Abstract

A concern about enhancing the natural defense mechanisms of animals and reducing the massive use of antibiotics led to the banning of studies in this field. So, this research was done to investigate the effect of butyric acid glycerides and salinomycin sodium on the performance of the broiler chickens (strain Ross 308). A total of 800 chickens were reared for 42 days. A 3 factor statistical design was conducted with 4 replicates, and each factor contained 2 levels (25 broilers in each pen). The factors were butyric acid glycerides (0 and 0.3% of diet), salinomycin sodium - an anticoccidial drug (0 and 0.5% of diet) - and litter moisture (normal litter with average moisture of 35% and wet litter with average moisture of 75%). Data were collected and analyzed by SAS with GLM procedure. The results showed that butyric acid glycerides had no significant effect on feed intake. Weight gain and feed conversion ratio were not significantly affected by the mentioned factors. The effect of the treatments on the number of Eimeria oocytes excreta in the second and fourth week of breeding and feed intake were significant (p<0.05). Diet acidification with butyric acid glycerides caused an increase in ash, calcium and phosphorus of the chicken tibia, but this increase was not significant (p>0.05). Considering the result of this experiment, the use of butyric acid glycerides and salinomycin sodium in the aforementioned levels had no positive effect on the performance of broiler chickens (p>0.05).

Key words: Butyric acid glycerides, salinomycin sodium, ross, performance and broilers.