The Effect of Adding Chitosan and Oxytetracycline to Wheat-Soybean Diet on The Productive Performance of Broiler Chickens

Abstract

Abstract This experiment was conducted in the poultry farm of the Animal Production Department/College of Agriculture/Anbar University, for the period from 8/12/2019 until 23/3/2019 for (42 days). The experiment aims to compare the addition of two different levels of Chitosan and one level of antibiotic to the wheat-soybean diet and their effect on the productive performance of broiler chickens from the age of 7-42 days. The experimental treatments were T1: control (without any addition), T2: addition of 0.2 g Oxytetracycline/kg feed, T3: addition of 1 g Chitosan/kg feed and T4: addition of 2 g Chitosan/kg feed. The birds were randomly distributed to four treatments, with 3 replicates per treatment, and 12 birds for each replicate, where 144 chicks, 7 days old of Ross broiler chickens with an average weight of 168.7g were used in the experiment. The results showed that there were no significant differences in live body weight, weight increase and the relative growth rate of broiler, while significant differences occurred between treatments in the feed consumption rate during the first and fifth week and the duration from 7-21 days The T4 decreased significantly from T2 and T3, after which there was a significant decrease in the treatment of T3 from the T1 and T2 treatments in the fifth week. As for the feed conversion factor, there was no significant difference, as well as the percentage of mortality during the 7-42 days.