In the present study, the effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) at different concentrations (20, 40 and 60 mg/kg) in broiler chicken diet on growth, carcass characteristics and intestinal health of broiler chicks were evaluated. The ZnONPs synthesized by physical method was characterized for its nanoparticle properties and evaluated for its in vitro toxicity using different cell lines. In vivo feeding trials was conducted with 150-day-old broiler chicks randomly assigned to five dietary treatments in three replicates for the period of 35 days with ZnONPs. The results indicated that ZnONPs supplemented group showed significantly higher (p < 0.05) body weight gain and the lower feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared to control. The carcass characteristics like meat pH and dressing percentage revealed the significance differences in the ZnONPs supplemented group. The intestinal histomorphology revealed significantly higher (p < 0.05) crypt depth in ileum and villi length to crypt depth ratio in duodenum of ZnONPs supplemented group. The zinc elemental concentration in the serum found to be significantly higher and the mRNA expression of intestinal tight junction protein genes like mucin-2 and claudin-3 found to be significantly upregulated in the ZnONPs supplemented group. It could be concluded that supplementation of ZnONPs in broiler diet could improve production performance, intestinal health status and can be used as an effective feed additive in broilers.

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