Evaluation the effect of ozonated feed utilization on performance, carcass characteristics and blood parameters of broiler chickens

The effect of utilization of feed disinfected with ozone gas on performance, carcass characteristics and blood parameters of broilers was investigated using 432 Ross 308 male broilers in a 3×2 factorial arrangement with three levels of ozone gas (zero, 20, and 30 parts per million) and two levels of fat including low (1.5 and 2% vegetable oil for grower and finisher periods, respectively) and high (3 and 4% of vegetable oil for grower and finisher periods, respectively) in a completely randomized design with 6 treatments and 4 replications of 18 birds in each. At 42 days of age, two birds were selected from each replication and slaughtered after weighing and the weights of the carcass, heart, liver, small intestine, and ceca were measured precisely. The results showed that the weight gain of chicks fed a high-fat, ozone-free diet was significantly higher than that of chicks fed a high-fat, gassed with a 20 ppm ozone diet (P <0.05). The ceca weight of chicks fed low-fat diets was higher than that of birds fed high-fat diets and birds fed diets gassed with 20 ppm ozone had higher ceca weight (P <0.05). According to the results of this experiment, it seems that the utilization of ozone gas for the disinfection of diets containing high levels of fat has a negative effect on feed quality and reduces the performance of broilers.