Efficacy of Attapulgite, Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminosilicate and Bentonite Against Aflatoxin and T-2 Toxin in Broiler

This study aimed to assess the efficacy of selected commercial toxin binders, with or without additives against aflatoxin and T-2 toxin in broiler diets. A total of 360-day-old Cobb broilers (all males) were used for the test, which was randomly assigned to the different treatments with 6 replications of 10 broilers each following a Completely Randomized Design. Treatments were Attapulgite Regular (AR), Attapulgite Plus (AP), HCAS (HC), HCAS Plus (HP), and Bentonite Plus (BP). Each toxin binder was added at 0.10% in broiler diets containing corn contaminated with 172 ppb aflatoxin and 151 ppb T-2 toxin; a diet with the same level of mycotoxin from the corn, without toxin binder, served the Control. The AP was superior for body weight gain (P<0.01) and feed conversion (P<0.01) than any of its counterparts. AR elicited body weights comparable with HC, BP and HP, but effected better feed conversion (P<0.001) than its counterparts. Diets with AR, as well as AP, did not evoke differences in terms of livability, carcass yield, and weights of both liver and gizzard + proventriculus, compared with the other toxin binders. The cost of feed per kg bodyweight gain, for AR and AP were comparable but lower (P<0.01) than their counterparts. The addition of toxin binders singly or with adjunct/additions alleviated the adverse effects of aflatoxin and T2 toxin; however, among the toxin binders, the attapulgite with adjuncts showed the most effective prevention of the mycotoxins, resulting in superior gain, feed conversion and least-cost feed per kg gain of the broilers.