Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of zinc supplementation and stocking density on growth performances, stress index (H/L ratio), White striping (WS), and Wooden breast (WB) of broiler chickens. A total of 364 male, 1-day old chicks (Ross 308) were distributed into four groups in a completely randomized design with treatments arranged in a 2 x 2 factorial scheme to evaluate the effects of zinc supplementation 125 mg/kg feed and high stocking density, totaling 4 treatments with 7 replications. The result showed that there was no interaction effect between the effect of zinc supplementation and high stocking density on growth performances. There was no significant difference in body weight, body weight gain, and average daily gain at all experimental periods for zinc supplementation and stocking density, but feed conversion ratio at 1-10 days, 11-24 days, 25-42 days, and 1-42 days were decreased with the supplementation of zinc 125 mg./kg. In addition, the effect of high stocking density and zinc supplementation showed a statistically significant decrease in feed intake and feed conversion ratio at 1-42 days (P < 0.01). However, the supplementation of zinc 125 mg./kg. in the diet showed no significant effects on H/L ratio, WS, and WB. It could be concluded that dietary zinc supplementation improved feed efficiency and It had no effect on H/L ratio, WS, and WB in broiler chickens.