Impact of dietary supplementation of organic acids on the growth performance and immunity in broilers fed low protein diets

The current work aimed to evaluate the effect of feeding organic acids (OA) on growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, blood parameters and immune response of broilers fed with a low protein diet (LPD). A total number of 68 broiler chicks (one-day-old) were randomly distributed into 4 equal groups each of 17 chicks. The first group was fed the basal diet (100% NRC crude protein (CP)) free from OA and considered as a control (T1). The other three groups (T2, T3 and T4) were fed on diets with different protein levels (95% NRC, 90% NRC & 85% NRC, respectively) and supplemented with OA at a level of 0.45%. The results showed that body weight and gain during starter phase (days 1-21) were not significantly (P = 0.7, P = 0.13, respectively) influenced by the supplementation of OA. However, during finisher phase (days 22-42) body weight and gain were significantly decreased (P < 0.05) in OA groups (-18% and -24%, respectively). A significant (P < 0.05) reduction in abdominal fat content and the meat cholesterol, triglyceride, and fat mass of broiler breast and thigh meat, while protein content significantly (P < 0.05) increased in all OA supplemented groups. In conclusion, adding OA improved immune response through increased serum globulin, and an increase in bursa relative weight of broilers. Moreover, the addition of OA to broiler fed LPD has no effect on growth parameters and carcass traits but improves broiler immunity and produces healthy meat to consumers.