This study was conducted to investigate the effect of germanium biotite on the growth performance, blood composition , fecal NH$_3$-N and volatile fatty acid(VFA) in broiler chicks. Two hundred forty broiler chicks were randomly allocated into five tr...
This study was conducted to investigate the effect of germanium biotite on the growth performance, blood composition , fecal NH$_3$-N and volatile fatty acid(VFA) in broiler chicks. Two hundred forty broiler chicks were randomly allocated into five treatments with four replicates for five weeks. Dietary treatments included 1) Control, 2) GB1(basal diet + 200 mesh 0.5%), 3) GB2(basal diet + 325 mesh 0.5%), 4) GB3(basal diet + 200 mesh 1.0%) and 5) GB4(basal diet +325 nesh 1.0%) For overall period, weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion were not significantly different among treatments (P>0.05). Digestibilities of nutrients were not affected by adding GB(P>0.05). No differences occurred in red blood cell(RBC), white blood cell(WBC), hematocrit(HCT), hemoglobin(Hb), lymphocyte, monocyte and platelet of blood among the treatments (P>0.05). Fecal NH$_3$-N concentration of chicks fed GB1.0 diets(GB3 and GB4) was lower(P<0.03) than chicks fed GB0.5 diets(GB1 and GB2). Propionic acid and butyric acid in feces of chicks fed GB diets were lower(P<0.04) than in chicks fed control diet. GB diets reduced fecal acetic acid significantly compared to control (P<0.01). Also, acetic acid of feces in chicks fed GB1.0 diets(GB3 and GB4) was lower(P<0.02) than GB 0.5 diets(GB1 and GB2) treatments. In conclusion, dietary germanium biotite was an effective means of decreasing fecal NH$_3$-N and volatile fatty acid(VFA) emission.