A total of one hundred and ninety-two chicks were acclimatized over two weeks of feeding after which the birds were randomly allocated to six different treatments: T1 (basal diet + 35 µg aflatoxin B₁ + 10 g vitamin A/kg feed), T2 (basal diet + 35 µg aflatoxin B₁ + 15 g vitamin A/kg feed), T3 (basal diet + 35 µg aflatoxin B₁ + vitamin E), T4 (basal diet + 35 µg aflatoxin B₁ without vitamin supplementation), and T5 (basal diet without aflatoxin and without vitamin supplementation, serving as the control). Each treatment was replicated three times with sixteen birds per replicate. Growth performance parameters including initial weight, final weight, body weight gain (BWG), average daily gain (ADG), feed intake (FI), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were evaluated. At the end of the experiment, two birds per replicate were randomly selected for carcass analysis.
The results showed significant differences (p < 0.05) in feed intake (FI) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) among treatments, while no significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed in BWG, ADG, and FCR. Birds in the control group (T5) and those fed 10 g vitamin A/kg (T1) recorded higher body weight gain (946.3 g and 918.9 g, respectively) compared to other treatments. Feed intake was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in vitamin A supplemented groups (T1, T2, and T3) than in the aflatoxin-only group (T4). Feed conversion ratio was more efficient in the control (T5; 2.03) than vitamin A-supplemented group (T1; 2.13), while vitamin E supplementation (T3) showed comparable but non-significant improvement.
No significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed in carcass characteristics across treatments. The findings suggest that dietary supplementation with vitamins A and E may help alleviate the adverse effects of aflatoxin B₁ on feed intake and performance, with vitamin A at 10 g/kg showing relatively better response, although effects on carcass traits were not significant.
Keywords: aflatoxin, vitamin A, vitamin E, broiler, growth performance
