Masoumeh Monsefi - Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
Mohsen Afsharmanesh - Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
Mohamad Salarmoini - Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
Mohammad Khajeh Bami - Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

This study examined the effects of oxytetracycline, sweet paprika, and hot paprika supplementation on broiler chicken growth performance, carcass characteristics, meat quality, intestinal microbiota, and immunological response. A total of ۳۰۰ one-day-old broiler chickens were assigned to six groups, each with five replicates.The experimental treatments were as follows: ۱) basal diet as control group, ۲) a basal diet with oxytetracycline (۰.۰۵ percent), ۳) a basal diet with hot paprika (۰.۷۵ percent), ۴) a basal diet with hot paprika (۱ percent), ۵) a basal diet with sweet paprika (۰.۷۵ percent), and ۶) a basal diet with sweet paprika (۱ percent). The results showed that the dietary supplements had no effect on growth performance and carcass traits. Sweet and hot paprika positively affected lipid oxidation and cooking loss in breast meat. In the ileum, broiler chickens fed ۱ percent sweet paprika had lower coliform counts and higher lactic acid bacteria/coliforms ratios than other treatments (P < ۰.۰۵). Furthermore, oxytetracycline in the diet significantly reduced the number of lactic acid bacteria compared to other treatments (P < ۰.۰۵). In addition, when compared to the control and antibiotic groups, birds fed ۰.۷۵ and ۱ percent sweet paprika and ۱ percent hot paprika had higher villus height, goblet cell density, and villus height/crypt depth ratio and lower crypt depth and epithelial cell layer thickness (P < ۰.۰۵). Dietary supplementation with ۰.۷۵ percent hot paprika or ۱ percent sweet paprika increased total antibody response to sheep red blood cells and IgG compared to antibiotic and control groups (P < ۰.۰۵). Taken together, the findings of this study suggest that dietary inclusion of sweet paprika and hot paprika could improve meat quality, intestinal microbiota, intestinal morphology, and immune response in broiler chickens.

Broiler, Sweet paprika, Hot paprika, Gut morphology, Lactic acid bacteria