Effect of Dietary Beta-Glucan on the Performance of Broilers

Abstract

<p>A total of 400, one day-old commercial broiler chicks were divided into five diet groups (negative control, positive control group with 55 ppm Zn-bacitracin, 15 ppm β-glucan, 30 ppm β-glucan, and 60 ppm β-glucan) and fed for six weeks. Ten broilers were allotted to each of 40 floor pens. Eight floor pens were randomly assigned to one of the 5 diets. Each diet was fed to the broilers for 6 weeks with free access to water and diet. The survival rate, growth rate, and feed conversion rate of the broilers were calculated. The high level of dietary β-glucan (60 ppm) showed better feed conversion ratio and survival rate than the negative control. The survival rate of 60 ppm β-glucan-treated group was the same as that of the antibiotic-treated group, which showed the highest survival rate among the treatments. Supplementation of 60 ppm β-glucan to broiler diet improved the survival rate and feed conversion rate of broilers as good as those of the55 ppm Zn-bacitracin group. The result indicated that use of β-glucan (60 ppm) can be a potential alternative to antibiotics to improve the survivaland performance of broilers.</p>