Superior growth performance in broiler chicks fed chelated compared to inorganic zinc in presence of elevated dietary copper

Table 3 Effects of Zn sources with high dietary CuSO₄ on performance and tibia Zn in broilers (Experiment 2)¹

Zn level, mg/kg	Zn Source	CuSO₄, mg/kg	D7 BW, g/bird	D21 BW, g/bird	Gain, g/bird	Feed Intake, g/bird	Feed:gain	Mortality, %	Ash based tibia Zn, mg/kg²
30	ZnSO₄	250	78	406^d	328^d	455^c	1.388	1.54	158
45	ZnSO₄	250	78	488^bc	411^bc	550^a	1.341	1.39	219
60	ZnSO₄	250	76	501^ab	425^ab	557^a	1.315	0.00	256
75	ZnSO₄	250	78	515^a	438^a	571^a	1.307	0.00	263
30	Zn(HMTBa)₂	250	78	468^c	390^c	527^b	1.355	2.78	150
45	Zn(HMTBa)₂	250	80	519^a	440^a	571^a	1.302	0.00	228
60	Zn(HMTBa)₂	250	80	514^ab	434^a	566^a	1.304	1.24	271
75	Zn(HMTBa)₂	250	77	519^a	441^a	572^a	1.300	1.24	267
SEM			2	9	8	8	0.020	1.16	12
Main effect means
Zn source
	ZnSO₄		78	475	396	531	1.345	1.111	208
	Zn(HMTBa)₂		78	500	422	561	1.333	2.220	217
Zn level
	30		78	455	376	519	1.381^a	3.125	157^c
	45		79	504	425	561	1.321^b	0.694	224^b
	60		78	507	429	561	1.309^b	0.694	263^a
	75		77	517	439	572	1.303^b	0.694	265^a
2 × 4 factorial arrangement, P value
Zn level			--	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	0.004	0.549	<0.001
Zn Source			--	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	0.102	0.403	0.569
Zn source * level			--	0.021	0.005	<0.001	0.827	0.549	0.833

¹A total of 576 ROSS 308 male chicks were allotted to eight treatments with six replicate cages per treatment and 12 birds per cage.
²Tibias were collected from one bird per pen, total six birds per treatment
^a-dMeans within a column with no common superscripts differ (P < 0.05)

ISSN: 2049-1891