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The effect of dietary supplementation of transcarpathian zeolite on intestinal morphology in female broiler chickens

Abstract Zeolites occur in nature in specific types of rocks, mostly of volcanic origin. Some studies have proved that zeolite added as a dietary supplement in poultry results in weight gain and improves digestion because zeolites slow down the passage rate of digesta through the digestive tract and controls the release of nutrients in the small intestine. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different levels of zeolite on intestinal morphometry in female broiler chickens. One‐day‐old Ross 308 broilers were assigned randomly into 3 groups, with 30 birds per treatment. The 3 dietary treatments were: basal diet only (control group), basal diet + 2% zeolite, and basal diet + 3% zeolite. The broiler females were randomly selected from each group, slaughtered samples from duodenum, jejunum /proximal, middle, distal/ and ileum were sampled for histological characteristics at the 40 d of the study. The broilers fed 2% of zeolite were observed to have a tendency towards increased villus height, villus width, villus perimeter, villus section area, and crypt depth throughout the distal regions of small intestine and ileum. Supplementation with 3% of zeolite was associated with a greater villus height, villus width, villus perimeter, villus section area, villus crypts, and mucosa thickness in jejunum and ileum mucosa compared with those same areas in the control. The results suggest that dietary supplementation of zeolite increases intestinal morphology parameters in the gastrointestinal tract of female broiler chickens that improved growth performance.