Effects of low-protein diet supplemented with exogenous protease on growth performance and intestinal health of broiler chickens

Xin Hao, Guifeng Zhang, Yilin Ge, Jie Wang, Weiren Yang and Lijie Yang
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Xin Hao: College of Food Science and Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, Shandong, P.R. China
Guifeng Zhang: Shandong Lonct Enzymes Co., Ltd., Shandong, Lin'yi, P.R. China
Yilin Ge: SDU-ANU Joint Science College, Shandong University, Wei' hai, Shandong, P.R. China
Jie Wang: Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilisation of Non-Grain Feed Resources (Co-Construction by Ministry and Province), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Department of Animal Science and Technology, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, P.R. China
Weiren Yang: Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilisation of Non-Grain Feed Resources (Co-Construction by Ministry and Province), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Department of Animal Science and Technology, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, P.R. China
Lijie Yang: Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilisation of Non-Grain Feed Resources (Co-Construction by Ministry and Province), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Department of Animal Science and Technology, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, P.R. China

Czech Journal of Animal Science, 2025, vol. 70, issue 4, 147-159

Abstract: This experiment was conducted to study the effects of low-protein diet supplemented with exogenous protease on performance and intestinal health of broilers. A total of 560 one-day-old male Arbor Acres broiler chickens were randomly divided into 5 treatments with 8 replicates (12 birds per replicate) in a completely randomised design. The treatments were as follows: (1) maize-soybean meal basal diet (CON); (2) negative control with crude protein being 1% lower than in CON (NCON); (3) NCON + 12 000 U/kg coated alkaline protease (NCAP); (4) NCON + 16 000 U/kg alkaline protease (NAP); (5) NCON + 16 000 U/kg keratinase (NKA). The remaining 80 birds (10 replicates, 8 birds per replicate) were randomly assigned to endogenous indicator measurements. The results indicated that the NCON diet resulted in a higher feed-to-gain ratio and reduced protein digestibility, ileal amino acid digestibility, and intestinal morphological parameters (P < 0.05). Supplementation of different exogenous proteases significantly improved the apparent and true ileal digestibility of specific amino acids, enhanced jejunal chymotrypsin activity, and promoted intestinal morphological development, including increased villus height and villus height-to-crypt depth ratio (P < 0.05). Our findings suggested that the addition of exogenous protease improved the intestinal morphology of broilers.

Keywords: Arbor Acres chickens; feed efficiency; intestinal morphology; low-protein diet; nutrient digestibility; protease supplementation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:70:y:2025:i:4:id:18-2025-cjas

DOI: 10.17221/18/2025-CJAS

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