Effects of Locally Extracted Phytase on Blood Profiles, Phosphorus in Excreta and Economic Benefits of Supplementation in the White Leghorn Chickens

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate the performances of White Leghorn chicken that fed diets with or without phytase supplementation. The experiment was conducted at a poultry farm of Haramaya University at a distance of 510 km east of Addis Ababa. At 25 weeks of age, 168 White Leghorn hens were randomly divided into four experimental feeds (treatments). Phytase was extracted from germinated rye grains. The hens were fed treatment diets containing phytase at the level of 0 (T₁), 300 (T₂), 600 (T₃), and 1200 (T₄) FTU/kg. Each pen contained 12 hens and 2 cocks per replicate in complete randomized design (CRD) and the feeding experiment lasted for 90 days. There were no significant (p>0.05) differences in total serum, albumin, cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein of hens that were fed diets contained phytase at different levels and hens fed the control diet. However, the level of high-density lipoproteins (HDLP) in hens at the different treatments showed significant differences (p<0.05) at T3 and T4 than other treatment groups. Among the treatments, maximum net income was recorded from the diet contained phytase at 1200 FTU/kg (T₄), followed by chickens raised at T₃, T₂, and T₁. Phytase supplementation of a diet has also a significant reduction on Ca and P levels in the hen excreta. Based on the results of this study, supplementation of hen’s diet with phytase has improved high density lipoprotein of serum, net income and bioavailability of Ca and P to the body of layers of White Leghorn without affecting the hematology of layers.