Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2020) 9(2): 2422-2430 2422 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.902.276 Effect of Butyric Acid Supplementation on Growth Performance and Immune Response in Broilers D. Nataraja*, V. Malathi, Jayanaik, H. C. Indresh and J. N. Sreedhara Department of Poultry Science, Veterinary college, Hebbal, Bengaluru- 560024, Karnataka Veterinary, animal and Fisheries Sciences University, Karnataka, INDIA, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Due to growing concerns about antibiotic resistance and the potential ban for antibiotic growth promoters in many countries, there is an increasing interest in finding alternative to antibiotics in poultry production (Patterson and Burkholder, 2003; Chichlowski et al., 2007). The possible alternatives to antibiotics for growth promotion and improvement of feed efficiency in poultry are dietary supplementation of probiotic, prebiotic, feed enzymes, phytobiotics, essential oils and organic acids (Jin et al., 1997; Xu et al., 2006; Biggs et al., 2007). Amongst the organic acids, short chain fatty acids (SCFA) are considered as potential alternative to antibiotic growth promoters (Van Immerseel International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 2 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Atrial was conducted to investigate the effect of butyric acid on the growth performance and immune response in broiler chicken. 600 day- old broiler chicks were allocated into 4 dietary groups (0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 % butyric acid) with 6 replicates each. Growth performance parameters viz., weekly body weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio were recorded. Immune response in terms of antibody titer against New castles disease virus, Infectious bursal disease virus and weight of immune organs on day 21 and 42 were measured. The growth performance parameters such as cumulative body weight and feed conversion ratio (FCR) showed significant improvement (P ≤ 0.05) in butyric acid supplemented groups till six weeks and five weeks, respectively. Feed intake was not influenced by the dietary treatments. The immunological responses such as antibody titer, and weights of immune organs (thymus, spleen and bursa of Fabricius) were unaffected on day 21. On day 42 weight of thymus was significantly lower in BA supplemented groups. Butyric acid supplementation could improve the growth performance in broiler chicken. Keywords Body weight, Broiler, Feed intake, antibody titer, Growth performance, FCR Accepted: 18 January 2020 Available Online: 10 February 2020 Article Info