Evaluation of two commercial dietary enzyme products in broiler chicken fed reduced energy diets based on corn and soybean meal

Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of two commercial enzyme products incorporated into reduced energy diets on growth performance, mortality and litter quality of broiler chicken. A total of 1620 7-d-old male Arbor Acres broiler chicks were randomly divided into 3 groups of 540 chicks each (60 chicks x 9 replications) and assigned to one of the following treatments: (1) corn-soybean meal based diet as control (C), (2) C with a 60 Kcal/kg AME reduction supplemented with NSP-degrading enzymes (Rovabio Excel) at 0.05 g/kg (D1), and (3) C with a 120 Kcal/kg AME reduction supplemented with multi-enzyme preparation (Natuzyme) at 0.1 g/kg (D2). There were 4 dietary phases : starter (d1-d7), grower (d8-d21), finisher 1 (d22-d28), and finisher 2 (d29-d37). The experimental period was d7-d37. Live body weight (LBW), daily weight gain (DWG), daily feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and mortality rate were measured by production phase and for the whole rearing period (d1-d37). Production index (PI) and litter quality were also measured. No difference was seen between diets C and D1 during any stage or overall rearing period, showing that Rovabio Excel supplementation with reduced energy diet formulation completely compensated for the reduced energy amount. Natuzyme partially restored broiler performance equal to standard diet formulation, except for LBW which was lower (p<0.05) during all phases, DWG which was lower (p<0.05) on days 29-37, and FCR which was higher (p<0.05) on days 22-28 in Natuzyme supplemented group. Natuzyme supplemented diet produced lighter broilers with higher FCR at d 37 (p<0.05). Mortality and litter quality were not affected by enzyme supplementation. Rovabio Excel supplementation reduced the cost per kilogramme of live body weight. In conclusion, a 60 Kcal/kg AME reduced energy diet supplemented with Rovabio Excel had equivalent performance to a standard diet and provided the best economic result. This approach can be used to reduce the amount of primary ingredients needed to formulate poultry diets namely corn which is exclusively imported and consequentlty to decrease production costs.