Multi-enzyme supplementation enhances performance, intestinal and skeletal development in broilers fed low-nutrient diets

TL;DR

Adding multiple enzymes to low-nutrient diets for chickens improves their growth, digestion, and bone development.

Contribution

Multi-enzyme supplementation mitigates the negative effects of low-nutrient diets in broilers.

Findings

Enzyme supplementation improved body weight, feed intake, and feed efficiency in broilers.

Enzymes normalized small intestine morphology and enhanced duodenal amylase activity.

Enzyme addition counteracted impaired tibial development and reduced calcium content.

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of multi-enzyme supplementation on broilers fed a zeolite-diluted, low-nutrient diet, focusing on growth performance, digestive physiology, and tibial development. A total of 384 one-day-old Arbor Acres broilers were randomly allocated to a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, receiving either a basal diet or a low-nutrient diet (reduced in metabolic energy, crude protein, calcium, and phosphorus), each without or with a multi-enzyme preparation. The results showed that enzyme supplementation significantly improved growth performance, including body weight (day 21 and day 35), feed intake (day 21) and the feed efficiency. While the zeolite-diluted, low-nutrient diet stimulated the relative lengthening of the small intestine at 21 days, enzyme addition normalized this morphology and significantly enhanced duodenal amylase activity. Furthermore, enzyme supplementation effectively counteracted the impaired tibial development and reduced calcium content induced by the zeolite-diluted, low-nutrient diet. The study concluded that the multi-enzyme supplementation effectively mitigated the adverse effects of nutrient reduction by improving growth performance, digestive function, and skeletal development in broilers.

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