Effect of Gum Arabic on Overall Growth Performance, Visceral and Lymphoid Organs Along with Intestinal Histomorphology and Selected Pathogenic Bacteria of Broiler Chickens
Effect of Gum Arabic on Overall Growth Performance, Visceral and Lymphoid Organs Along with Intestinal Histomorphology and Selected Pathogenic Bacteria of Broiler Chickens
Sajjad Khan*, Naila Chand, Abdul Hafeez, Nazir Ahmad
ABSTRACT
The aim of experiment was to find out the effect of different levels of gum arabic (GA) on overall growth performance, relative weight of visceral and lymphoid organs along with intestinal histomorphology and selected pathogenic bacteria in broiler chickens. A total of 160 day-old Ross chicks were assigned to four groups, containing 0, 0.5,1 and 1.5% GA along with basal feed for 42 days. A completely randomized design (CRD) was followed during statistical analysis while difference in means was calculated through Tukey’s test. Results indicated that supplementation of GA at 1.5% significantly (P<0.05) improved feed intake, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR), European Production Efficiency Factor (EPEF) while no effect on livability of broiler chickens. High level (1.5%) of GA significantly (P<0.05) increased the relative weight of heart, liver and gizzard while no significant effect was observed on pancreas and lymphoid organs. Significantly high (P<0.05) villi height (VH), low crypt depth (CD) and high VH:CD was recorded at 1.5% GA in different parts of intestine. Similarly, count of E. coli, Salmonella and C. perfringens was significantly low in ileum, caecum and colon. It was concluded that supplementation of GA at 1.5% resulted in significantly (P<0.05) improved growth performance, visceral organs along with improved histomorphology and limited growth of pathogenic bacteria in broiler chickens.
Keywords | Gum arabic, Bursa, Thymus, E. coli, Salmonella, C. perfringens
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