GROWTH PERFORMANCE, CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS AND INTERNAL ORGANS OF BROILER CHICKENS FED DEXAMETHASONE WITH ORGANIC SELENIUM AND VITAMIN E UNDER CHRONIC STRESS.

Abstract

The study was carried out to determine the growth performance, carcass characteristics and internal organs of broilers chickens fed dexamethasone with organic selenium and vitamin E under chronic stress. One hundred and thirty-five day-old Arbor acre broiler chicks were randomly assigned to three treatments: control diet (T1), diet with 1mg dexamethasone (T2), and diet with 1 mg dexamethasone + selenium and vitamin E (T3). Each treatment was replicated three times with 15 birds per replicate. The birds were fed a maize/soybean meal-based broiler starter and finisher diet according to the NRC (1994) nutrient requirement for broiler chickens. Dexamethasone was administered in the drinking water for 14 days, and the 1 mg dexamethasone + selenium and vitamin E Treatment contained organic selenium supplemented in the test diet. The feeding trial lasted eight weeks, during which feed and water were provided ad – libitum.  The results were subjected to a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) in a Completely Randomized Design and Tukey's post-hoc was used to test for significance. The results showed that dexamethasone inhibits the growth performance of broiler chickens significantly (P < 0.05) because it reduces feed intake which in turns affect the growth rate and the feed conversion ratio. Except for the drumstick and thigh all other parameters had the lowest values for the birds fed dexamethasone only. The kidney and spleen weights were not significantly (P > 0.05) different among the treatments but the liver weight increased with the inclusion of dexamethasone, which is regarded as one index of stress condition. The birds fed dexamethasone with selenium and vitamin E performed better and this is as a result of Vitamin E and selenium roles in alleviating stress. Therefore, it is not recommended to feed birds dexamethasone as it has been shown to have detrimental effects on the carcass and some of the internal organs considered. But if dexamethasone should be used, selenium and vitamin E can be used to supplement the diet as birds fed dexamethasone with vitamin E and selenium shows a better result.