Effects of lipoic acid on performance, slaughter performance, intestinal digestive enzymes and apparent digestibility of nutrients in heat-stressed broilers.

This study aims to investigate the impact of supplementing α-lipoic acid (ALA) on the growth performance, intestinal digestive enzymes, and apparent digestibility of nutrients in broiler chickens under high ambient temperature. A total of 160 28-day-old Cobb broiler chickens were randomly divided into four groups with four replicates per group and ten chickens per replicate. The experiment employed a 2 × 2 factorial design, consisting of two diets (basal diet or diet supplemented with 250 mg/kg ALA) and two temperature conditions (24 ± 1 ℃ or 33 ± 1 ℃).