Effects of dietary probiotic, prebiotic and butyric acid glycerides on performance and serum composition in broiler chickens

An experiment on ROSS 308 male broilers was conducted to evaluate probiotic (Primalac), prebiotic (Fermacto) and butyric acid glycerides (Baby C4) on broiler performance and serum composition. Seven hundred and four day-old broilers were randomly distributed in a 222 factorial arrangement with two levels of probiotic, prebiotic and butyric acid glycerides. Eight treatments with four replicates each with 22 birds per pen were used. Three-way interaction between dietary treatments were observed for final body weight (P<0.05), feed intake (P<0.01) and feed conversion ratio (P<0.01) in the experiment. Body weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio between supplementary treatments and control group were significantly different (P<0.01). Three-way interaction between dietary treatments were observed for total cholesterol (P<0.05), LDL (P<0.01), cholesterol/HDL ratio and HDL/LDL ratio (P<0.01) in the experiment. Total cholesterol concentration, LDL, HDL/LDL ratio and cholesterol/HDL ratio between supplementary treatments and control group were significantly different (P<0.05 and P<0.01). Serum triglyceride, HDL and VLDL cholesterol concentrations were not significantly different among dietary treatment when compared to control group (P>0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation improved the body weight, feed conversion ratio, HDL/LDL ratio and decreased feed intake, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and cholesterol/HDL ratio in the serum of broiler chickens.