Fungistatic Compounds in Broiler Production: 1. Effect on Rate of Gain and Feed Utilization

Abstract

Three floor experiments and two battery experiments using 6552 commercial broiler strain chicks and practical type diets were conducted in a cooperative study on the effect of fungistatic compounds in broiler diets. Feed moisture levels of 12.0 or 14.0% were used in the four week battery experiments. The dietary additives were sorbic acid, gentian violet, and calcium propionate. Growth rate and feed efficiency were not affected by the dietary addition of either gentian violet (.05%) or calcium propionate (.10%). In contrast, adding sorbic acid to the diet (.02, .04, or .06%) numerically improved growth rate in most instances.High and low dietary moisture levels were fed in the eight week floor experiments using new and used litter. Feeding sorbic acid in two of the three floor experiments significantly improved both growth rate and feed efficiency. This response to sorbic acid was greater when feed moisture was increased or the birds were maintained on old litter. The optimum dietary level of sorbic acid appeared to be .04%. No significant effects on performance were found due to adding either gentian violet or calcium propionate to the diet. Mortality in these experiments did not appear to be affected by the dietary treatments.