Radiation Degradation of β-Glucan Extracted from Brewer’s Yeast for Enhancing Growth Promotion and Immunostimulant Activities on Broilers

Table 2

The growth, meat quality, and immune index in the blood of chickens after 8 weeks of supplementation by different WSLMG concentrations.

Index	WSLMG concentration (ppm)
	0	250	500	750	1000
Survival ratio (%)	53.3^b	73.3^a	86.7^a	86.7^a	86.7^a
The weekly weight gain (g/bird/week)	16.3^c	18.1^b	20.6^a	20.6^a	20.6^a
The used feed (g/bird/week)	446.3^a	446.6^a	435.0^a	444.8^a	436.6^a
FCR (kg feed/kg body weight)	4.4^a	3.6^b	3.0^c	3.1^bc	3.0^c
Total body weight (g/bird)	1013^c	1113^b	1254^a	1256^a	1258^a
The eviscerated rate (%)	69.1^b	69.1^b	75.8^a	76.1^a	75.0^a
The carcass yield (%)	51.3^b	54.1^b	62.5^a	60.1^a	60.1^a
The thigh yield (%)	21.1^b	24.3^a	25.1^a	25.5^a	25.5^a
The chest yield (%)	29.8^b	29.2^b	36.1^a	33.6^b	34.3^b
Leukocyte (10^3/mm^3)	30.1	29.7	30.5	29.8	31.0
Neutrophil content (%)	62.7	58.7	67.7	61.3	65.0
Lymphocyte content (%)	25.0	27.0	29.7	25.3	24.3
IBDV antibody (unit)	3031	5627	9629	7079	5991
IBV antibody (unit)	69.27	155.4	212.2	201.1	187.7
NDV antibody (unit)	10.7	10.7	18.7	13.3	13.3

Control: without irradiated β-glucan supplementation. Mean values followed by the same letter within a row are not statistically significantly different according to Duncan’s multiple range test at .