Broiler chick performance using Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cell wall as an anti-mycotoxin additive

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of using the Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cell wall (YCW) as an aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) adsorbent in broiler chicken feed on performance and carcass characteristics. The present study used a randomized complete block with four treatments in a 2 (with or without AFB1) × 2 (with or without YCW) factorial design. No interaction effect (P > 0.05) between AFB1 and YCW was found on the studied performance variables. The addition of YCW to the diets stimulated the feed intake of chickens during 1-21 days of age. However, YCW did not significantly increase (P > 0.05) weight gain nor did it change feed conversion. The presence of AFB1 in the diet did not affect (P > 0.05) performance parameters. The addition of YCW to the feed containing AFB1 significantly increased (P < 0.05) the post-fasting live weight (781.12 g), chilled carcass weight (554.41 g), and leg weight (163.34 g) compared to feed without AFB1 and YCW (764.84 g; 533.41 g; 161.88 g), feed with only YCW (764.22 g; 546.87 g; 159.34 g), and feed with only AFB1 (735.41 g; 510.56 g; 152.75 g). In conclusion, YCW effectively reduced some of the deleterious effects of AFB1 in broilers.

Keywords

• adsorbent
• aflatoxin
• organ weight
• poultry
• poultry farming
• poultry feed