Protective role of diatomaceous earth (DAE) on combined mycotoxicosis of aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin a in coloured broiler (RAJA II) chickens

The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of diatomaceous earth (DAE @ 0.5 g, 1 g) on combined aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and ochratoxin A (OTA) @ 0.5, 1 ppm in coloured broiler chickens for a period of 42 days. The combined AFB1 and OTA (1 ppm) resulted in severe reduction of BW gain (0.37 kg), poor FCR (3.15%), reduced feed intake and increased mortality (21.21%). A significant increase in the relative weight of liver and kidney, marked changes in gross, histopathology and biomarker enzymes of liver and kidney were also noticed, which were indicating AFB1 and OTA have a synergistic toxic effect on growth performance. Supplementation of DAE to combined AFB1 and OTA contaminated feed ameliorated the deleterious effects of these mycotoxins, resulted in improvement of BW gain (1.26 kg), FCR (2.18%), feed intake and reduced mortality (1.51%) thereby showing a protective role of DAE against combined mycotoxicosis.