Effects of Spirulina platensis or furazolidone on the performance and immune response of broiler chickens fed with aflatoxin contaminated diet Raju M.V.L.N.*, Rama Rao S.V., Radhika K., Chawak M.M. Project Directorate on Poultry (ICAR), Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, 500030, India *Corresponding author rajumvln@rediffmail.com
Abstract A feeding trial was conducted to study the effects of dietary supplementation of Spirulina platemis (SP) @ of 0.02% or furazolidone (FZ) @ of 0.0112% on commercial broiler chicken, fed standard diet with or without aflatoxin (300 ppb). A total of 96, 10 d old commercial broiler chicken divided into six groups were fed either control diet or control diet supplemented with SP, FZ, AF, AF+SP or AF+FZ till 45 d of age. The AF groups, body weight gain, ready to cook yields, bursa weight and cutaneous basophil ic hypersensitivity (CBFI) response were improved by supplementation of SP or FZ. No effect of SP or FZ was seen on feed intake, feed conversion efficiency, leg abnormality scores, sheep red blood cell (SRBC) response and weights of liver, giblets, spleen and abdominal fat in the AF fed groups. Intestinal pi I was reduced by SP while crop pH was reduced by FZ. It was concluded that dietaiy inclusion of SP or FZ showed positive effects on growth, ready to cook yields, bursa weight and cellular immune response in chicks fed aflatoxin. Top Keywords Aflatoxin, Furazolidone, Spirulina, Broiler. Top |