Effect of Different Sources of Mannanoligusaccharide on Performance, Carcass Characteristics and Viscosity of Intestinal Digesta in Broiler Chickens

This experiment was conducted in order to evaluate the effect of different sources of mannanoligusaccharide on performance, carcass characteristics and viscosity of intestinal digesta of broiler chickens. A total of 250 broiler chicken (Ross 308 strain) reared in a completely randomized design with 5 treatments and 5 replicates for 42 days. Experimental treatments consisted of different sources of mannanoligusaccharide including yeast, autoclaved yeast, yeast extract and pure commercialmannanoligusaccharide at the level of 1.5, 1.5, 2 and 0.1 percent of diet, respectively. Mortality rate, feed intake, body weight and feed conversion ratio were measured in starter, grower and finisher periods of the experiment. Carcass characteristics and variability of weight and length of different parts of intestine were evaluated. Results of the experiment showed that there was not any significant difference among treatments for feed intake, body weight and feed conversion ratio of birds in starter, grower and finisher periods. There was not significant difference in carcass characteristics among treatments. Viscosity of intestinal digesta was significant among groups so intestinal digesta of chicks fed with yeast extract had the highest and the group fed with commercial mannanoligusaccharide had the lowest viscosity (P<0.05).