Abstract
<jats:p>The aim of the study is to investigate the synergistic effect of organic and phytochemical substances on the productivity and health of broiler chickens. Objectives: to establish the effect of gamma-lactone and sodium salicylate on feed consumption and live weight dynamics of broilers; to identify changes in interior parameters and activity of the antioxidant defense system of the broiler body upon introduction of the studied organic and phytochemical substances. The objects of the study were 7-day-old broiler chickens of the ROSS 308 cross in the amount of 120 heads. Four groups were created (30 heads in each). The control group received the basic diet (BD); 1st experimental group – BD + gamma-lactone 0.5 ml/kg of feed; 2nd experimental group – BD + sodium salicylate 100 mg/kg of feed; 3rd experimental group – BD + gamma-lactone 0.5 ml/kg of feed + sodium salicylate 100 mg/kg of feed. The introduction of gamma-lactone and sodium salicylate into the main diet of experimental broiler chickens contributed to an improvement in the consumption of compound feed during the experimental period in group I by 2.94 %, in group II by 1.47 %, and in group III by 3.73 % relative to the control. Moreover, the feed consumption per 1 kg of live weight gain for young birds from experimental groups I–III was 0.43–5.0 % lower than in the control group. The highest European Productivity Index value was observed in birds from group III, which was 14.8 % higher than in the control group (p ≤ 0.05). Broilers in the control group were significantly inferior to their counterparts from groups I–III in terms of total bilirubin blood levels by 1.5–1.9 times (p ≤ 0.05), and urea by 1.2–1.4 times (p ≤ 0.01). When feeding sodium salicylate, the malondialdehyde level in the blood of birds from experimental group II was 13.92 % higher than in the control group (p ≤ 0.05), while in groups I and III it was 34.17 and 7.59 % lower, respectively.</jats:p>