Comparative efficacy of dietary supplementation of various antibiotics on performance of broilers

Two hundred day old chicks were randomly distributed in four treatments of two replications in each and reared upto 6 weeks on standard managemental conditions. The dietary treatments T2, T3 and T4 contained Stafac-20 (Virginiamycin) @ 500 g/ton, Bacitrin powder (Zinc bacitracin) @ 500 g/ton and Colis-V (colistin sulphate) @ 500 g/ton, respectively, while T1 group was kept as control group maintained on diet without antibiotic supplementation. The average body weights of 6th week of age for T1, T2, T3 and T4 were 1983±31.45, 2047±31.28, 2017±29.07 and 2032±31.79 g, respectively. The total feed consumption for T1, T2, T3 and T4 was 3763±61.10, 3828±35.70, 3890±59.14 and 3922±25.01 g, respectively with significant (P < 0.01) variations. The body weight gain varied significantly (P<0.01) between the different treatments and found to be better in group supplemented with Stafac-20. However, the feed efficiency did not differ significantly by the antibiotic supplementation. It was concluded that the supplementation of Stafac-20 (Virginiamycin) improves the body weight of broilers.