Effect of Zinc Hydroxychloride Supplementation on Growth Performance and Zinc Deposition in Broiler Chickens

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of source and level of zinc on growth performance and mineral deposition of broilers. One–day–old male broiler chicks (n = 1540; Ross 308) were divided into four dietary treatments using factorial in a completely randomized design with 2 sources of zinc (ZnO and ZnOHCl) and level of zinc (50 and 100 ppm) in the diets. Each treatment consisted of 11 replications with 35 birds per replication. All diets were formulated with no growth promoter and coccidiostat supplementation. The results showed no significant interaction source and level of zinc on overall growth performance (0–35 DOA), carcass quality and mineral deposition (P>0.05). However, birds fed diets containing 100 ppm zinc had a significantly higher feed intake (P<0.05), significantly higher mortality (P<0.05) and higher FCR (P<0.05) when compared to 50 ppm of zinc supplementation. The supplementation of ZnOHCl tended to increase body weight gain (P=0.0914), to reduce mortality rate (P=0.0591) and to enhance zinc deposition in the liver (P=0.0517). It can be concluded that feeding diets with ZnOHCl improved the production performance of broilers by increase body weight gain, reduced mortality, and enhanced zinc deposition in the liver.