Abstract:

To study the effects of feeding different levels of sulfamonomethoxine (SMM) on body weight and nutrients inchicken muscle, 160 healthy big bone chicken were randomly divided into four groups. One group was fed the basic dietalone and taken as control group, and the other three were daily given SMM at low, moderate and high doses (25, 200 and500 mg/(kg·d)), respectively, for 7 days consecutively. Six samplings were carried out within 16 days after the administrationperiod. Body weight and the contents of moisture, protein, fat and minerals (iron, copper, magnesium, zinc and calcium) inchicken samples were examined. The results showed that within 16 days post-administration, the low-dose group showed asignificant increase in body weight and the contents of protein and magnesium, and significant increases in the contents ofmoisture, fat and calcium and a significant reduction in iron content were observed for the moderate-dose group; however,the high-dose group presented significantly reduced body weight and slower body gain than the control group, and exhibiteda significant decrease in the levels of protein, fat and iron in chicken.

Key words: sulfamonomethoxine, chicken, moisture, protein, fat, mineral elements