EFFECT OF VARYING DIETARY LEVELS OF KAOLIN ON LITTER MICROBIAL LOAD COUNTS AND SOME SERUM BIOCHEMICAL INDICES IN BROILER CHICKENS

Abstract

Because of the ban on antibiotics utilization in the poultry by the European Union as the results of the amplified glitches related with their residues in chicken, current focus of scientists is to research and discover various safe alternatives to antibiotics. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of varying dietary levels of kaolin on litter and some serum biochemical indices in broiler chickens A total of 261 ‘Anak strain’ of mix sexed of day-old chicks of broiler chickens in which at two weeks of age were allotted to 4 dietary treatments in a completely randomized experimental design with 6 replicates of 9 birds each. Dietary treatments at both starter phase at 14 days old up to 28 days old age and treatment at finisher phase at 28 days old up to 56 days old age includes: kaolin-0g=0g kaolin/kg diet, kaiolin-5g=5g kaolin/kg diet, kaolin-10g =10g kaolin/kg/diet and kaolin-15g=15g kaolin/kg diet. Results of litter microbial load counts were significantly (p<0.05) lower treatment groups (kaiolin-5g, kaolin-10g and kaolin-15g when compared to control group (kaolin –0g). Generally, litter microbial load counts decreased as the level of kaolin in the feed increased. However, serum biochemical indices investigated among the treatments were not significant (p>0.05). It was recommended that up to 5-15% kaolin can be safely included in ration for enhancing litter quality in broiler production