Three hundred twenty (320) straight-run broilers were fed diets supplemented with inorganic and organic trace minerals. Treatments included trace mineral level according to the recommendations of U.S. NRC (1994) as satisfied by minerals from inorganic source as control and three levels from organic source in the form of amino acid chelates. Diets with trace minerals at much lower levels using amino acid chelates did not significantly affect the body weight gain, feed consumption, feed efficiency, livability and dressing percentage of broilers compared to those fed diets with inorganic trace minerals. Broilers fed diets with inorganic minerals had a significant increase in liver manganese and iron compared to those fed diets with chelated minerals. Concentrations of copper and zinc in tibia bone and liver as well as iron in tibia bone did not differ significantly between those fed diets with inorganic and with chelated trace minerals. Due to the high cost of chelated minerals, supplementation of the diets with inorganic minerals was economically beneficial in terms of income over feed and chick cost.

Keywords: amino acids, broiler, chelated minerals, copper, iron, manganese, zinc