Field evaluation of feeding spray-dried plasma in the starter period on final performance and overall health of broilers

Abstract Feeding spray-dried plasma (SDP) during the starter period was evaluated with a commercial broiler integrator on performance and overall health of broilers. The I See Inside methodology (ISI®) assessing gut health in broilers was used as a tool to evaluate the impact of dietary interventions under commercial conditions. A 100 farms with approximately 1.1 million broilers were used at a Brazilian broiler integrator. Two groups of farms were fed either a Control or an SDP diet containing 1% SDP, from 0 to 10 d of age. Diets were formulated to have similar nutritional density, contained zinc bacitracin and CuSO4 from 0 to 28 d. After 10 d, both groups were fed common commercial diets. Performance data were analyzed together or by type of ventilation system: positive pressured (PP) or negative pressured (NP). Birds were sent to market as they reached 3.05 kg; therefore, age at slaughter (AS) was evaluated as a dependent variable along with other performance measures. From the 100 farms in the trial, 35 (16 Control and 19 SDP farms) were selected for the assessment of broilers health, biosecurity, and local management. For that, 6 broilers per farm at 14±2 d of age were necropsied and ileum sampling for the ISI methodology evaluation. Biosecurity and management were also evaluated to obtain the influence of those parameters on animal health. SDP-fed birds improved FCR, reduced mortality and 1 d less for AS (P