Influence of dietary nano zinc and selenium supplementation on growth performance, nutrients digestibility and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens

Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate the effect of nano zinc and selenium supplementation on growth performance, nutrients digestibility and carcass characteristics of broiler chicks. Three hundred and twenty 28 day old broiler chicks of Arbor Acre strain were used in a completely randomized design with 4×4 factorial combinations. Birds were fed control diets containing 20% CP and 3000kcal/kg ME supplemented with varying levels of nano zinc (20, 30, 40.and 50mg/kg) and selenium (0.10, 0.15, 0.20 and 0.25mg/kg) respectively for 21 days. Data generated were subjected to Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version 16.0). The supplementation of nano zinc (30mg) and selenium (0.10mg) increased weight gain, reduced feed consumed and better FCR. Dry matter, crude fibre, crude protein, ether extract and ash digestibility were significantly enhanced. The carcass traits were improved irrespective of the levels. The use of nano zinc and selenium in broiler feeding can improve productive performance of broiler chickens without any detrimental effect to the animal.