title: Multiple-enzyme supplementation on digestive traits, carcass characteristics, blood lipid parameters and growth performance of broilers fed a wheat-based diet.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A trial was conducted from 11 to 42 d post-hatch to investigate the effectiveness of the supplementation of a multiple-enzyme preparation (Natuzyme Plus) in a wheat-based diet on digesta viscosity, pH and microbial population, villus morphology, feed passage time, nutrient retention, carcass characteristics, blood lipid parameters and growth performance of broiler chickens.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundreds 10-d-old male Ross 308 chicks were allocated to three diets with five replicates of 20 birds per replicate. Dietary treatments were i) a wheat-based diet (W), ii) W+Natuzyme Plus (WN; 500 mg/kg of the diet), and iii) a corn-based diet (C).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Birds fed on the C diet had higher average daily gain (ADG, p<0.01), villus height (VH, p<0.01), total tract apparent retention (TTAR) of nitrogen (NT, p<0.01) and ether extract (EE, p<0.01), nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn, p<0.05), relative weight (RW, % of body weight) of carcass (p<0.05), blood concentration of triglyceride (TG, on d 40 [p<0.01]), total cholesterol (TC, on d 22 [p<0.05]) and low density lipoprotein (LDL, on d 22 [p<0.01] and 40 [p<0.05]), and also lower feed conversion ratio (FCR, p<0.01), digesta viscosity (p<0.01), count of coliforms (p<0.01) andEscherichia coli(p<0.01) and epithelium thickness (ET, p<0.05) than those fed on the W diet. ADG, FCR, VH, ET, TTAR of NT and EE, RW of carcass, blood concentration of TG (on d 40), TC (on d 22) and LDL (on d 22 and 40) values of the WN diet did not show a significant (p>0.05) difference compared to those of the C diet. Compared to those of the W diet, the WN diet showed the higher count of Lactobacilli and lower count of coliforms (p<0.01) and digesta viscosity (p<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In general, the results of this study showed that Natuzyme Plus supplementation in a wheat-based diet can be appropriate to achieve a comparable growth performance in broiler chickens to those given the C diet probably through improving digesta viscosity, VH, ET, TTAR of NT and EE, AMEn, count of Lactobacilli and coliforms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zanjan, Zanjan 45371-38791, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid Reza
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Taheri
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zanjan, Zanjan 45371-38791, Iran.
authors.forename: Kayvan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shirzadegan
keywords: Broiler Chicken; Growth Performance; Natuzyme Plus; Wheat