The effect of fermented and raw rapeseed meal on the growth performance, immune status and intestinal morphology of broiler chickens.

We evaluated the effect of fermented and raw rapeseed meal (FRCM and RRSM) on the growth performance, carcass traits, serum biochemical indexes, immune status and intestinal morphology of broilers. A total of 420-day-old Arbor Acre male broilers were randomly assigned to a 1 + 2 × 3 factorial arrangement with one basal diet group, two rapeseed meal (RSM) varieties (FRCM and RRSM) and three addition levels (5%, 10% and 15%) for a duration of 42 days. FRSM significantly increased the ADG and ADFI of broilers during the 22-42 days and 1-42 days (p < 0.05) growth periods compared with RRSM groups. No significant difference was observed in ADG and ADFI between broilers fed FRSM in different dietary levels and control diets (p > 0.05), but broilers fed diet with 15% RRSM showed significantly lower ADG, ADFI and spleen index (p < 0.05). Both FRSM and RRSM in different dietary levels affected the anti-oxidation function of broilers, including a significant increase in the serum contents of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) (p < 0.05), and a significant decrease of malondialdehyde (MDA) (p < 0.05). Fermentation tends to increase the villus height of duodenum (p = 0.09), and significantly increased the villus height and V/C ratio of duodenum (p < 0.05) in birds. The duodenum villus height was the highest in the 5% FRSM group and lowest in birds of 5% RRSM group. A 10% level significantly increased the duodenal V/C ratio in both FRSM and RRSM birds. The results indicated that FRSM could be used to supplemented in broilers diet to improve the production performance and maintain good health. FRSM can be added to broilers diet at 10% without adverse effect on growth performance or immune function.