Use of Gustor N’RGY in Broilers under Antibiotic Free Production System

The current need to produce chickens without antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) is a major challenge for producers; organic acids have been considered a viable alternative for several years. The aim of this trial presented in the last IPPE 2018 by Norel, was to compare the effect of protected sodium butyrate (Gustor N’RGY) and AGPs on productive parameters in broilers, under field conditions. Ten thousand one-day-old male broilers Ross were divided in two pens and randomly distributed in two treatments: Control treatment (C), a standard diet with AGP combination (Bacitracin, Colistin, Halquinol) and experimental treatment (N’RGY), the same standard diet without AGP and protected sodium butyrate (Gustor N’RGY) added at 2 kg/t. Live body weight (BW), feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), flock uniformity (FU) and mortality were recorded at the end of the trial. The BW was 21 g higher at the end of the trial for N’RGY (2.955 kg vs 2.976 kg), while fed intake was not different (5.44 kg), and as a result the  FCR was 0.6% lower in N’RGY (1.84 vs 1.83). The FU was not different between treatments (9.25%), although the mortality was 1.2% lower in C group (5.5 vs 6.7%). Finally, the productivity index was similar between treatments (320 vs 325). It can be concluded that under the conditions of this trial the use of Gustor N’RGY in broiler diets allows to get similar productive performance than AGPs.