Use of Phytase and Chelated Mineral Supplementation on Productive Performance, Organs Weight and Indicators of Bone Mineralization in Broiler Chickens

The broiler chickens diets are formulated based on corn and soybeans, which have phytic acid; that inhibits the absorption of minerals and cannot be degraded by birds. Phytases can degrade phytic acid and improve mineral absorption, while chelated minerals are bound to organic compounds. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of phytase and chelated minerals supplementation on the productive performance, organs weight, and bone mineralization indicators in chickens from 0 to 42 days of age. Three treatments (Control diet, diet plus phytase and diet plus chelated minerals) were performed with 4 replicates per treatment and 20 chickens per replicate. The study was divided into three phases: start, growth, and finisher. Productive performance was evaluated by weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, and viability. At the end of each phase, the gastrointestinal organs and to evaluate indicators of bone mineralization of the left tibias were evaluate. Variance analysis of the data was performed, considering the significant differences of the DLS, test. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found in the productive performance of chickens in favor of phytase, except in feed intake (p > 0.05). The birds with phytase supplementation showed a significantly (p < 0.05) lower relative pancreas weight and higher intestine weight. At 42 days of age, differences were observed in bone density (p < 0.05) and the Seedor index (p < 0.05) in birds supplemented with phytase. Phytase supplementation in broiler chickens improved the productive performance, reduced the weight of the pancreas and increased the weight of the intestine, and also increased bone mineralization, being more efficient than chelated minerals concerning these variables.