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Effects of baker's yeast as a growth promoter supplemented at different levels on growth performance, gut morphology, and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens

Nabila¹, M., Yaakub¹, H., Alimon¹, AR. and Samsudin¹*, AA.

¹Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Malaysian J. Anim. Sci. 2017 20(2): 83-93

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A study was performed to determine the effects of varying levels of baker�s yeast supplementation on growing performance, nutrient digestibility, gut morphology, and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens. A total of 200 day-old male Cobb 500 broiler chicks were used and divided equally into 5 dietary treatments: T1 (control), T2 (control + 0.1% baker�s yeast), T3 (control + 0.2% baker�s yeast), T4 (control + 0.4% baker�s yeast), and T5 (control + 0.8% baker�s yeast) with 4 replicates per treatment and 10 birds per replicate. All birds were given the same management and environmental conditions. Significant differences (P<0.05) were observed, with T4 (71.26�0.03 g/d) showed the highest value in weight gain compared to control diet (66.59�0.50 g/d). In FCR, T4 (1.86�0.08) showed the lowest value compared to control diet (2.07�0.08). Also in ileum villus height T4 (1226.1�0.81 �m) showed the highest value compared to control diet (1080.7�0.48 �m). However, no significant difference (P>0.05) was observed for cryptal depth, dry matter and metabolizable energy among all treatments. Meat, bone, and fat ratios recorded significant differences (P<0.05) between dietary treatments and control group. However no significant difference was observed in the dressing percentage among all dietary treatments. The study indicates that dietary supplementation of 0.4% baker�s yeast in the diet increases the growth performance and carcass characteristics, and also improves intestinal morphology and nutrient absorption of broiler chickens.