Abstract:
Background and Objective: The effects of proprietary hepatoprotective additives supplementation (CadlivTM liq., CDLV)on the growth performance and hepatic histological architecture of broiler chickens were evaluated through a field experiment which lasted for 29 days involving 3016 mixed sex flock of Vencobb chickens. Materials and Methods: The chicks having an initial mean body weight (BW) of 42.5±0.5 g were randomly housed into two groups (n = 1508 chicks/group) and were fed with a basal diet (negative control, NC) and the basal diet supplemented with CDLV via drinking water at 0.1 mL bird–1 day–1 for three days a week during 1-29 day. Growth performance viz. BW, average daily body weight gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were recorded weekly and histopathological scoring of livers (n = 10 birds/group) were done before slaughtering on the 29th day. Results: CDLV supplementation significantly improved (p≤0.01) BW, ADG and FCR in experimental broiler chickens as compared to the NC group. These findings were corroborated by the data on histology of liver where CDLV supplementation in broiler chickens significantly improved (p = 0.024) histopathological scores as compared to the NC group. Data on the farm production economics indicated that CDLV supplementation in broiler chickens resulted in savings of 0.91 per kg BW due to significant improvement (p≤0.01) in growth performance. Conclusion: The combined supplementation of hepatoprotective additives (CDLV) significantly improved the growth performance by exerting substantial beneficial effects on the hepatic histological architecture of commercial broiler chickens.