INVESTIGATIONS ON PRODUCTION TRAITS IN BROILER CHICKENS WITH EXPERIMENTAL AFLATOXICOSIS

Summary Valchev, I., Ts. Hristov, L. Lazarov, D. Kanakov, R. Binev & Y. Nikolov, 2013. Investiga' tions on productive traits in broiler chickens with experimental aflatoxicosis. Bulg. J. Vet. Med., 16, No 4, 271 −281. Several poduction traits (live body weight, daily weight gain, feed conversion, daily feed consump' tion) and relative weights (g/100 g body weight) of visceral organs (liver, kidneys, heart, bursa of Fabricius, thymus, spleen, pancreas, gizzard and proventriculus) were investigated in broiler chickens with experimentally induced aflatoxicosis B 1. The experiments were carried out with five groups of ten 7'day'old Cobb broiler chickens in each. The grwere as followed: group I – control (fed standard compound feed according to the age and species); group II – experimental, whose feed was supplemented with 1 g/kg Mycotox NG, group III – experimental, receiving 0.5 mg/kg AFB 1; group IV – experimental, receiving 0.8 mg/kg AFB 1 and group V – experimental, supplemented with 0.5 mg/kg AFB 1 and 1 g/kg Mycotox NG. The duration of the experiment was 42 days. The dynamics of live weight, daily weight gain, daily feed consumption and conversion were followed out on 21, 35 and 49 days of age. The differences between relative visceral organ weights between control and ex' perimental groups were determined after the trial’s end. Lower live body weight, daily weight gain, daily feed consumption as well as increased feed conversion and higher relative weights of the liver, kidneys, heart, pancreas, spleen, gizzard and proventriculus were found out in groups ІІI and IV. Simultaneously, the relative weights of the thymus and bursa of Fabricius were statistically signifi' cantly reduced. The supplementation of the feed of experimental group V with 1 g/kg Mycotox NG resulted in substantial reduction of negative effects of AFB 1 on production traits and visceral weights. There were no statistically significant differences between studied parameters between group II, re' ceiving only mycosorbent, and controls.