Digestibility of feed nutrients, nutrient excretion and nutrient retention in broilers under consumption of combined feed with sulfate and zinc-mixed ligand complex

Digestibility of the feed nutrients and the chemical elements balance in broiler chickens were studied under use of mixed feed with sulfate and Zink-mixed ligand complex in the physiological experiment that was conducted in the vivarium of the Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University. A tendency to increase the level of feed nutrients digestibility in the experimental groups of broiler chickens consuming mixed fodders with Zinc-mixed ligand complex was revealed in the conducted experiment. The nutrients digestibility indices were the highest in the chickens of the experimental group 3 where Zink-mixed ligand complex was added to the mixed feed. 45, 37.5 and 30 g of the element was added per 1 ton of mixed feed, respectively, for the growing period of 5-21, 22-35 and 36-42 days. The protein digestibility in this group was 89.2, fat - 82.5, fiber - 12.9 and Nitrogen free extractive substances (NFES) - 83.8%. The lowest digestibility indices of the nutrients were in the control group chickens, which, depending on the age, consumed feeds added with Zinc sulfate at doses corresponding to the introduction of 60, 50, and 40 g of the element per 1 ton of feed - 60.8, 80.2, 11.27, and 82.2%, respectively. Indicators of Nitrogen, Calcium, Phosphorus, and Zinc deposits in the body were also higher in the chicks of the experimental group 3 consuming the feed with Zink-mixed ligand complex. Feeding the birds with Zinc-mixed ligand complex as a component of mixed feed, in comparison with sulfate, improves the nutrients digestibility and increases the amount of chemical elements deposited in the body, which makes it possible to reduce the dose of the additive.