Sweet chestnut tannin supplementation as a way to reduce the incidence of foot pad dermatitis of broiler chickens.

The study aims to evaluate the effect of different physical forms of hydrolysable tannins from sweet chestnut added to the broiler chicken feed on production performance and incidence of foot pad dermatitis (FPD). A total of 1,540 day old male Ross 708 chicks were split up into 4 groups and fed the same basal diets supplemented with 0 tannin (CON) or with 260 mg/kg feed of tannins either in powder (POW) or coated (COA) or granules (GRA) forms for the whole trial duration (48 d). Body growth rate and feed efficiency were not affected by powder or granule tannin forms, while they were significantly depressed by coated tannin. POW and GRA birds showed a lower incidence of FPD than both CON and COA (8 and 8% vs 21 and 28% respectively, P< 0.01). Litter moisture percentages of groups receiving the tannin supplementation were 3-3.6 points lower than those of the CON group. This trial demonstrated that the supplementation of hydrolysable tannins both in powder and granule forms may represent an interesting strategy to reduce the incidence of FPD and consequently to improve the general welfare status of broiler chickens.