Effect of Adding a Toxin Binder to the Aflatoxin-Infected Diet on Growth Performance, Intestinal Morphology, Immune Responses, and Liver Pathological Changes of Broilers

This study evaluated the effects of adding a toxin binder (TB) to the aflatoxin-infected diet on broilers’ performances. 875 day-old broilers were used based on a completely randomized design with 5 treatments: 1) Negative control (NC): Basal diet without aflatoxin; 2) Positive control (PC): Basal diet + 0.75 (mg/kg) of aflatoxin B1; 3, 4, and 5) PC + 1, 2, and 3 (g/kg) of TB. The TB did not affect the average daily weight gain (ADWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR), but the addition of TB decreased average daily feed intake (ADFI) compared to NC (p<0.05). In the starter phase, TB addition decreased the ADWG and ADFI (p<0.05). During the grower phase, the ADFI decreased with increasing different levels of TB (p<0.05). Birds that received TB had lower ADFI and FCR than those in the NC group in the finisher phase (p<0.05). Adding TB to the diet increased the Lactobacillus count compared to the PC group and the Salmonella count in the ileum (p<0.05). The results revealed that the villus height to crypt depth ratio and the villus width increased with TB addition compared to NC and PC (p<0.05). The broilers’ liver color was lighter and less yellow when 2 (g/kg) of TB were added to the diet compared to other treatments (p<0.05). As a result, dietary TB improved performance, increased Lactobacillus count, and modified liver pathology with the addition of 2 (g/kg) of TB to the diet. However, no significant positive impact was observed on immune responses.

Keywords:
Toxin binder; Intestinal morphology; Liver color index; Microflora; Broilers