The Effects of a Multi-Carbohydrase Enzyme Complex and Direct-Fed Microbial Supplementation to Energy-Reduced Diets on Broiler Performance and Carcass Traits

This study evaluated the effect of supplementing a combination of a multi-carbohydrase enzyme complex and a direct-fed microbial on the performance and welfare of broilers fed an energy-reduced diet. A complete randomized design was used comprising seven dietary treatments: (1) positive control (PC), which was a standard broiler diet; (2) negative control (NC) with no DFMs and a −132 kcal/kg energy reduction from the PC; (3) NC + Enspira+® at 125 ppm (ENS); (4) NC + Enspira+® at 125 ppm + DFMs (Amnil®) at 300 ppm (AE-1); (5) NC + Enspira+® at 125 ppm + DFMs at 400 ppm (AE-2); (6) E NC + Enspira+® at 125 ppm + DFMs at 500 ppm (AE-3); and (7) AE-2 + DFMs (Novela®) at 125 ppm for the starter then AE-1 + DFMs (Novela®) at 125 ppm for the remaining phases (AENO). Each treatment consisted of 10 pens with 25 male Cobb broilers per pen, and the birds were raised for 35 days. Body weight (BW) and feed consumption (FC) of birds from 0–35 d of age were measured for each pen, and the mortality-corrected feed conversion ratio (FCR) and weight-corrected FCR (WTC FCR) were calculated. On day 36, five birds/pen were processed, and the carcass, breast, and leg quarter weights and yields were determined. No differences were observed between the treatments in FC, BW, mortality, starter- or finisher-phase FCR, or d 0–35 FCR and WTC FCR (p > 0.05). However, during the grower phase, the PC had a better FCR than the NC and AE-3, while AE-1 and AE-2 were similar to the PC. D 28 FCR was also lowest in the PC and AE-2 compared to the NC, with the remaining treatments being intermediate. The NC had lower carcass, breast, and leg quarter weights than all other treatments (p < 0.05). The PC and AE-1 had greater carcass yields than the NC (p < 0.05), and the remaining treatments were intermediate. No differences between treatments were observed in the breast or leg quarter yields (p > 0.05). In conclusion, supplementing an energy-reduced diet with DFMs and enzyme prevented the reductions in carcass, breast, and leg quarter weights observed with the NC, and inclusion of DFMs at 400 ppm additionally maintained the FCR through d 28. These results indicate that the enzyme and DFMs at an inclusion level of 400 ppm can improve live performance in the grower phase and processing yield in broilers fed an energy-reduced diet.