Abstract
Two hundred and sixty four broiler breeder hens of 32 weeks of age were distributed randomly in four dietary treatments. The dietary treatments were T0: Broiler breeder ration containing 40 ppm zinc (basal 29.8 ppm + 10.2 ppm inorganic zinc), T1: T0 + organic zinc (zinc methionine) @ 20 ppm, T2: T0 + organic zinc @ 40 ppm and T3: T0 + organic zinc @ 60 ppm. The experiment was continued from 32 to 48 weeks of age. At 48 weeks, the weight of lymphoid organs, zinc levels in organs and immunity response were determined. The faecal zinc level was determined at monthly interval. The weight lymphoid organs of different treatment groups (both organic and inorganic zinc fed groups) of the broiler breeders did not differ significantly (P > 0.05). The cellular immune response of breeder birds to PHA-P was significantly (P 0.05) higher in group T3 than the rest of treated groups. The antibody titre to SRBC differed among the treated groups. The zinc content of serum of broiler breeders of all the groups did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) in all the periods of study. Zinc content in liver and tibia of broiler breeders in different dietary treatments of zinc differed significantly (P 0.05) with higher levels were obtained on increasing zinc concentration in the diet. The zinc level in the spleen and kidney of the broiler breeders in different dietary treatments did not differ significantly (P > 0.05). The average zinc content in the faeces of broiler breeder during 35 to 43 week of age did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) among the treated groups. At 48 weeks of age, zinc content of the faeces of T3 was found to be significantly (P 0.05) higher than the rest of treated groups. Similarly, during the overall experimental period analysis, it was found that zinc levels in the faeces of T2 and T3 were significantly (P 0.05) higher than T1 and T0.
Highlights
Zinc impacts immunity in poultry [1]
Considering the higher bioavailability of organic zinc [11] the experiment was planned to study the effect of organic zinc supplementation in broiler breeder birds on bioavailability and immune response
The influence on primary antibody titer to Sheep red blood cells (SRBC) was significantly (P < 0.05) lower in T0 group than that of other three organic zinc fed groups. [20] reported that immune response to PHA-P injection was enhanced when dietary zinc supplementation was solely from ZnAA. They reported that PHA-P was 0.97 in ZnSO4 group and 1.12 in ZnAA group and they observed significant difference between these two groups. [21] reported that zinc as zinc-methionine supplementation (100 mg/kg zinc to a basal diet containing 36.8 mg/kg zinc) had better effect on primary immune response to SRBC relative to control
Summary
Zinc impacts immunity in poultry [1]. Zinc deficiency has been shown to decrease cellular immunity [2], thymus [3] and spleen development [4]. Zinc is important for proper disease resistance and its deficiency has resulted in bacteremia [5], parasitic infections [6] and alteration in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [7]. Znmethionine provides a source of zinc with greater biological availability than zinc from inorganic sources. Gill (1997) [8] reported that chelated (organic) minerals are more biologically available in animal digestive system than inorganic minerals and that perhaps resulted in less. Supplementation in broiler breeder birds on bioavailability and immune response
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