The effect of Ronozyme ProAct® on the performances, feather dirtiness, and foot pad and hock dermatitis of broilers

A comparative trial was carried out with a total of 710 Ross 308 male chicks, housed in pens of 2.1 m² each containing 32 birds. Birds were fed one of 3 experimental diets: 1) a positive control diet (PCD), wheat-soybean meal based and formulated according to current nutrient recommendations; 2) a negative control diet (NCD) containing 3% less protein and digestible amino acids (lysine, methionine and threonine) in the grower and finisher diet and 3) the experimental diet (RPD) obtained by adding 200mg/kg Ronozyme® ProAct (to give 15000 PROT units/kg feed) on top of the negative control diet. Ronozyme® ProAct is a mono component serine protease. All diets contained phytase and a xylanase enzyme. Diets were in mash form and always fed ad libitum during the 3 phases (0-11 d: starter, 11-25 d: grower, and 25-39 d: finisher diet). The PCD and NCD diets were fed to 7 pens (replicates) while the RPD diet was fed to 8 pens.
Both weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of RPD fed birds were improved by 2-3% compared with the NCD birds and equalled that of the PCD treatment. At 39 days, body weight and FCR for the PCD, NCD and RPD treatments were: 2,337 g, 2,301 g, 2,371 g and 1.599, 1.597, 1.561, respectively. Broilers fed the RPD diet had a significantly (P<0.05) better feather score than PCD broilers. Foot pad and hock dermatitis were also significantly (P<0.05) less severe in RPD fed birds than those fed the PCD diet.