THE EFFECTS OF BUTYRIC ACID SUPPLEMENTED DIETS AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO ANTIBIOTICS GROWTH PROMOTERS IN TURKEY POULTS.

Résumé

The effects of butyric acid supplemented diets on growth performance as an alternative to antibiotic growth promoters was examined in a 28-day experiment using one hundred and sixty (160) (one-day old) Nicholas turkey poults. The experimental design was a Completely Randomised Block Design. Poults were brooded for 7 days, after which they were allotted to 4 dietary treatments with 5 replicates of 8 birds per replicate. Treatment 1 was the basal diet with no supplements while treatments 2, 3, and 4 were supplemented with antibiotics, 0.2% butyric acid and 0.4% butyric acid respectively. The inclusion of butyric acid to the corn-soya based diets did not positively affect the final weight and weight gain of birds at the end of the first 28 days of the feeding trial.