Effect of Synbiotic on Performance and Serum Biochemical Parameters of Ostrich Chicks

The present experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of synbiotic on performance and serum biochemical parameters of ostrich chicks. Forty eight day-old ostrich chicks were divided into 4 treatments with 4 replicates of 3 ostrich chicks in completely randomized design for 8 weeks. Dietary treatments included basal diet (control) and basal diet with 0.5, 1 and 1.5 g/kg synbiotic. Feed Intake (FI), body weight (BW) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were measured during the whole period of the experiment (0-8 wk of age). Additionally, blood samples were taken at the end of the experiment and analyzed for serum biochemical parameters. The results showed that 1 g/kg synbiotic inclusion in the diet significantly improved BW and FCR of the chicks compared to control group (p<0.05). Furthermore, 1.5 g/kg synbiotic substantially increased blood glucose but decreased cholesterol (p<0.05). Serum total protein and uric acid also decreased in the all dietary levels of synbiotic compared to control group (p<0.05). Regarding these results, supplementation of 1 g/kg synbiotic appears to be effective on growth performance and serum biochemical parameters of ostrich chicks.