Effects of Citric Acid, Synbiotic, and Probiotic Supplementation Through Drinking Water on Growth Performance, Carcass Yield, and Blood Biochemistry of Broiler Chickens

A study was undertaken to investigate the effects of non-antibiotic additives-citric acid, synbiotics, and probiotics-administered through drinking water on broiler growth performance, carcass characteristics, and blood biochemical profiles. A total of 400 one-day-old Cobb 500 broiler chicks were randomly divided into four treatment groups: Control; no additives administered (CON); Citric acid @2.5 g/L water (CA); Synbiotic @0.2 g/L water (SB); Probiotic @0.5 g/L water (PB) and with each group having 4 replicates of 25 chicks. Growth performance metrics, such as body weight (BW), body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR), were recorded weekly. At the end of the trial, the probiotic-fed group had significantly higher BW (<i>p</i> = 0.018), BWG (<i>p</i> = 0.027), and an improved FCR (1.62) compared to the CON (1.74), CA (1.66), and SB (1.70) groups (<i>p</i> = 0.042). Biochemical parameters showed significant differences in total cholesterol (<i>p</i> = 0.013) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels (<i>p</i> = 0.039), with the PB group showing higher levels. These results suggest that citric acid, synbiotics, and probiotic additives provided through drinking water can enhance broiler growth performance, with probiotics offering the most promising benefits.