The effects of dietary soluble and insoluble fibers on broiler chickens performance and gastrointestinal tract histomorphology

The influence of dietary soluble and insoluble fibers on small intestine histomorphology and performance was studied in broilers from 1 to 21 d of age. The treatments were as follows: treatment 1, control diet (fiber-free diet); and treatments 2, 3, 4, and 5 where 2% and 4% cellulose (CEL), 2% and 4% carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) were respectively supplemented to the control diet, respectively. Inclusion of CMC reduced body weight gain (BWG), average feed intake (AFI), and production efficiency factor (PEF) and increased feed conversion ratio (FCR) as compared with others (P0.05). However, the CMC-fed birds had the thicker serosa and have the greater goblet cell numbers as compared to others (P