Comparative effects of butyrate, herbal extract, and yeast on growth performance, serum parameters, organ weight, and ileum morphology in broilers

Abstract This study set out to compare the addition of butyrate (sodium-calcium butyrates), herbal extract ( Macleaya cordata ), and yeast ( Saccharomyces cerevisiae ) feed additives on the broiler’s growth performance, serum parameters, organ weight, and ileum morphology in the broiler. A total of 320 chicks seven days old were randomly allocated into 4 groups and the trial lasted until 35 days old. Each experimental group comprised four replicate pens (20 chicks per pen). The groups consisted of the basal diet (control group, no additive - C); basal diet + butyrates group (0.5 g/kg sodium-calcium butyrates - UG); basal diet + herbal extract group (0.2 g/kg Macleaya cordata - FP), and basal diet + yeast group (1 g/kg Saccharomyces cerevisiae - SC). Results showed no significant difference between groups for daily weight gain (DWG), feed intake (FI), and feed conversion ratios (FCR) ( P > 0.05). However, the body weight gain (BWG) of the FP group was higher than the UG and SC groups at the 21 days ( P = 0.047). At the end of the study, it was found that the SC group’s total antioxidant status level (TAS) was higher than that of the UG and FP groups ( P = 0.033). It was found that crypt depth was higher in the feed additive groups than in the control ( P < 0.001), however, villus/crypt ratios were highest in the C and FP groups ( P < 0.001). In conclusion, 0.2 g/kg herbal extract ( Macleaya cordata) in broiler diets positively effects on weight gain and villus surface area.