Growth performance, nutrient digestibility and haematological indices of broiler chickens fed diets supplemented with riboflavin and pyridoxine

Abstract

A 56 days feeding experiment was conducted to investigate the growth performance, nutrient digestibility and blood characteristics of broiler chickens fed diets supplemented with riboflavin and pyridoxine. A total of two hundred and forty day old unsexed Marshall Broiler chickens were assigned to eight diets in a completely randomised design. The diets were such that diet 1 was the control (basal diet without vitamin supplementation), diets 2, 3 and 4 had basal diet supplemented with 4 mg/kg, 8 mg/kg and 12 mg/kg riboflavin, respectively, diets 5, 6, and 7 had basal diet supplemented with 3.5 mg/kg, 7 mg/kg and 10.5 mg/kg pyridoxine, respectively while diet 8 had basal diet with 4 mg/kg riboflavin + 3.5 mg/kg pyridoxine. Each dietary treatment was replicated three times with 10 birds per replicate. The growth parameters measured at day 28 were not significantly influenced (P>0.05) by the diets. At day 56, the final weight (1980 g) was highest in birds fed diets with 7 mg/kg supplemental pyridoxine, though the final weight value was similar (P>0.05) to those fed diets supplemented with 4 mg/kg (1793.30 g) and 12 mg/kg (1700.00 g) riboflavin. Higher protein retention values were recorded for broilers fed higher concentration of supplemental riboflavin and pyridoxine. The packed cell volume (PCV) and haemoglobin (Hb) concentration of broilers fed diets supplemented with 8 mg/kg riboflavin and 7 mg/kg pyridoxine (insert the values here) were higher than those on other diets. Higher levels of riboflavin and pyridoxine and their combination resulted in an elevated heterophil and decreased lymphocyte values. An elevated (P<0.05) mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) (44.75 pg/cell) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) (133.05 f/L) concentration was observed in broilers fed diets containing added 3.5 mg/kg pyridoxine. The study revealed that 8 mg/kg riboflavin and 7 mg/kg pyridoxine is required for improved final weight, crude protein retention and good health of broiler chickens.