Table 5.
Effects of treatments on villi morphology (µm) in the jejunum of broiler chickens at 10 and 22 days of age.
| Treatment | Day 10 | Day 22 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VH2 | VW | CD | VH/CD | VSA (µm2) | VH | VW | CD | VH/CD | VSA (µm2) | |
| NC1 | 621 | 188 | 144 | 3.29 | 367.7 | 1175a | 186a | 187 | 5.69 | 688.8a |
| PC | 592 | 192 | 125 | 3.09 | 356.6 | 827c | 153b | 201 | 5.04 | 396.9c |
| AMP | 681 | 194 | 138 | 3.52 | 414.2 | 1140ab | 187a | 171 | 6.06 | 671.5a |
| Antibiotic | 641 | 197 | 121 | 3.26 | 396.9 | 1017b | 174a | 180 | 6.50 | 557.0b |
| SEM3 | 26.4 | 3.5 | 13.7 | 0.164 | 16.42 | 35.4 | 5.1 | 22.8 | 0.632 | 25.78 |
| P value | 0.167 | 0.401 | 0.610 | 0.348 | 0.102 | 0.001 | 0.001 | 0.816 | 0.447 | 0.001 |
a–cValues within a column with different letters differ significantly (P < 0.05).
1NC: negative control group received corn-soybean meal diet without challenge and additives; PC: positive control group received NC diet experimentally challenged with necrotic enteritis; AMP: PC received group supplemented with 20 mg antimicrobial peptide/ kg diet; Antibiotic: PC received group supplemented with 45 mg antibiotic (bacitracin methylene disalicylate)/kg diet.
2VH: villus height; VW: villus width; CD: crypt depth; VH/CD: the ratio of VH to CD; VSA: villus surface area.
3SEM: standard error of means [results are given as means (n = 12) for each treatment].