Bioavailability and Immunity Response in Broiler Breeders on Organically Complexed Zinc Supplementation

Abstract

Two hundred and sixty four broiler breeder hens of 32 weeks of age were distributed randomly in four dietary treatments. The dietary treatments were T0: Broiler breeder ration containing 40 ppm zinc (basal 29.8 ppm+10.2 ppm inorganic zinc), T1: T0+organic zinc (zinc methionine) @ 20 ppm, T2: T0+organic zinc @ 40 ppm and T3: T0+organic zinc @ 60 ppm. The experiment was continued from 32 to 48 weeks of age. At 48 weeks, the weight of lymphoid organs, zinc levels in organs and immunity response were determined. The faecal zinc level was determined at monthly interval. The weight lymphoid organs of different treatment groups (both organic and inorganic zinc fed groups) of the broiler breeders did not differ significantly (P>0.05). The cellular immune response of breeder birds to PHA-P was significantly (P <0.05) higher in group T3 than the rest of treated groups. The antibody titre to SRBC differed among the treated groups. The zinc content of serum of broiler breeders of all the groups did not differ significantly (P>0.05) in all the periods of study. Zinc content in liver and tibia of broiler breeders in different dietary treatments of zinc differed significantly (P<0.05) with higher levels were obtained on increasing zinc concentration in the diet. The zinc level in the spleen and kidney of the broiler breeders in different dietary treatments did not differ significantly (P>0.05). The average zinc content in the faeces of broiler breeder during 35 to 43 week of age did not differ significantly (P>0.05) among the treated groups. At 48 weeks of age, zinc content of the faeces of T3 was found to be significantly (P<0.05) higher than the rest of treated groups. Similarly, during the overall experimental period analysis, it was found that zinc levels in the faeces of T2 and T3 were significantly (P<0.05) higher than T1 and T0.