Growth, feed conversion ratio and nutrient Metabolizability of broiler chicks fed on inorganic, organic and nano zinc supplemented diets

Abstract

The present study was planned to investigate the possible effects on the growth, feed conversion ratio and nutrient metabolizability of broiler chickens when supplemented with different sources of zinc. One hundred and sixty day-old broiler birds were equally and randomly distributed into four treatment (T1, T2, T3 and T4) groups which subdivided into four replicates containing ten birds in each, reared on deep litter system up to 6 weeks of age. T1 group was kept as control and offered maize-soybean meal based diet without any source of zinc in mineral mixture. Treatment groups T2, T3 and T4 were supplemented with inorganic zinc, organic zinc and nano zinc, respectively. Nano zinc oxide fed groups had significantly (P< 0.05) higher average feed intake as compared with control group. Average body weight gain and feed conversion ratio in T4 group were significantly (P