Effects of Chitosan on Growth Performance and Immunologic Function in Broilers

An experiment was conducted to study the effects of different doses of chitosan on growth and serum cholesterol in broilers.A total of 120,1 d old broilers were randomly allotted to five dietary treatments(6 birds per pen with 4 pens per treatment).The experiment period were 42 d.The control birds were fed the basal diet alone,the other treatments fed the basal diet supplemented with 50,100,150 mg/kg chitosan(CHS),respectively,the fifth treatment were fed basal diet added 6 mg/kg Bambermycin.The results showed that,the treatment which had maximal ADG and minimum F/G was 100 mg/kg CHS group,and better than Bambermycin groups.In aspect of serum parameters,the results showed that 100 mg/kg CHS was significantly decreased(P 0.05) the concentration of serum TC and TG,and enhanced(P 0.05) levels of serum TP and the secretion of serum GH and IGF-1,while had no influence(P 0.05) on serum glucose and UA.Thus we could elementary make sure that the optimal dose of CHS adding to broiler diets was 100 mg/kg.Chitosan improved immunologic function in broilers.