Effects of Horsetail (Equisetum arvense), Vitamin C and Organic Zinc Supplements on Growth Performance, Carcass Yield, Serum Biochemical Values and Antioxidant Status of Broiler Chickens

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of horsetail (HT), vitamin C (VC) and organic zinc (OZ) supplements on growth performance, carcass yield, serum biochemical values and antioxidant status of broiler chickens. A total of 480, one-day-old male broiler chicks (Arbor Acres Plus) were allocated to 8 treatments diets in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial experiment including 2 levels of HT (0 and 0.5%), 2 levels of VC (0 and 250 mg/kg) and 2 levels of OZ (0 and 60 mg/kg). Results showed that feed intake (FI) was affected by HT and HT × VC × OZ interaction during starter period. During the finisher period, consumption of 250 mg/kg VC resulted in highest FI as compared with other treatments. During the whole experimental period, FI was affected by dietary incorporation of HT, VC, OZ, and their interaction. Moreover, body weight gain (BWG) was influenced by dietary incorporation of HT, VC, OZ, and their interaction during the starter period. Furthermore, greater proportional liver weight was observed in OZ birds. Proportional abdominal fat pad weight was decreased in VC birds as compared to control birds. Likewise, feeding HT diets decreased serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c). Dietary supplementation of VC increased activity of serum glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and the highest amount of total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was also observed in chicks fed HT. Basically, it can be concluded that dietary supplementation of 60 mg/kg OZ can improve the liver function and these data suggest that 0.5% HT may have a beneficial effect on serum antioxidant in broilers.