Effect of Replacing Dietary FeSO4 with FeHPO4 Nanoparticles on Growth Performance, Carcass Characteristics and Tissue Iron Content in Broilers

A study was conducted to compare the effects of iron hydrogen phosphate nanoparticles (FeHPO4) with iron sulfate (FeSO4-7H2O) on growth performance, carcass characteristics and mineral content of breast muscle in broiler chickens. A total of 200 one-day-old male Ross 308 broiler chicks were assigned randomly into four dietary groups with five replications of ten chicks per replicate. The basal diet (BD) included corn-soybean meal with 87.40, 85.13 and 82.24 mg Fe/kg diet in starter, grower and finisher feeding phases, respectively. Four dietary groups consisted of: group 1) BD + 80 mg/kg FeSO4, as control group; group 2) BD + 6.4 mg/kg FeHPO4 nanoparticles (FNPs); group 3) BD + 3.2 mg/kg FNPs; and group 4) BD + 1.6 mg/kg FNPs were provided during 1-42 d of age. The results showed that dietary groups did not significantly (P>0.05) affect the average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily weight gain (ADWG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), mortality rate, and European production efficiency factor (EPEF). Adding FNPs in dietary group 2 significantly (P= 0.04) reduced relative weight of abdominal fat compared to control group. Furthermore, there were cubic (P=0.05) and quadratic (P=0.02) responses to the addition of FNPs in dietary group 3 on carcass yield and relative weight of liver, respectively. Compared with birds fed the diet supplemented with 80 mg FeSO4/kg, birds fed supplemental FNPs in groups 2 and 3 had significantly increased Fe and Cu content in the breast muscle (P<0.05). There was no differences in Zn content of breast muscle among the dietary groups (P>0.05). This study concluded that, replacing FeSO4 with FNPs had no significant effect on growth performance, but it could significantly increase the iron content of breast muscle.