The effect of feeding quercetin on the productive qualities and blood parameters of broiler chickens

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of using small molecules of plant origin (quercetin dihydrate) in different dosages on the indicators of weight growth and physiological parameters of the body of broiler chickens. The studies were carried out on 100 heads of seven-day-old broiler chickens (cross Arbor Acres, 4 groups, n = 25). The control group received the basal diet (RR). The diet of the experimental groups additionally included small molecules of plant origin: quercetin dihydrate (95+% AL33795-1). Including: I experimental group (OR + quercetin at a dose of 5 mg/kg feed/day); II experimental group - (OR + quercetin at a dose of 10 mg/kg feed/day); III experimental group - (OR + quercetin at a dose of 15 mg/kg feed/day). It has been established that the inclusion of quercetin in the diet contributed to an increase in the live weight of experimental broiler chickens of all experimental groups, this is especially noticeable from 21 to 42 days of the experiment. At the same time, the greatest increase in this indicator in relation to the control group was noted for chickens of the I experimental group. Chickens of all experimental groups exceeded the control group in average daily gain by 3.6-11.12%, in absolute gain - by 77.83-241 g. The use of quercetin allowed to reduce feed costs per 1 kg of live weight gain of experimental birds. The introduction of quercetin into the diet of broiler chickens contributed to a decrease in the leukogram of chickens of groups I and II in the proportion of monocytes and neutrophils, eosinophils in all experimental groups and basophils in groups II and III, against the background of a significant increase in the proportion of lymphocytes. Among the biochemical indicators, significant changes affected triglycerides, the content of which decreased in all experimental groups ranging from 47.2% (PЈ0.05) to 69.7% (PЈ0.05), as well as the level of total bilirubin and urea in II and III groups. When assessing the antioxidant status, a significant decrease in the concentration of the end product of lipid peroxidation, malondialdehyde, was found in all experimental groups, which was probably the result of a decrease in the activity of the antioxidant defense enzyme, superoxide dismutase.