This study aimed to evaluate mannan oligosaccharides (MOS) as an alternative additive to growth promoters in broiler diets by studying the morphology of the intestine and the performance. For this purpose, 1280 broiler chicks were distributed in a completely randomized design with four treatments (negative control, NC: diet free of antibiotics; positive control, PC: diet with antibiotic and two diets, MOS 1 and MOS 2, in which were added to NC two distinct sources of MOS) and eight repetitions, and the experimental unit consisted of 40 birds. To submit birds to the challenge, a basal diet was formulated with corn, soybean meal and meat and bones meal, was adopted used litter, cleaning of water troughs twice a week and were offered weekly water contaminated with litter. The variables evaluated were villus height and crypt depth of duodenum, jejunum and ileum, feed intake, weight, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio. There was improvement in crypt depth in jejunum and in villus height in ileum of birds fed diets containing MOS. The addition of MOS, regardless of source, resulted in improvement in feed conversion ratio than birds of NC, and were similar to the birds of PC. The mannan oligosaccharides can be used as an alternative additive to growth promoters in diets for broiler chickens, but depending on the source, this can result in small differences in bird performance.
additive; birds; growth promoter; prebiotics; intestinal health
