Impact of Melatonin on Improving Productive Traits of Broiler Exposed to Environmental Stress
Impact of Melatonin on Improving Productive Traits of Broiler Exposed to Environmental Stress
Hashim Hadi Al-Jebory1*, Mohammed Khalil Ibrahim Al-Saeedi2, Majeed Ajafar1, Nihad Abdul-Lateef Ali1
ABSTRACT
During a five-week trial, this study investigated the impact of various levels and methods of adding melatonin to water and diets on the growth performance of broiler chickens. One day old, 400 Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly allocated into five random groups, with each group being quadruplicated and 20 birds allocated to each replication. Melatonin was supplemented in the G1 control group. G2 received 10 mg of melatonin per kg of diet, G3 received 20 mg of melatonin per kg of diet, G4 received 10 mg of melatonin per liter, and G5 received 20 mg of melatonin per liter, respectively. All groups’ chicks were exposed to heat stress (30-35-30 °C) during the breeding period. Our results showed a significant increase (p ≤ 0.01) for the G5 group in live body weight (LBW) and cumulative weight gain (W.G.). The study compared the feed intake (F.I.) and relative growth rate (RGR) of this group with those of other groups. It found a significant improvement in feed intake (F.I.) for all melatonin additions. When comparing total mortality to the G1 group, there was a significant improvement for the G3, G4, and G5 groups, with rates of 1.449, 1.467, and 1.425 respectively, in feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared to the G1 group, which had a rate of 1.563.
Keywords | Broiler, Environmental, Heat stress, Melatonin, Productive performance.
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April 2024
Vol. 12, Iss. 4, pp. 586-801
