Effects of surplus jujube meal with and without enzyme on growth performance, carcass traits and ileum morphology of broilers

In order to investigate the effect of surplus jujube meal with or without Rovabio enzyme on growth performance, carcass traits and ileum morphology in broiler chicken; 320 male broiler chicks of Ross 308 were assigned to eight treatments, four replicates and 10 birds per each. The treatments included four levels of surplus jujube meal (0, 4, 7 and 10 percent) and two levels of Rovabio multi-enzyme (0 and 0.1 percent). The data were analyzed based on completely randomized design in factorial arrangement (2×4). The results showed that the birds fed diet containing 10% jujube with enzyme had a higher feed intake in the grower, finisher and whole periods as compared to control (no jujube and enzyme treatment; P<0.05). The main effect and interactions of enzymes and jujube had no effect on weight gain and feed conversion ratio. However, in the starter period when the birds fed diet contained 10% jujube along with enzyme, a higher weight gain than control was observed (P<0.05). Supplementation of 4% Jujube with enzyme increased the percentage of breast and the level of 7% jujube reduced abdominal fat compared to control (P<0.05). Compared to control, the birds fed diets containing 10% jujube with the enzyme had higher and lower villus height and width respectively (P<0.05). The ratio of villus height to crypt depth was the highest in birds fed enzyme (P<0.05). It is concluded that adding 10% of jujube to the diet of broiler chickens and supplementing it with enzyme could improve the performance and meat quality of broiler chicken.