ABSTRACT
The study was conducted to check the effect of emulsifier supplementation on growth performance of broiler birds on starter phase, from days 1 to 10. In the current study, a total of twelve hundred twenty-four Ross 308 broiler one day old chicks were used. Ross 308 broiler chicks were divided into two groups in such a way that each group had12 replicates, and each replicate had 51 birds. The duration of the current trial was of 10 days. Chicks were fed experimental diets with or without emulsifier supplementation. Daily feed intake, body weight, feed conversion ratio and nutrient digestibility were recorded. Mortality was recorded on a daily basis, and feed intake was also corrected for mortality. Data collected from the experiment was interpreted by using analysis of variance method using SPSSTM under Completely Randomized Design. Results showed that emulsifier supplementation improved (p<0.05) feed intake in broiler birds on the 2nd, 6th, 7th and 9th days of the starter phase. Furthermore, emulsifier supplementation (p<0.05) affected the body weight on the 3rd and 10th day of the trial. Emulsifier supplementation also affected (p<0.05) feed conversion ratio on the 10th day of the trial. However, nutrient digestibility was not affected by the supplementation of emulsifier in the diet of broiler chicks. Results showed that emulsifier supplementation should be started on day 10.
Keywords: Emulsifier; Broiler; Starter Phase; Performance