Impact of feeding broiler chicks the diets containing varied levels of chelated minerals compared to industry levels of inorganic trace minerals on broiler performance, immune response, and litter minerals concentration.

Published: July 29, 2013

By: M.K. Manangi1*, P. Buttin2, M. Decoux2, M. Vazquez-Anon1 and A. Knox2 1Novus International, Inc., St. Charles, MO, USA ; 2Novus International S.A./N.V., 240 av. Marcel Thiry 1200 Brussels, Belgium; 3Roslin Nutrition Ltd - Gosford Estate, Aberlady, East Lothian, EH32 0PX, Scotland;

A 42 d trial was conducted to determine the response of MINTREX® (metal methionine hydroxy analogue chelate) vs. industry levels of ITMs (inorganic trace minerals) on performance, immune response, and litter trace minerals concentration by feeding broiler chicks diets containing varied levels of supplemental Zn, Cu and Mn as chelates in comparison to industry levels of inclusion of respective inorganic trace minerals (ITM). A total of 2,100 Ross 308 male broiler chicks were randomly assigned to 6 treatments with 10 pens/treatment and 35 chicks/pen. The wheat-SBM based basal diet (T1) was devoid of any added Zn, Cu or Mn. T2, T3 and T4 received incremental levels of chelated minerals’ at 16-4-16, 32-8-32, and 48-16-48ppm of Zn-Cu-Mn, respectively. T5 and T6 received industry levels of trace minerals (70-20-80ppm of Zn-Cu-Mn) either as chelates (T5) or as ITMs (T6). End of the study results indicate significant (P<0.05) treatment effects for weight gain , immune response, and litter minerals concentration. The chicks fed 32-8-32ppm or higher levels of Zn-Cu-Mn as chelates gained 38g more weight (P<0.05) compared to T1 whereas chicks in T2 and T6 performed the same as T1 (Basal diet). Chicks fed higher levels (T4 and T5) of chelated trace minerals gained 34 to 40g more weight compared to T6 (P<0.05) but performed the same as T3 (P>0.05). Infectious Bronchitis antibody titers measured at d 35 indicate significant improvement (P<0.05) in titer response for T3 compared to T5. As expected increasing levels of dietary trace minerals resulted in increased levels of trace minerals in the litter. In summary, the present data indicate that the supplemental ITMs were effectively replaced with reduced levels (32-8-32ppm of Zn-Cu-Mn) of chelates without compromising bird immune response while achieving improvement in weight gain and reduction in litter trace mineral concentration.

Key words: Zn, Cu, Mn, broilers, Chelates

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