RESPONSE OF BROILER CHICKENS TO VARYING LEVELS OF DIETARY BENZOIC ACID

Abstract

An eight-week study was conducted to evaluate the response of broiler birds to varying levels of dietary benzoic acid. A total of one hundred and twenty (120) day-old unsexed “Arbor acre” strain broiler chicks were randomly assigned into five treatment groups. Each treatment group contained 24 birds replicated three times with eight birds per replicate in a completely randomized design (CRD). The treatments were designated as follows: Treatment 1,0g benzoic acid; Treatment 2, 2.5g benzoic acid per kg of feed; Treatment 3, 5.0g benzoic acid per kg of feed; Treatment 4, 7.5g benzoic acid per kg of feed and Treatment 5, 10g benzoic acid per kg of feed. Parameters assessed include final body weight (FBW), total weight gain (TWG), daily weight gain (DWG), total feed intake (TFI), daily feed intake (DFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Feed and water were provided ad libitum. The results showed significant (p<0.05) differences among treatments in FBW, TWG, DWG, TFI, DFI and FCR values. The FBW, TWG and DWG values increased significantly (p<0.05) as the levels of benzoic acid in the diet increased from 0g to 7.5g. Birds fed diet containing 5g of benzoic acid per kg of diet (treatment3) had the highest (p<0.05) FBW, TWG and DWG values (3380.71g, 3341.50g and 59.67g, respectively) but these values were similar to the FBW, TWG and DWG values (3236.98g, 3197.27g and 57.09g, respectively) recorded for birds in treatment2 (2.5g of benzoic acid per kg of diet). Birds fed diets containing 2.5g, 5g and 7.5g of benzoic acid had better efficiency of feed utilization as shown by their FCR values (1.89, 1.86 and 1.92, respectively) as compared to the FCR value(2.15) for birds fed the control diet. It was concluded that up to 7.5g of benzoic acid can be included in the diet of broiler birds for optimum growth performance without any deleterious effect on birds.