Broiler chick performance using Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cell wall as an anti-mycotoxin additive

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of using the Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cell wall (YCW) as an aflatoxin B₁(AFB₁) adsorbent in broiler chicken feed on performance and carcass characteristics. The present study used a randomized complete block with four treatments in a 2 (with or without AFB₁) × 2 (with or without YCW) factorial design. No interaction effect (P > 0.05) between AFB₁ and YCW was found on the studied performance variables. The addition of YCW to the diets stimulated the feed intake of chickens during 1–21 days of age. However, YCW did not significantly increase (P > 0.05) weight gain nor did it change feed conversion. The presence of AFB₁ in the diet did not affect (P > 0.05) performance parameters. The addition of YCW to the feed containing AFB₁ significantly increased (P < 0.05) the post-fasting live weight (781.12 g), chilled carcass weight (554.41 g), and leg weight (163.34 g) compared to feed without AFB₁ and YCW (764.84 g; 533.41 g; 161.88 g), feed with only YCW (764.22 g; 546.87 g; 159.34 g), and feed with only AFB₁ (735.41 g; 510.56 g; 152.75 g). In conclusion, YCW effectively reduced some of the deleterious effects of AFB₁ in broilers.