Effect of feeding corn distillers dried grains with solubles and enzyme supplementation on immune response and nutrient utilization

The present experiment was conducted on 420 straight run Vencobb-400 commercial day-old broiler chickens from 0-42 days. The chicks were randomly distributed into seven dietary treatments groups with three replicates of 20 birds each. The birds in control group (A) offered basal diet adequate in all nutrients as per BIS, (2007). The birds in dietary treatment groups B, C and D were offered diet containing corn distillers dried grains with soluble (cDDGS) at 5, 10 and 15% level and birds in groups E, F and G were offered diet cDDGS at 5, 10 and 15% level with enzyme @ 400g/ton of feed (DSM, Mumbai), respectively. The antibody titers against ND (log2 values) at 3 rd and 6 th week of age in broilers fed different levels of cDDGS with or without enzyme were non-significant in all treatment groups. At 3 rd week of age antibody titer values were numerically higher in treatment groups receiving diet at 5 and 10% cDDGS with or without enzyme as compared to control group. The statistical difference was non-significant for IBD titers at 3 rd week of age in all treatment groups, whereas diet containing 5 and 10% cDDGS with enzyme showed higher IBD titers as compared to control group A. However, the IBD titers at 6 th week of age in treatment group D receiving diet with 15% cDDGS was reduced significantly as compared to control group and groups B, E and F. There was non-significant difference for nutrient utilization in all treatment groups. The nutrient utilization was numerically improved in enzyme supplemented groups as compared to non-enzyme supplemented groups. The inclusion of 5 and 10% cDDGS with or without enzyme showed improved nitrogen retention as compared to control group but the difference was non-significant. It may be concluded that the inclusion of cDDGS up to 10% levels in broiler diets with or without enzyme was found to be beneficial in terms of immune response and nutrient utilization in broiler chickens.