Effect of wheat bran inclusion in barley-based diet on villus morphology of jejunum, serum cholesterol, abdominal fat and growth performance of broiler chickens

This research was conducted to investigate the effect of inclusion of wheat bran (as a source of insoluble fiber) in a barley-based diet, fed from 11 to 42 d of age, on villus morphology of jejunum, serum cholesterol level, abdominal fat pad and growth performance of broiler chickens. Three hundred and thirty six 10-d-old female Ross 308 chicks were allocated to six diets with four replicates of 14 birds per diet. The diets were a corn-based diet (CN); barley-based diet without (BL) or with multi-enzyme (BL, 500 mg/kg of the diet, Rovabio Excel 10%); and barley based-diet that contained 4 (BL堞), 8 (BL堟) or 12 (BL堝) percent wheat bran. Average daily gain, average daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were measured from 11 to 42 d of age. Serum cholesterol level was measured on d 24. Villus height (VH) and villus surface area (VSA) of jejunum, and relative weight (% of body weight) of abdominal fat pad were measured at 42 d of age. The birds receiving CN, BL, BL堞 and BL堟 had significantly (P