Effects of organic acid and garlic powder supplementations in the diet on growth and intestinal microflora of the exotic Tam Hoang chickens

Abstract

A study was carried out to evaluate the effect of diet’s organic acid (OG) and garlic powder (GP) on the growth, carcass quality, and intestinal microflora of Tam Hoang chickens. The experiment consisted of three treatments and four replications in a completely randomized design; each replication was a pen (20 chickens/pen), and males and females were raised separately. The treatmentswere:1/Cont: Basal diet (BD) no supplementation; 2/OG: BD + 1g Poulacid /kg feed; 3/GP: BD + 1 g garlic powder/kg feed. Results showed that chickens fed Cont (1451 g /head) had lower final live weight than those having OG (1568 g/head) and GP (1521 g/head/day). So, the average daily gain (ADG) of chickens in Cont (16.8 g/head/day) and GP (17.7 g/head/day) were lower than in OG (18.2 g/head/day). Average daily feed intake (ADFI) was similar in all treatments. Therefore, the feed conversion ratio (FCR) of chickens fed OG (3.04 kg feed/kg gain) was better than that in Cont (3.32 kg feed/kg gain). The density of Salmonella bacteria was not detectable in chicken feces at the 4th week age but became positive in Cont and GP treatments at the 10th week age. Supplementation of OG and GP reduced E. coli and Clostridium perfringens in the feces compared to control chickens at the 4th and 10th week age. In conclusion, adding OG or GP at the same dose (1g/kg feed) in Tam Hoang chicken diets improved ADG, FCR, and reduced E. coli and Clostridium perfringens densities in the feces compared to control chickens