Effects of Citric acid, Antibiotic growth promoter and Probiotics on growth performance of broilers
Md. A. Asgar, Md. Rabiul Haque, Md. Shafiqul Islam Khan, A.S.M. Golam Kibria, A.K.M. Mostafa Anower
Date : 2013-09-13 Volume : 5

The experiment was conducted for 35 day long period to find out the performance of broilers fed with different feed additives by using day old COBB-500 broiler chicks (n=240). The experimental chicks were reared with proper management including brooding, feeding, watering, housing and maintaining bio-security, and data regarding performance were recorded weekly. The cumulative feed intake was the highest in citric acid group (3028.0±1.5 g/bird) which varied significantly (P<0.05) among control (2940.50±5.1 g/bird), antibiotic (3004.75±2.9 g/bird) and probiotics group (3015.50±4.8 g/bird) for whole experimental period. Significantly (P<0.05) highest values were found with citric acid in live weight (1791.0±2.1 g/bird) and weight gain (1740.50±3.1 g/bird), followed by (1723.75±3.0 g/bird) and (1673.50±4.1 g/bird) in probiotics, respectively. In addition, best feed conversion ratio (FCR) was found in citric acid group (1.74±.0) compared to probiotics (1.80±.0), antibiotic (1.82±.0) and control group (1.90±.0). From this experiment, it may conclude that citric acid can be used as a better alternative growth promoter for broiler production in the poultry industry. 1374256035.php