Abstract

BARRERA-BARRERA, Helena María; RODRIGUEZ-GONZALEZ, Sandra Paola  and  TORRES-VIDALES, Giovanny. The effect of adding citric acid and a commercial probiotic to drinking water on the morphometry of the duoden um for broilers and their zootechnical parameters. Orinoquia [online]. 2014, vol.18, n.2, pp.52-62. ISSN 0121-3709.

This work dealt with evaluating the effect of adding citricacid and a commercial probiotic to drinking water on broilers' duodenum development post-hatching and production parameters. The study involved using 102 male, one-day-old Ross broilers, distributed into three treatments by a completely random method: group A received water and 0.5% citric acid /bird, group B water and 0.3ml commercial product and group C water with no additives. The birds were kept in similar handling, housing and sanitation conditions; the random method involved selecting individuals aged 1, 7, 15 and 35 days' old. Samples were taken from the duodenum and processed by the haematoxylin-eosin (H-E) staining technique. Villi within the microscopic field were counted for evaluating morphometric patterns; length and amplitude were measured from the basal lamina to the apex and breadth in the centre of each one, using a 4X objective. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) regarding morphometric variables for the amount of villi and their length and breadth and concerning zootechnical parameters for the group supplemented with commercial probiotic indrinking water. Using probiotics from the first day of age on broilers favoured post-hatching development of duodenal morphometry and zootechnical parameters on this type of production.

Keywords : Broiler; citric acid; probiotic; intestinal allometry.

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