Effect of Some Medicinal Plants as Feed Additives on Growth Performance, Blood Constituents and Carcass Characteristics of Broilers

The present work aimed to study the effect of feeding broiler chicks on diets containing different levels of fenugreek, anise and curcuma seeds powder, as natural feed additive on productive performance, carcass characteristics, some blood constituents and economic feed efficiency. One hundred and forty, one-day old (Ross 38) unsexed broiler chicks were obtained from local commercial source, weighed and randomly distributed to 7 equal groups, each of 20. The birds were fed with two basal diets (starter and finisher diets). The experimental diets were as follows: basal control diet without any feed additives (G1), basal diets supplemented with 0.2 and 0.5% fenugreek (G2 and G3 respectively), basal diets supplemented with 0.3 and 0.6% anise seeds (G4 and G5 respectively), and lastly basal diets supplemented with 0.3 and 0.5% curcuma (G6 and G7 respectively). During the experiment the body weight and feed intake were measured and consequently, weight gain and feed conversion ratio were calculated. At the end of the experiment, three birds from each group were slaughtered for blood sampling and serum extraction then. Finally, economical evaluation of the diets was calculated. The results showed that, dietary inclusion of fenugreek, anise and curcuma, had significant (P <0.05) improvement in the live body weight, total weight gain and feed conversion ratio, While, the feed intake was not affected by the dietary inclusion of them. Some blood constituents were affected with these additions. The relative economic feed efficiency was increased by dietary inclusion of the three additives

Effect of Feeding Probiotic on Performance of Broiler Ducks Fed Different Protein Levels

The present study was performed to investigate the effect of feeding Saccharomyces cerevisiae (probiotic) with different protein levels on duck performance, carcass traits and blood parameters. A total number of 40 two weeks old Molar ducklings randomly distributed into 4 equal groups.The first group was fed on control diet (16% CP) without any feed additives, while groups 2, 3 and 4 (T2, T3 and T4) were fed on basal diets containing 16, 14 and 12% CP respectively and supplemented with probiotic. Additives was probiotic, thepax (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), at 0.1% of the grower-finisher diet. The results showed that, birds fed on 16% protein diet supplemented with probiotic recorded significantly the best live body weight, body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion compared with other treatments. There were no significant differences in hot carcass percentage, eviscerated percentage, dressing percentage and relative percentage of internal organs (gizzard, heart, liver and spleen), total protein and triglycerides, between different experimental groups. While there were significant (P<0.05) differences in serum albumin, globulin, cholesterol and uric acid between control group and other treatments. The relative economic feed efficiency was the highest in birds fed 16%protein diets supplemented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae compared with other treated groups. It could be concluded that, dietary inclusion of 0.1% S.cerevisiae in 16% protein diet improved body weight, weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio and carcass traits

Effect of Feeding Propolis on Growth Performance of Broilers

 An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of propolis on broiler performance, carcass characteristics and blood parameters. The experiment was carried out with a completely randomized design of 4 treatments, supplemented with propolis at the rate of 0, 1, 2, and 3 mg/kg diet for 6 weeks. The results indicated that birds diet supplementation with propolis increased body weight (P<0.05), decreased feed intake and improved feed efficiency during the experiment. Carcass traits did not show significant differences for the treatments, with the exception of dressing percentage. The serum total protein and globulins were significantly (P<0.05) increased and the serum cholesterol and triglycerides were significantly (P<0.05) decreased in propolis supplemented broilers. No significant differences were observed in hematological parameters among the different groups. It could be concluded that dietary inclusion of propolis to poultry diets had a positive effect on growth performance and improved the immune response by elevating blood globulins level. Also, it decreases blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels. &nbsp

Effect of Feeding Citric Acid on Performance of Broiler Ducks Fed Different Protein Levels

The present study was performed to investigate the effect of feeding citric acid with different protein levels on duck performance, carcass traits and blood parameters. A total number of 40 two weeks old Molar ducklings were randomly distributed into 4 equal groups, each of 10. The control diet was formulated to contain approximately crude protein (CP) (16%) and metabolizable energy (3000 kcal/kg diet) as recommended by NRC (1994). The first group was fed on control diet (16% CP) without any feed additives, while groups 2, 3 and 4 (T2, T3 and T4) were fed on basal diets containing 16, 14 and 12% CP respectively and supplemented with citric acid at 1.50% of the grower-finisher diet. The results showed that, birds fed on 16% protein diet supplemented with citric acid recorded significantly the best live body weight, body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion compared with other treatments. There were no significant differences in hot carcass percentage, eviscerated percentage, dressing percentage and relative percentage of internal organs (gizzard, heart, liver and spleen) between different experimental groups. There were no significant differences in the level of serum total protein and triglycerides, while there were significant (P<0.05) differences in serum albumin, globulin, cholesterol and uric acid between control group and other treatments. There were no significant differences in the intestinal pH between different experimental groups. The relative economic feed efficiency was the highest in birds fed 16% protein diet supplemented with citric acid compared with other treated groups. It could be concluded that, dietary inclusion of 1.50 % citric acid in 16% protein diet improved body weight, weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio and carcass traits

Effect of Feeding Propolis on Growth Performance of Broilers

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of propolis on broiler performance, carcass characteristics and blood parameters. The experiment was carried out with a completely randomized design of 4 treatments, supplemented with propolis at the rate of 0, 1, 2, and 3 mg/kg diet for 6 weeks. The results indicated that birds diet supplementation with propolis increased body weight (P<0.05), decreased feed intake and improved feed efficiency during the experiment. Carcass traits did not show significant differences for the treatments, with the exception of dressing percentage. The serum total protein and globulins were significantly (P<0.05) increased and the serum cholesterol and triglycerides were significantly (P<0.05) decreased in propolis supplemented broilers. No significant differences were observed in hematological parameters among the different groups. It could be concluded that dietary inclusion of propolis to poultry diets had a positive effect on growth performance and improved the immune response by elevating blood globulins level. Also, it decreases blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels