Annals of Agricultural Sciences (Jun 2022)
Effect of 25-hydroxyvitamin D supplementation, ultraviolet light and their interaction on productive performance, bone characteristics, and some behavioral aspects of broiler chicks
Abstract
This trial was planned to study the impact of dietary 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-D3) and ultraviolet light on some economical characteristics of broiler chicks (e.g., body weight, feed consumption, feed conversion ratio, bone measurements, and behavioral aspects). A total of 360 one-day-old chicks were randomly divided into four treatments (6 pens/treatment with 15 birds/pen). The experiment was laid in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Two light sources; Light-emitting diode (LED) or ultraviolet light B (UVB) and two 25-OH-D3 levels (0 level as control and 300 g/ton). The distribution of treatments was as follows: Treatment 1 (LED with 300 g/ton 25-OH-D3); Treatment 2 (LED with control diet); Treatment 3 (UVB with 25-OH-D3); Treatment 4 (UVB with control diet). The main results revealed that using UVB lamps had a positive effect on body weight at the marketing age compared to the LED group (1.985 vs 1.939). Regardless of the light source, adding 25-OH-D3 to the ration had a positive effect on body weight, especially at 28 and 35 days of age. Regarding cumulative feed intake, both T2 and T3 groups respectively consumed more feed compared to others, the highly significant difference was observed among them. Apart from diet impact, LED birds consumed slightly more feed compared to UVB birds. Both T3 and T4 groups recorded the lowest and significant figures of H/L ratio compared to the rest groups. It is interested to note that UVB birds had a lower H/L ratio compared to LED ones. According to the current findings, broilers reared under UVB light had lower stress susceptibility and fear responses. In general, results obtained revealed that there was an added value and synergetic actions when using UVB light and vitamin 25-OH-D3 in diets for most studied traits.
