Effects of supplementation of β-glucan on the growth performance and immunity in broilers

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of P-glucan oil commercial broilers. In experiment 1, one hundred and forty-four broiler chicks were employed in a 2 x 3 factorial design with cage and open floor housing with three levels of P-glucan viz. 0%, 0.02% and 0.04%. In experiment 2, ninety-six broilers were used with 4 treatments: No beta-glucan and antibiotic (T1), beta-glucan 0.03% (T2), antibiotic (T3), and beta-glucan 0.03% + antibiotic (T4) for 34 d with 3 replicates of 8 chicks each ill both studies. During experiment I there was no significant effect of the feeding system or the beta-glucan levels on the performance from 0 to 17 d but during 18-34 days birds housed on the open floor had significantly (p < 0.0001) higher weight gain compared with those in cages. In experiment 2, no significant effect was noticed on the weight gains when the effect Of beta-glucan, antibiotic or their interaction were tested. The retention of drymatter increased in both experiments with P-glucan supplementation. The CD8 and TCR 1 cells were significantly higher in the 0.04% beta-glucan group at 42 days as compared with the control. It could be concluded that beta-glucan supplementation was beneficial for broilers. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.