title: Effects of chitosan on growth performance and energy and protein utilisation in broiler chickens.
abstract: 1. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of dietary chitosan on growth performance, energy availability and protein retention in broilers. 2. Experiment 1 was a 42-d growth assay, in which 294 1-d-old male broilers were given one of 7 dietary treatments. A control feed was supplemented with 5 levels of chitosan (0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0 and 5.0 g/kg) or 50 mg/kg chlortetracycline (CTC). 3. Increasing chitosan inclusion gave a nonlinear increase (P< 0.001) in feed conversion efficiency (FCE). Optimal growth and feed conversion were obtained with 0.5-1.0 g/kg chitosan. 4. In experiment 2, 42 1-d-old male broilers (6/treatment) were individually housed but fed on the same diets as in experiment 1. Excreta were collected from d 19-21 and d 40-42. 5. The addition of 0.5-1.0 g/kg chitosan increased nitrogen retention compared with the control group (P< 0.01), while apparent metabolisable energy in the diets was not altered.
authors.affiliation: China Agricultural University, National Feed Engineering Technology Research Center, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: D F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: X S
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Piao
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002645:Chickens / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D048271:Chitosan / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002751:Chlortetracycline / Q000494:pharmacology; D004032:Diet; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004044:Dietary Proteins; D048271:Chitosan; D002751:Chlortetracycline