Abstract: To study the effect of a kind of new acidifier on the growth performance and gut health of broiler chickens, 126 1-day-old healthy male Abor Acre broiler chickens were allotted to two groups, the control group was fed with the basal diet, and trial group was fed the supplementation of acidifier in the basal diet. The whole trial period was 49 days, and the early, medium term, and laster stage were 1 to 21, 22 to 42 and 43 to 49 days. The results showed that during 1 to 21 days, the addition of acidifier in diet had the trend to decrease feed intake, increase body weight gain and the body weight at 21 day, and to decrease the feed conversion ratio. No significant difference was found for the broiler growth performance during 22 to 49 days. The addition of acidifier in diet also had the trend to rise the volatile fatty acid and reduce the total volatile basic nitrogen content in ileal chime at day 49. It was concluded that acidifier could improve the gut health of broilers and increase the growth performance, and 1 to 21 days had a better feeding effect than during 22 to 49 days.

Key words: broiler chickens; acidifier; growth performance; total volatile basic nitrogen; volatile fatty acid