Enzymatic additives and feed form influence on performance, intestinal absorption, bone composition, and propionic acid activity in the cecum of broilers at 42 days of age.

This study evaluated the inclusion of enzymatic additives in mash and pelleted feed on performance, carcass and cuts yield, intestinal health, and bone quality in broilers. A total of 1,320 one-day-old male Cobb 500® chicks (45.68 ± 0.5 g) were distributed in a completely randomized design in 2 × 3 factorial scheme. The first factor was diet form (mash or pelleted), and the second factor was feeding regime, consisting of three groups: positive control (PC), which consisted of chicks that received a basal diet based on corn and soybean meal; negative control (NC) and NC with enzymatic additive (NC-EA) were based on the same basal diet as the PC, but reduced by 100 kcal/kg of metabolizable energy and 15% of calcium and phosphorus. The NC-EA diet was supplemented with 200 g/kg of an enzymatic additive containing phytase (1,000 SPU/g) and xylanase (7,500 EPU/g). The experiment consisted of six treatments, with 10 replicates and 22 birds per experimental unit. Broilers fed a pelleted diet with NC-EA showed lower feed conversion and greater jejunal absorption area than those fed a mash diet at 42 days. Broilers fed a pelleted diet showed higher weight gain, greater wing and breast tenders, increased tibia ash and phosphorus, greater tibia breaking strength, and higher propionic acid levels compared to those fed mash diets, with or without enzymatic additive. It is concluded that NC-EA with pelleted diet supported broiler performance, and pelleting improved bone mineralization and propionic acid activity over mash diet.