic was added as 0.25 g per kg and in treatment T₆, T₇ and T₈ cocktail of enzymes as in T₂, T₃ and T₄ with probiotic as 0.25 g per kg in the basal diet from 1^st to 6^th weeks of age respectively. The liver and gizzard weights were greater (P < 0.05) for probiotic compared with enzyme supplemented birds. Furthermore, dietary treatments influenced the morphological measurements of small intestine. The addition of enzyme, probiotic and their combinations increased (P < 0.05) the villus height to crypt depth ratio and villus height in duodenum. The increase in the villus height to crypt depth ratio was associated with improvement of growth performance for both probiotic and enzymes and their combination. This indicates that the probiotic and enzymes and their combinations can be used as a growth promoter in broiler diets and can improve the gut health. These products show promising effects as alternatives for antibiotics as pressure to eliminate growth-promotant antibiotic use increases.