Effects of Jujube Powder on Growth Performance, Blood Biochemical Indices, and Intestinal Microbiota of Broiler

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Broiler feeding now faces great challenges because of the rising cost of poultry diets, with corn being the main component. Developing and utilizing unconventional feed resources is an effective method of feeding broilers, thereby alleviating the problem of a high-cost diet. This study investigated how supplementation with jujube powder influences the growth performance, nutrient apparent utilization, serum immune indices, antioxidant indices, and intestinal microbiota of Cobb broilers. Adding jujube powder to the diet significantly improved the average daily gain, the apparent utilization rate of organic matter, and the apparent metabolic energy of broilers; it enhanced the body’s immunity and antioxidant performance and improved the intestinal microbiota of broilers. The most appropriate percentage of jujube powder to be supplemented was 8%. This indicates that jujube powder can act as a new feed type to replace some basic broiler diets. ABSTRACT: In total, 576 Cobb broilers were randomized into 6 treatment groups, with 8 replicates in each treatment group and 12 broilers in each replicate. Each treatment group was fed six different experimental diets containing 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10% jujube powder. The group receiving 0% jujube powder was considered the blank control group. The experimental period was 42 days and was divided into two periods: starter (0–21 days) and finisher (22–42 days). Compared with the control group, the addition of 8% jujube powder significantly improved the ADG of broilers (p < 0.05), and 8% and 10% jujube powder significantly improved the total tract apparent digestibility of organic matter in broilers (p < 0.05). Adding 10% jujube powder significantly improved the apparent metabolic energy of broilers (p < 0.05). Compared with the control group, 4–10% jujube powder significantly increased IgA, IgG, IgM, and sCD4 levels (p < 0.05) and T-AOC and SOD contents, and it reduced the MDA content in the serum of broilers (p < 0.05). In addition, the relative abundance of Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Lactobacillus, and Romboutsia significantly increased in the broiler ileum, whereas that of Proteobacteria and Enterobacter decreased significantly (p < 0.05) when 8% jujube powder was added to the diet. The relative abundance of Proteobacteria, Bacteroides, and Faecalibacterium in the cecum increased significantly (p < 0.05), whereas that of Bacteroidetes decreased significantly (p < 0.05).