Effects of monensin sodium and xylanase on broiler growth performance

Abstract

Consumers are continuing to have an effect on the usage of antimicrobials in poultry feed. Antimicrobials are utilized to help with nutrient digestibility. A substitute for this antimicrobial is exogenous xylanase. This enzyme can improve nutrient digestibility found in high fiber diets. Therefore, the objective of this experiment was to evaluate if xylanase can replace monensin sodium, improve nutrient digestibility, and if this impact differs based on the fiber level of the diet. A total of 216 Cobb 1-d-old chicks (6 birds/cage and 6 cages/treatment) were fed 1 of 6 dietary treatments consisting of a corn-or wheat-based diet supplemented with either 0.10 g/kg monensin sodium (Coban 90; Elanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN) or 16,000 betaxlylanase units/kg beta 1-4, endoxylanase enzyme (Econase XT; AB Vista, Marlborough, UK). Treatments were characterized as: 1) corn-based with no monensin sodium or xylanase; 2) Wheat-based with no monensin sodium or xylanase; 3) corn-based with monensin sodium but no xylanase; 4) wheat-based with monensin sodium but no xylanase; 5) corn-based with xylanase but no monensin sodium; 6) wheat-based with xylanase but no monensin sodium. Birds were fed ad libitum in battery cages for 21 days. Body weight and feed intake were recorded weekly to determine total feed intake, FCR, and BW gain. Data was analyzed using the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS with cage as the experimental unit and treatment as the fixed effect. Treatment impacted (P < 0.01) final BW, feed intake, and FCR. The corn-based control diet had improved (P < 0.05) FCR compared to the wheat-based control diet. In corn-based diets the monensin sodium and xylanase had no significant difference (P > 0.05) for FCR compared to the corn-based control. In wheat-based diets, xylanase showed to have had a significant difference (P < 0.05), but monensin sodium showed no significant improvement (P > 0.05) on FCR compared to the wheat-based control. In conclusion, this study suggests that xylanase improves digestibility in wheat-based diets. However, in this environmental setting, there was little impact of the antimicrobial given in the feed.