Effect of formic acid, Saccharomyces cerevisiae or their combination on the growth performance and serum indices of the Indonesian indigenous crossbred chickens

Abstract

The current study aimed to investigate the effect of formic acid, S. cerevisiae or the combination of both on the growth performance and serum indices of the Indonesian indigenous crossbred chicken (IICC). Two hundred of the IICC were allotted to four groups including CONT (basal diet exempted from additive), FORMIC (basal diet administrated with 0.2% formic acid), SACCH (basal diet with 0.3% S. cerevisiae) and FORSAC (basal diet with the blends of 0.2% formic acid and 0.3% S. cerevisiae). Body weight, feed consumption and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were recorded weekly. At week 8, the chicks were blood sampled and slaughtered. Our results showed that feeding formic acid, S. cerevisiae or the combination of both resulted in increased (P < 0.05) live body weight, accumulative feed intake and income over feed cost of the IICC. The dietary treatments also decreased (P < 0.05) proventriculus relative weight of the IICC. The blends of formic acid and S. cerevisiae increased (P < 0.05) concentration of serum uric acid and decreased (P < 0.05) proportion of wings of the IICC. In conclusion, dietary administration with the blends of formic acid and S. cerevisiae improved growth performance and feed efficiency of the IICC. Keywords: Body weight, Chickens, Organic acid, Probiotics