Effect of dietary palm kernel oil supplementation on biotin requirement of broilers

Abstract

Palm kernel-oil (PKO) is popularly being used in poultry diets in Nigeria and information on the effect of dictary supplementation is meagre. Therefore this experiment was conducted to study the effect offccdmg supplemental palm kernel-oil on the biotin requirement of broilers. Day-old broiler chicks (480) were fed varying levels ofpahn kernel-oil (0% and 2%) and biotin (40, 80, 120, 160, 200 and 240 ug/kg diet) in a 2 x 6 factorial arrangement of treatments. Incidence of dermatitis, mortality (due to fatty liver and kidney syndrome) and leg deformities were lower in presence of the oil supplement. Biotin requirement was low (120 ug/kg diet) in the presence of supplemental palm kernel-oil when compared with that needed (160 ug/kg diet) to prevent biotin deficiency symptoms in chicks fed diets without supplemental oil. Feed utilization data indicated that 120 ug biotin/kg diet was required to promote better feed intake and body weight gain whether or not supplemental palm kernel-oil was fed.