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Effects of Dietary Supplemental Vitamins and Periods of Administration on Growth Performance and Antibody Titre of Broiler Chickens Vaccinated against Newcastle Disease

Odutayo¹*, O. J., Sogunle^1<, O. M., Adeyemi¹, O.A., Sonibare², A.O., Oluwayinka², E.B., Ekunseitan¹, D.A. and Safiyu¹, K. K.

¹Department of Animal Production and Health, College of Animal Science and Livestock Production,
²Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Agriculture. P. M. B. 2240, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Malaysian J. Anim. Sci. 2016 19(2): 47-56

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This study investigated the effects of supplemental vitamins and varying administration periods on growth performance and antibody titre of broiler chickens vaccinated against Newcastle Disease (ND). A total of 300 unvaccinated against ND Arbor Acre day-old chicks were used for the study for 8 wk. Birds were brooded together on day 1 of age, and 30 chicks were selected randomly for evaluating the maternally derived antibody titre against ND. At 2 days of age, the remaining 270 chicks were divided based on weight equalization into 9 treatment groups and replicated thrice. The 9 treatments consisted of a factorial arrangement of 4 supplemental vitamins (A, C, E and combination of A, C, E) and 2 periods of administration (3 days pre- and post-ND vaccinations) with a control. The birds were managed intensively throughout the experimental period, ND vaccines were administered on the 5th (i/o) and 24th (Lasota) day of age, respectively. Supplemental combined vitamins A, C and E at 0.15, 16.67 and 3.03 mg/kg, respectively, resulted in higher (P < 0.05) final body weight of 1785.00 g/bird and better feed conversion ratio (FCR) of 2.89. Also, birds fed vitamin A supplemented diet 3 d pre-i/o vaccine had higher (p<0.05) serum antibody titre (75.20) against ND while higher (p<0.05) serum antibody titre (741.33) was also obtained in birds fed diet supplemented with vitamin E 3 d post-Lasota vaccination. Conclusively, broiler chickens diets can be supplemented with combined vitamins A, C, and E for better growth performance measured as final body weight and FCR, in addition, vitamins A (0.45mg/kg) and E (9.1mg/kg) dietary supplementation at 3 d pre-i/o and 3 d post-Lasota vaccines, respectively, can be adopted for improved antibody production.