Feathering score as an indicator of zinc status in commercial broilers

The objective of this paper was to introduce feathering score as a quick visual indicator Zn status in commercial broilers. Two hundred and fifty six day old Avian male broiler chicks were randomly allocated into one of the four corn soybean meal dietary treatments; 0, 40, 60 mg/kg Zn supplementati...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lai, Pui Wah, Liang, J. B., Hsia, L. C., Ho, Yin Wan, Loh, Tech Chwen
Format: Conference or Workshop Item
Language:English
Published: 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/11256/
_version_ 1848841600025755648
author Lai, Pui Wah
Liang, J. B.
Hsia, L. C.
Ho, Yin Wan
Loh, Tech Chwen
author_facet Lai, Pui Wah
Liang, J. B.
Hsia, L. C.
Ho, Yin Wan
Loh, Tech Chwen
author_sort Lai, Pui Wah
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The objective of this paper was to introduce feathering score as a quick visual indicator Zn status in commercial broilers. Two hundred and fifty six day old Avian male broiler chicks were randomly allocated into one of the four corn soybean meal dietary treatments; 0, 40, 60 mg/kg Zn supplementation (ZnO) with 0.80% Ca and no supplemental Zn with 1.60% Ca. The birds were given ad libitum feed and drinking water daily for six weeks. At the end of the trial, all the birds were given feathering scores for back, breast, wing, under wing and tail using scores of 1 to 5 for feather coverage with 1 representing maximal uncovered and 5 covered. The wing and tail were also evaluated on a scale of 0 to 2 for the occurrence and severity of poor feathering with 0 no defect and 2 frayed, lesion and torn feathers. The results indicated that broilers fed 60 mg/kg Zn supplementation diet had the highest feather coverage score and least defect feathers (P<0.05). High Ca inclusion in Zn deficient diet resulted poor feathering significantly (P<0.05), indicating an inhibitory effect of excess Ca on Zn utilization, where a Zn x Ca interaction was noted.
first_indexed 2025-11-15T07:45:48Z
format Conference or Workshop Item
id upm-11256
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-15T07:45:48Z
publishDate 2009
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling upm-112562011-03-29T09:24:03Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/11256/ Feathering score as an indicator of zinc status in commercial broilers Lai, Pui Wah Liang, J. B. Hsia, L. C. Ho, Yin Wan Loh, Tech Chwen The objective of this paper was to introduce feathering score as a quick visual indicator Zn status in commercial broilers. Two hundred and fifty six day old Avian male broiler chicks were randomly allocated into one of the four corn soybean meal dietary treatments; 0, 40, 60 mg/kg Zn supplementation (ZnO) with 0.80% Ca and no supplemental Zn with 1.60% Ca. The birds were given ad libitum feed and drinking water daily for six weeks. At the end of the trial, all the birds were given feathering scores for back, breast, wing, under wing and tail using scores of 1 to 5 for feather coverage with 1 representing maximal uncovered and 5 covered. The wing and tail were also evaluated on a scale of 0 to 2 for the occurrence and severity of poor feathering with 0 no defect and 2 frayed, lesion and torn feathers. The results indicated that broilers fed 60 mg/kg Zn supplementation diet had the highest feather coverage score and least defect feathers (P<0.05). High Ca inclusion in Zn deficient diet resulted poor feathering significantly (P<0.05), indicating an inhibitory effect of excess Ca on Zn utilization, where a Zn x Ca interaction was noted. 2009 Conference or Workshop Item NonPeerReviewed Lai, Pui Wah and Liang, J. B. and Hsia, L. C. and Ho, Yin Wan and Loh, Tech Chwen (2009) Feathering score as an indicator of zinc status in commercial broilers. In: 3rd International Conference on Animal Nutrition (ICAN) 2008 : Enhancing Feed Utilization Through Technology, 29-31 July 2008, Hotel Equatorial Bangi. (p. 143). Feathers Broilers (Chickens) English
spellingShingle Feathers
Broilers (Chickens)
Lai, Pui Wah
Liang, J. B.
Hsia, L. C.
Ho, Yin Wan
Loh, Tech Chwen
Feathering score as an indicator of zinc status in commercial broilers
title Feathering score as an indicator of zinc status in commercial broilers
title_full Feathering score as an indicator of zinc status in commercial broilers
title_fullStr Feathering score as an indicator of zinc status in commercial broilers
title_full_unstemmed Feathering score as an indicator of zinc status in commercial broilers
title_short Feathering score as an indicator of zinc status in commercial broilers
title_sort feathering score as an indicator of zinc status in commercial broilers
topic Feathers
Broilers (Chickens)
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/11256/