Efficacy of diatomacious earth in amelioration of aflatoxininduced toxicity in broiler chicken

The ability of Diatomacious earth (DAE) in reducing the toxic effects of aflatoxin (AF) in broiler diet was evaluated. DAE was supplemented @ 400 and 800 mg kg-1 of feed along with 0.5 and 1 ppm of AF kg-1 of feed. Healthy unsexed day old broiler chicks (n=360) were assigned to 9 groups comprising of control and treatment groups. Feeding of AF resulted in significantly lower feed intake as well as body weight gain and increase in feed conversion ratio in comparison to the control groups. Supplementation of DAE in aflatoxin mixed diet significantly reduced the deleterious effects of AF on growth parameters. Feeding of AF alone caused significant decrease in serum levels of total proteins, albumin, triglycerides and cholesterol. However, significant increase was found in serum levels of AST, ALT, ALP, BUN and creatinine in AF fed broilers. Supplementation of DAE to the AF mixed feed ameliorated the adverse effect of AF on the serum biochemical values by causing increase in serum total proteins, albumin, triglycerides and cholesterol levels. In addition, a significant increase was recorded in AST, ALT, ALP, BUN and creatinine levels in DAE supplemented broilers. The study concluded that diatomaceous earth is an effective adsorbent to decrease the negative effects of aflatoxin in broiler chicken.