Table 5. Effects of supplemental different minerals on ileal morphology in broiler chickens under cyclic heat stress
Items (µm) | NC | PC | ILT | ZLT | OC | SE | p-value |
Villus height (VH) | 943.8a | 851.8b | 896.0ab | 904.9ab | 872.2ab | 19.7 | 0.032 |
Crypt depth (CD) | 119.9 | 139.5 | 122.4 | 122.2 | 123.2 | 8.3 | 0.464 |
VH : CD | 7.9 | 6.1 | 7.3 | 7.4 | 7.1 | 0.5 | 0.134 |
Means within column with different superscripts differ significantly (p < 0.05).
NC, basal diet; PC, NC and start of heat stress at the 2nd week; ILT, PC + 1% of illite; ZLT, PC + 1% of zeolite; OC, PC + 400 ppb of organic chromium.
SE, standard error.