Abstract

ARCE-MENOCAL, José et al. Use of organic acids in water and its effect on productive performance in broiler chicks. Abanico vet [online]. 2020, vol.10, e124.  Epub May 07, 2021. ISSN 2448-6132.  https://doi.org/10.21929/abavet2020.36.

In order to evaluate the productive performance, gut health, pH, digestive morphology, blood pH, jejunum resistance (JR) and skin pigmentation (SP) on the employment of an additional mixture of organic acids (OA) into the water, in broilers from 1 to 42 days of age, 1080 chickens were used, distributed in three treatments with nine repetitions of 40 birds. The treatments used: non-acidified drinking water (pH 8) control group (T1), acidification with an OA mixture (formic acid 31%, propionic acid 19 %, ammonium format 26% and ammonium propionate 6%) in a dose of 1.0 L/1000 L of water (T2) to obtain a pH of 4, and 0.3 L / 1000 L of water (T3) for a pH of 6. The results showed (p≤ 0.01) higher body weight, lower feed intake, and better feed efficiency for the birds from T3. There were no differences (p≥ 0.05) on the values of digestive pH, SP, and intestinal morphology; only showed effects (p≤ 0.01) in the width of villi and in the digestive area. Blood pH and JR showed effects (p≤0.01) among treatments. It is concluded that the acidification of the drinking water in broiler chickens, with the OA mixture at 0.3 L/1000 L is sufficient to obtain better performance.

Keywords : Broilers; organic acids; performance.

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