Effects of Clinoptilolite on Growth Performance and Antioxidant Status in Broilers

The objective of this study was to compare the effects of natural clinoptilolite and modified clinoptilolite on growth performance and antioxidant capacity in broiler chicks. Two hundred forty 1-day-old commercial Arbor Acres broilers were randomly distributed into three treatments, each of which had eight replicates. Each replicate contains 10 chicks. Control (CON) group fed with the basal diets, natural clinoptilolite (NCLI) group fed basal diets with 2 % natural clinoptilolite, and modified clinoptilolite (MCLI) group fed basal diets with 2 % modified clinoptilolite for 42 days. The results showed that the 2 % supplementation of natural clinoptilolite and modified clinoptilolite had no adverse effect on growth performance of broilers at 42 days of age. Relative weights of organs were not influenced by dietary treatments at 21 and 42 days. The activity of total nitric oxide synthase was significantly (P?P?P?